•Mother who graduated at 58 tells her story

Ben Agande, Abuja.

While her contemporaries and age mates are preparing to leave active service for a life of retirement, life it appears has just started for 58 year old Mrs Lami Ajaechi Nda-Sule who graduated recently from the National Open University of Nigeria with a degree in Nursing. She was the oldest graduate when the University recently held its convocation ceremony in Abuja.

Though bagging a University degree at such an advanced age brought joy and fulfillment to the 58 year mother, it was not an easy experience as she had to endure several challenges, including breaking down from stress before she finally made it to the final day.

But why would a 58 year old nurse with several years of experience go back to school for a degree programme when she should be preparing for retirement? Mrs Nda-Sule explains

“In my younger years, we did not know that one can go beyond the basic nursing schools. In the east and the west, they knew early enough. They are far ahead of us. In the north, if you graduate as a nurse, you can go and do midwifery and other courses. I am a registered nurse, a midwife and a paediatrics nurse. I also have a diploma in nursing education. But all these certificates are like somebody getting fat, sitting down in one place. They do not give you vertical progression in that area of profession.

“Gradually, our association began to insist that we must go for degree programmes. In the beginning, it was tough because we began to ask ourselves, how does one go back to school after obtaining several certificates.

•Mrs Lami Ajaechi Nda-Sule

“While I was still battling with these thoughts, I left the profession, went into full time missionary work for ten years and when I came back, I picked a teaching appointment with a school of nursing in Kaduna. One day, a friend suggested that since I had stayed away for too long, I must go back to get a degree in Nursing in order to remain relevant. That is how the journey started in 2011. I registered at the National Open University and started the programme”.

Though she had thrown herself fully into the programme, it was not an easy venture. The fact that she was already advanced in years and had other matrimonial obligations to her husband made the exercise very tough for her and almost cost her her life. Added to that was the rather lukewarm, if not totally discouraging remarks from no less a person than her spouse who saw her decision to go back to school as a waste of time.

“By the time I was in 500 Level, the pressure became so much that I was admitted in the hospital. I went to collect my timetable for the examination and discovered that in a single day, I had 3 main courses to write. My mind could not fathom it. I could not take it. I collapsed in my office and was rushed to the hospital where I spent five days.

“When I was about to start and I told my husband, he discouraged me because he was asking of what I would do with the certificate? But then I had started. But it was not easy. For instance, the area we were staying in Kaduna had the challenge of electricity so if I had examinations to write, I had to rely on rechargeable lamps or the paraffin lantern to read through the night. Sometimes, my husband would see it as disturbance. I did not tell some of my friends about it because I knew they would discourage me” she explained.

According to Mrs Nda-Sule,   what she found most challenging during her five year programme was the stress of burning the  midnight  candle to meet up with the expectations of her lecturers. She said but for her determination and strong will, she would have given up. But the realisation that given up half way into the programme after investing so “Reading my books was the most challenging part of the programme. The mental work was very challenging. In nursing, there are several things you need to read in order to bring yourself up to date with modern trends. If you fail one subject, you have failed all. That was the most challenging part.

“It got to a stage that I had to ask myself, why am I doing this? I felt that I was not going to take the certificate anywhere to look for a job. It got to a stage that I felt like letting go. But I had a friend who encouraged me not to give up. He was a younger person. There were days that I may not want to go but he would come around and encourage me. It was not easy” she said.

After all the stress of reading and finally with a degree certificate to boot, Mrs Nda-Sule said she is happy and a fulfilled woman.

“I am happy doing what I am doing but the remuneration is not encouraging. I am happy and I feel fulfilled that I have completed my degree programme. In fact some people have even suggested to me that I can go on and do a Masters Degree and even P.hd. I have learnt some new things. I am happy.

“In those days, technology was not widespread. But now we have e-therapy, you have to present your lectures through power point. There are innovations that have come into the nursing profession and if I had not gone back to school, I wouldn’t know them. Now I can operate the computer, I can log onto the internet and other new trends. If I had not gone back to school, I would not even bother about them. Going back to school has challenged my desire to learn something new and utilise them” she said.

Her message to the younger generation: “With my new experience, I used to challenge the younger generation of students that I teach that if you don’t get what you are supposed to get at the time you are supposed to get it, it becomes very difficult. Delay is costly. Let them do what they have to do now that they have the energy and time”