Why I went back to school – 70-year-old UniJos graduate

Ben Duamlong was a coach of Nigeria’s under-20 football team and an assistant coach of the Super Eagles during the Korea-Japan World Cup in 2002. In his quest to make a mark in the academic world, he enrolled in the University of Jos, where he became the best in painting with 4.32 CGPA at the […]

Ben Duamlong was a coach of Nigeria’s under-20 football team and an assistant coach of the Super Eagles during the Korea-Japan World Cup in 2002. In his quest to make a mark in the academic world, he enrolled in the University of Jos, where he became the best in painting with 4.32 CGPA at the age of 70. In this interview, he narrated what prompted him to go back to school.

It is not common to see a man of your age going back to school to mingle with young students. What really prompted you to go back to school?

What prompted me to go back to school at this advanced age is my passion for art. All my life, I have always drawn. I could draw very well but I never painted.

After retiring in 2014, I stayed at home doing nothing, so I got bored. That was when I told myself that I should go back to school.

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I had the idea of going back to school for a very long time but my job of football never gave me the opportunity to do it, so when I retired I got all the time and decided to go to the University of Jos to study. I got admitted in 2018.

Looking at your age, many people, including your family members, will wonder why you should go back to school. Were you at any point discouraged by friends or family members because of your age?

Of course, I was doubted by many. I was discouraged by friends and family members not to enroll for the degree programme. But the fact that friends doubted me was more of motivation to me. And the more they doubted my ability to do it, the more I wanted to prove them wrong. I was never in any way discouraged, so I never hesitated to pursue my dream.

Becoming the best student in a class is often a big task for students, considering the amount of commitment and dedication needed to achieve that. How were you able to obtain such class of degree?

Becoming a best student in a class should not be big deal for any student. The secret is discipline, my children would tell you. I would always leave this house before 7am and would not leave school until 5pm. And I won’t get home until 6pm. I never missed a class. I think it was discipline and hard work. I did my homework and everything they asked us to do. When I got to the university, I couldn’t paint; all I had always done was to draw, but because of resilience and passion, I learned.

What were the challenges you faced?

The only challenge I had was that I needed knee and heap replacement. And our classes are on the third floor, so going there every day was not easy. When I got into the classroom in the morning I would not go down till evening because of the knee problem I was telling you. I would not move around the school environment like other students. That was a major challenge for me. Outside that, I was enjoying everything because that was what I wanted to do. There is a proverb that when you send a child where he wants to go, you can be sure that he will come back quickly. I was doing what I wanted to do.

At this age, your course mates were just like your children, how did you relate with them?

I look the relationship from two angles. When I got there I looked at the students in my class as my children. I also looked at them as people I had to compete with. The university is a community; and you cannot survive in a community without communication. We communicated with one another. There was mutual respect. They greeted and respected me all the time. They assisted me a lot. The lecturers were also helpful.

You are blessed with children, how did you cope with family affairs while in the university?

I thank God that there wasn’t much problem; it was a sacrifice. Anytime you sacrifice to do something, you must lose something. If you want to achieve something you must lose something. There wasn’t much problem. I was able to cope with the situation.

Is this your first degree?

Well, I attended the National Institute of Sports in Lagos, where we trained as coaches and were awarded with diplomas. After the training, three of us were given scholarship to go and do our A licence in Germany. After graduation you would be awarded a diploma, which is what you need to coach. When we returned to Nigeria, I was given a job as a graduate lecturer at the National Institute of Spots. Two years after, I started coaching.