“How I Overcame Miscarriage, Divorce, and Cancer to Win the Best Doctoral Dissertation Award”

At the ceremony of the 54th general meeting that just ended. University of Lagos (UNILAG)Akoka, Aminat Ige Aliyibi grabbed everyone’s attention as she walked to the podium to give an emotional valedictorian speech as the winner of the overall best doctoral dissertation award.

Ige Alibi, who is in his late 30s and teaches at the Lagos State University (LASU), holds a PhD in mathematics.

In an emotional narration, Mrs. Ige Alibi described how she went through “several miscarriages, eight courses of chemotherapy, and a terrible case of chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM).”

Before enrolling in a doctoral program, Ige Alibi battled cancer, underwent chemotherapy, and suffered a miscarriage. However, as soon as she was certified medically healthy, the awardee chose to enroll in her doctoral program and continue her life’s journey, she said.

As expected, Mrs. Ige Alibi went through some ups and downs during her doctoral studies, including divorce, depression, armed robbery attacks, and surgeries, but she overcame them all.

However, the entire audience was ecstatic when she announced that she had remarried the LASU Director of Health Services, “the loveliest man”, Nasir Aliyibi.

“While the program was finishing up, I started a mentorship community and the great part of it was that I got married during the program. This time I’m going to talk about what I think is the most attractive man in my life. Someone who supports your dreams and ambitions,” she said.

In this exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES, Ms. Ige Aliyibi talks about her educational background, her journey with mathematics, and her career trajectory from banking to academia.

From banking to academia

As an undergraduate, Ige Aliyibi said she always looked forward to teaching at a university after school, but by a twist of fate, her first major career was in banking.

She said: “I briefly taught at the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) Ikorodu, now the Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), before moving to Starling Bank.

“During my time at Stirling, people around me, including my master’s supervisor at UNILAG, reminded me of my ambition to teach. As a reminder, I applied for a Ph.D. degree.

“Getting a PhD in Mathematics requires you to refresh your brain and teach young researchers to help them grow. At that point, I joined Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun, a former venture capitalist at LASU. I had no choice but to give in to the call to teach at LASU.”

She officially left Starling Bank in 2018 to pursue a career in academia, rising from graduate assistant to full-time assistant and then to lecturer II, starting from scratch.

“And I’m looking forward to being promoted to Lecturer 1 very soon. I think I’m doing well so far, and I’m looking forward to more promotions in the future,” she said.

honorary title of impact

Mrs. Ige Alibi, a scholar, is also the Yei Oge of Akesan (YOA) Kingdom, an honorary title bestowed upon her by Oba Abayomi Fagbohun, the first king of Akesan.

Akesan is a small town in Alimosho Local Government Area of ​​Lagos State.

According to her, she combines both academic and traditional titles very beautifully. Because “the title of YOA was given to me as an honor for my contribution to youth and society.”

“Most of these contributions were educationally based. They are therefore not contradictory to each other. In fact, in a corporate environment, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and There is something called

“My call and contribution to service to my kingdom and community is part of CSR. It is my love for people that made me accept this title. And I have lived well with it. ” she said.

She added that this title has been able to motivate and inspire many girls and women. That’s because, she added, “education doesn’t end within the four walls of a classroom, and being in academia has given me a better influence.”

Significance and plan of doctoral degree

Giving an insight into her project, Ige Aliyibi said that she focused on functional analysis and introduced a completely new metric space, O-metric, in her doctoral program. According to her, O-metric will change the world of metric fixed point theory and metric topology.

“These are mathematical concepts and I am not going to explain them in detail. The results of my PhD research will expand the applicability of functional analysis to real-world situations,” she says. I did.

She added that her next plan after completing her PhD is to become a postdoctoral fellow at an Ivy League university.

“Once you get your postdoc, you can build your career from there. But I’ve started a mentorship community called Brave Hearts Mentoring Hub. I’ve always had that idea and wanted to get started in earnest. “I was going to get a Ph.D.,” she said.

Academic background

Ige Aliyibi explained that her educational background from primary to tertiary institutions contributed to her academic success.

“I attended the Federal Government Girls College, Omuaran, Kwara State and then returned to Medal Merit High School, Igando, Lagos to complete my secondary education. I obtained my first degree in Mathematics from LASU and my primary education I took it at Temijido Nursery School and Elementary School in Akesan,” she said.

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“My interest in mathematics deepened in secondary school, where I had an interaction with Mr. Olajide, who was my mathematics teacher at the time, and the school contributed. Temijido, my primary school, laid a good foundation for me. Yes, the school I attended contributed,” she said.

“Even LASU was a tough place, but we always say if you survive LASU, you can survive anywhere. LASU is a must read. Resilience and perseverance are things we learned at LASU .

“Apart from your personal goal of doing well in school, you will want to do well for your parents as well. opportunities that helped me. Yes, they contributed positively to my success.”

Instructor welfare benefits

In the Governor-General’s speech, she advocated for improved welfare for university lecturers.

“It is well known that university lecturers are poorly remunerated and that our students do not want to be like us when they grow up. I therefore want to support President Bola Tinubu and my state. We appeal to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and other state governors to look into their academic situation and bring us new hope.

“The private sector is not excluded either. They are the greatest beneficiaries of our institutions’ products,” she said.

However, she praised the government for the scholarships awarded to eligible students, describing them as “lifesavers”. Mrs. Ige Alibi is a beneficiary of the Federal Government and Lagos State Government Scholarship for Tertiary Institutions.