As the West African Examinations Council, WAEC and the National Examinations Council, NECO, year in, year out, release its results on students’ examination performance, it is no longer news that the average Nigerian student performs below average in Mathematics and English Language.

This ugly situation has given many stakeholders in the sector concern. Though many stakeholders have tried to come out with some steps to address the anomaly, the situation still persists. It was against this backdrop that a young Nigerian author, Babs Olugbemi launched his new book, The Students’ Fortress.

The 107-page book published by Mentoras Multimedia, aims to address the incessant failure bedevilling the academic success of our youths. Apart from that, he also highlights 10 rules for examination success. The author, a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and leadership coach, said the book was born out of his passion to make students excel in examinations. He bares his mind on causes of examination failure, deploying examples of his personal experience and that of others to drive home his points.

Babs, who is also the author of the highly motivating book, Transform Yourself, with the use of colourful pictorial and graphical illustrations, makes for easy understanding by his readers. He addresses certain issues bordering on success and failure. In the author’s own style, he left the conventional way of writing chapter by chapter and chose to subdivide the book into rules. Thus, The Students’ Fortress has 10 Rules.

Below are the 10 rules of success: Right Belief, the Achievement Goal, Learn the Principle, Learn to Earn, Learn to Lead and Learning Network. Others are; Manage Yourself, Preparation, Test your Understanding and the Examination. For any student to pass examination excellently, the author of the book identified key areas that are indispensable. These include; reading, willingness to learn and choosing learning partners. Also, top students in class who are good in a particular subject should be partnered for success.

With the author making use of key points after each chapter, it makes it easy for readers to remember what they had read. That also makes the style and writing of the book unique. Moreover, the examples and analogies used in the book were not fictitious but real life experiences. The author also made reference to some authors and great achievers as he explained certain rules to success.

The author, via his choice of words, used motivational statements to make his readership abhor failure and be determined to succeed. In Rule one and Rule four, phrases like: “You can, you must pass your exams excellently. You have what it takes to pass your exams excellently. Don’t believe you are below average. It is your belief that matter. You must first believe in yourself, in your ability to prepare, write and pass your exams excellently.

Think right. Learning deep today will enable you to lead those who don’t study enough and pass their exams. Your capacity to learn is the stronghold of your capacity to lead others.” While searching for learning partners, as stated in Rule six,   Babs urges students to look for top students in the subject they want to learn and improve on, adding that such persons should be students with same learning and achievement goals.

The author who specifically pointed out misuse of the social media as a causative agent of examination failure among students, lamented that students use it for chatting rather than learning. The book, however, encourages students to make good use of the social media by posting questions on the area of their studies where they need clarification for group discussions. “Create a learning/sharing mastermind group on Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Organise group discussions, choose a topic to discuss for the week,’’ he added.

The author, in Rule eight of the book, makes students understand that success comes through adequate preparation. “Preparation is a life-long journey. Outside the examination hall, your success in life also answers to the level of your preparation. When you prepare very well for a life event, you become a wonder. If you don’t prepare well, you will be a wanderer in life. There is nothing to fear in examination if you prepare properly.’’

With the use of simple language, illustrations and testimonies for easy understanding, the book is not only good for students, but also for anyone who cares for success in all spheres of life. I therefore recommend it to all.