Education
… academic achievement has nothing to do with gender
By Kennedy Nnamani
PROF. Angela Nnenna Ukwuani-Kwaja, professor of Biochemistry at the Kebbi State University of Technology, Kebbi state has charged scholars to be dedicated, consistent and hard working in pursuit of their academic careers.
Prof. Ukwuani-Kwaja, who is one of the newly confirmed professors at the Kebbi State University of Technology on Friday spoke to Realnews noting that all academic achievements require a lot of commitment, dedication, resilience and efforts.
“Consistency and consistent hard work is all it takes,” she said. “Research is not all about researching and publishing; the zeal, the interest must be built upon it.”
In addition, Prof. Ukwuani-Kwaja stated that interest also drives forward the efforts and energy put in one’s work.
In her words, “if you are interested in something you will find yourself devoting more energy and time to it.
“You won’t feel the energy it drains out of you because you even derive a certain kind of joy whenever you get to a conclusion and achieve the objective.”
She further added that although there are no easy paths or timelines to achieving academic excellence, but “it all depends on the stride that one decides to take and when you give yourself a target, a timeline and you work towards it, then the chances of reaching the finishing line are there.”
While speaking on her confirmation as a professor, Prof. Ukwuani-Kwaja, Enugu born, said that she feels elated for the appointment noting that she had looked forward to it.
“It has not been easy, but it is something I have looked forward to; for every step I took I always envisaged that I was going to get to the finishing line.
“The appointment means a lot and it simply means that hard work pays. So for all the hard work, I am now receiving the benefits,” she said.
In the same spirit, Prof. Ukwuani-Kwaja recognized the efforts of her family towards her success noting that her family sometimes gets involved in her research.
She said: “Some many times I slept in the lab, in fact sometimes my entire family is involved in my research; I give them some part of it to assist me in doing.”
Adding that it was not on a platter of gold, she said that it took a lot of effort, a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of energy, and a lot of money.
“There will be time for play but in pursuit of academic work, there is no time for playing. Every step involves a lot of effort,” she added.
In the same vein, Prof. Ukwuani-Kwaja, who has become a Plateau state indigene by virtue of marriage, who also was the only woman among the twelve confirmed professors in the Kebbi State University of Technology stated that gender should not be an excuse to reaching one’s goal.
According to her, academic achievement has nothing to do with gender, but it has everything to do with hard work, resilience, constant pushing, setting a target and ensuring that you get to the finishing line.
“I am the only woman amongst them and with the gender inequality, but I always kept compensating myself with the adage that says “What a man can do, a woman can do it even better.
“It may interest you to know that I have done better than some of them.
“I have never had the cause to feel that I was not able to reach this point because I am a woman or being intimidated because I am a woman,” she said.
University don tasks scholars on dedication, consistency, hardwork
PROF. Angela Nnenna Ukwuani-Kwaja, professor of Biochemistry at the Kebbi State University of Technology, Kebbi state has charged scholars to be dedicated, consistent and hard working in the pursuit of their academic careers.
Prof. Ukwuani-Kwaja, who is one of the newly confirmed professors at the Kebbi State University of Technology told Realnews that all academic achievements require a lot of commitment, dedication, resilience and efforts.
“Consistency and consistent hard work is all it takes,” she said. “Research is not all about researching and publishing; the zeal, the interest must be built upon it.”
In addition, Prof. Ukwuani-Kwaja stated that interest also drives forward the efforts and energy put in one’s work.
“If you are interested in something you will find yourself devoting more energy and time to it.
“You won’t feel the energy it drains out of you because you even derive a certain kind of joy whenever you get to a conclusion and achieve the objective,” she said.
She added that although there are no easy paths or timelines to achieving academic excellence, but “it all depends on the stride that one decides to take and when you give yourself a target, a timeline and you work towards it, then the chances of reaching the finishing line are there.”
While speaking on her confirmation as a professor, Prof. Ukwuani-Kwaja, Enugu born, said that she felt elated for the appointment, noting that she has looked forward to it.
“It has not been easy, but it is something I have looked forward to; for every step I took I always envisaged that I was going to get to the finishing line.
“The appointment means a lot and it simply means that hard work pays. So for all the hard work, I am now receiving the benefits,” she said.
In the same spirit, Prof. Ukwuani-Kwaja recognized the efforts of her family towards her success, noting that her family sometimes gets involved in her research.
She said: “Some many times I slept in the lab, in fact sometimes my entire family is involved in my research; I give them some part of it to assist me in doing.”
She also said that it took a lot of effort, a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of energy, and a lot of money. According to her, it is never achieved on a platter of gold,
“There will be time for play, but in pursuit of academic work, there is no time for playing. Every step involves a lot of effort,” she added.
In the same vein, Prof. Ukwuani-Kwaja, who has become a Plateau state indigene by virtue of marriage and the only woman among the 12 confirmed professors in Kebbi State University of Technology, stated that gender should not be an excuse to reaching one’s goal.
According to her, academic achievement has nothing to do with gender, but it has everything to do with hard work, resilience, constant pushing, setting a target and ensuring that you get to the finishing line.
“I am the only woman amongst them and with the gender inequality, but I always kept compensating myself with the adage that says “What a man can do, a woman can do it even better.
“It may interest you to know that I have done better than some of them.
“I have never had the cause to feel that I was not able to reach this point because I am a woman or being intimidated because I am a woman,” she added.
KN
Tags: Kebbi State University of Technology Kennedy Nnamani PROF. Angela Nnenna Ukwuani-Kwaja
