From Average to Excellence

Shocking revelations of the life of a young Nigerian Youth (Part 1; Episode 1)

His name is Macaulay, Babajide Milton, a native of Obalende Local Government Area, Lagos Island, Nigeria. Yes, I know what you are thinking – Why does he have so many English names? Emm…it’s a long story that took place almost two centuries ago as the Patriarchs of the Macaulay family were slave trade returnees.

Source: facebook.com/Macaulay.babajide.milton

The Macaulay family is quite popular in Nigeria and has produced a number of National achievers such as Mr Babington Macaulay (who initiated the establishment of the first secondary school in Nigeria – CMS Grammar school, Lagos); Sir Herbert Heelas Macaulay (the first Nigerian Nationalist whom you see on the one Naira coin) among others. Having read through the introductory lines, I’m sure you would be saying to yourself; ‘oh, he is from a royal and famous background; therefore, he should find it quite easy to obtain the great things of life.’ Contrary to this belief,
it was not the case! 

Babajide was born at the First Consultant Hospital in Lagos to a polygamous family whose dad had two wives and his mum was the second. To a lot of people who are quite familiar with Babajide’s early life, it would be quite shocking to find out that Milton is one of the few youths in this generation who are projecting Africa in a positive light to the global community.

Babajide had his elementary education at Early-Life Nursery and Primary School, Festac Town, Lagos. He was a playful kid who had relatively little or no concern about his performances in class when he was much younger. Babajide once remarked that;

 “While in Nursery school, I was a very playful pupil and this did not mean anything to me as I often scaled through to the next class; not until I got to Nursery 3 and was advised to repeat the class. I survived at the second attempt and crossed over to Primary 1”.

 Babajide’s teachers were often worried and perturbed about his below average performance in class. However, regardless of this, he paid little or no attention to what seemed to have been the “Teacher’s National Anthem” in the “comment section” of his report sheets.

The only contradiction therein is the fact that despite Babajide’s poor performances in class, he was always made the class monitor. What an irony!

While in primary 4, he tried to convince his parents to allow him write the Common Entrance Examination (CEE) to cross over to secondary school. Well, his parents obliged and he went on to write the examination.  In the end, he scored 406 but needed to score about 425 to get into his choice secondary school (Kings’ College, Lagos). While preparing for the examination, Babajide had discovered that he had to start reading and do away with his lackadaisical attitudes. He was then however advised to return to the primary school and complete Primary 5 before re-sitting the CEE. Virtually all his age mates who were in Primary 5 passed the CEE and made the cut-off marks of their chosen secondary schools. Babajide was so disappointed in himself and hated the thought of returning to primary school. 

Fortunately for him, with his score, he was admitted to a relatively new secondary school in Festac Town known as Kabe Science College. Babajide sustained his new reading habits but told himself he did not need to study all the topics to pass the courses. He later discovered his love for the sciences at that time, specifically integrated science, and then proceeded to Mercy Model College for his senior secondary education. He was the best student in Biology and managed to be among the top 10 students in the class.

As we dig into the life experiences of Babajide as a typical African and Lagos-born-Nigerian, we will consciously reveal success principles capable of inspiring youths around the world to move from Average to Excellence.

From this introductory piece, here is the lesson to learn;

“The real definition of success is not the absence of failure but the ability to proceed even stronger in the midst of failure”.

Macaulay, Babajide Milton once repeated a class, absolutely surprising. But how come he is who he is today? Please stay glued as subsequent posts will reveal fantastic success principles from Macaulay, Babajide Milton; an epitome of what it implies to rise from Average to Excellence.

Let’s go a step higher. YES WE CAN.

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