By Precious Amos, Faith Onuoha
History was made at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka on 26 February 2026 as the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences produced an astonishing 78 First Class graduates (CGPA 4.50 and above) during the induction and oath-taking ceremony of its pioneer Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) graduates.
Leading the pack is Osefo MaryCynthia Chiadikobi, who emerged as the Overall Best Graduating Student with an exceptional CGPA of 4.95 — a near-perfect academic record that has set a new standard of excellence.
This milestone marks a powerful beginning for the Pharm.D programme at UNN and sends a strong message about the quality of training and academic dedication within the institution. Beyond the celebration, it signals hope for the future of healthcare delivery in Nigeria, as these newly inducted pharmacists step into the profession fully prepared.
The Record Newspaper had an in-depth interview with Osefo MaryCynthia where she advised students to be disciplined in whatever they do and never to give excuses when it’s about achieving their goals. In the interview, Osefo recounted her experiences that led up to her being the best graduating student of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
_Can you briefly walk us through your academic journey leading up to becoming the Best Graduating Student of your faculty?_
To walk you through my academic journey in pharmacy school all started from my WAEC examination to my JAMB, qualifying me to study pharmacy in Faculty of pharmaceutical sciences UNN. So, my academic journey was really a very wonderful one, so much sacrifices, so much determination. Starting from my first year, I remember those times in the library when I was reading Biology 151 and Biology 101. I read those books like they were storybooks, like I literally knew all the lines. We photocopied past questions those times, the content or something, all those places, you know and I was always reading the materials. Went for classes, I was almost in all the classes in my first year. I gave sacrificed so much in making sure I attend all lectures. I read so much and yes, my first year results came out so nice. It was a wonderful result. Then, as for second year, pharmacy school was one of the toughest I’ve had in pharmacy school. Oh my goodness! it was something else; that was my first time writing an exam every day. Sometimes I write two papers in a day and my head comes out spinning. Second year was one of the worst years I had in pharmacy school. Theory exams, demanding everything, tight and true of all questions, time management. It was crazy.
Third year was fair, but then I had a spinal cord start for senior and you know, some of them would be clashing for my exams, like when it comes to reading and all and your abstracts. It was not easy. Fourth year was the worst experience I’ve had in pharmacy school; you need to know because the first semester of my fourth year was the most hectic. I couldn’t combine it going for IP in a hospital. It was crazy. Then my fifth year, oh God!, I was already an adult, like, who is an adult that no suffering can get to me. Like that was my first day. I suffered and I couldn’t help myself again. From my experiences, it was horrible! It was not the best. It was like my weakest class but with ease. Then even on my first and second year, I was interrupted by COVID-19 but the challenges were surmounted.
_What initially inspired you to study pharmacy?_
Even before I entered pharmacy school I have always wanted to be a pharmacist. I really wanted to study health related courses. I interned at a pharmaceutical company it was quite an experience, but what actually inspired me was my passion to help the sick ones all the time. I love being in the health field and also my sister studied pharmacy too – she was an inspiration.
I initially wanted to study medicine but opted to go for something more flexible and easier so I preferred pharmacy and I had relatives that were in the profession who are doing quite well that’s why I fancied the course.
3. _Graduating with such an outstanding CGPA requires consistency—what specific study strategies or habits helped you maintain top performance across all semesters?_
I don’t pile up my materials. I read it as it comes. If it drops today, I will read it today, if it drops tomorrow, I read it tomorrow. Sometimes when I don’t rest, I just read because I believe that when you look at an information once, you’d grab even 30% of it, you get familiar with the word. So if a person asks me to read before exam, I can’t read 100 materials at once, that’s too much.
Sometimes I come out back from school, you have so much time. I kind of wake up in the night just to read. You have to come out for the next day and prepare for lectures. But you should be happy to read consistently because you still have time to do other things. Just know that if you map out 8 to 5 to read, you just make sure that it’s strictly 8 to 5 you get to read and all. So be very consistency. At some point, when you start getting higher in school, you just want to expect more, but just remind yourself that, let’s just get this degree first. We have our life ahead of us, that kind of thing, yeah.
_Pharmacy is known to be highly demanding academically; how did you manage the pressure and still excel at the highest level?_
Pharmacy is very demanding not only academically but mentally and emotionally. There are times you just sit down, you cry. Sometimes you just be so tired, it’s stressful academically. Some times you will not sleep, some times you’ll have to read and read until you start hearing the sounds of your ear. But you just tell yourself, this is why I’m here, and exam is like one month, after one month I get to sleep back all day, so that’s just it.
Pharmacy is demanding, your class is 8 a.m to 5 p.m most days and you still have to prepare what you will eat, still have to read your materials, still have to smile, still have to press your phone (laughs). At some point, I started behaving like a robot, like, I sleep by this time, I wake up by this time, I do this by this time, as if my life was in a box, it’s highly demanding, actually it will mess with your mental health. And, you report your manuals, still go to school, go to lab for practicals. Some times you feel like, is this stress really worth it? Like, you see yourself losing massive weight. Sometimes when I come back to school, they will be like, ‘oh you look so chubby’ in a week time, it’s as if, like, I’ve gone back to the factories. Pharmacy is very, very demanding. I was able to manage the pressure because I’m someone that is very ‘chill’ when I’m doing something. I try as much as possible start on time so I don’t put so much pressure on myself. I take it easy and I make sure to have fun, I make sure to sleep well, I make sure to rest well, I like sleeping so I make sure to have as much sleep as possible and I do my things gently and like I said, I know when to read and I start reading on time. I don’t like those last minute reading. I was able to manage depression well and I also had good friends. So we all fought it together.
5. _Beyond academics, were you involved in extracurricular activities, leadership roles, or personal projects? If so, how did you effectively balance them with your studies?_
Those are the things that we all know about the curriculum. Then I was the financial director, I was the captain, like, I was always outside. The main thing is that, I have to balance it out. I was very determined in university. The alarm was like my best friend. Like, if alarm rings beside me now, I’m already awake because that is how I’ve built myself. I don’t feel like I always remind myself that for every fun you have, you have to pay for it too. If you go out, dance, have fun, enjoy yourself, make sure that when you come back, you stay awake to account for those hours that you spent. I really try not to be so rigid because I mean, university was academics and lecture curriculum. You cannot just focus on that. So I really try to balance while focusing so much on my mental health. I needed that extra activities and leadership roles. I fix and organize the meetings, go for outreaches, it was demanding, but I learned balance.
_What were some of the biggest challenges you encountered during your undergraduate years, and how did you overcome them?_
Biggest challenges I encountered was like, you know, at early stage I had very big issue balancing my academics with my social life. I could not even like navigate pharmacy school the first time I entered. We used to have back-to-back exams, it’s literally two weeks for exams and being someone that just went from first year where I write an exam for one month, it was so difficult for me. The materials for most courses are so enormous, one course can have like 13 materials, so it was just crazy alone. Sometimes, it’s as if I’m forgetting that I’m reading, sometimes I see my brain is full that I cannot not take any information. But with time, I realized that when I read and revise, it should be some, it sticks more so that I have lesser information to try to get into my head.
And the last one, my social life, you know, it suffered a lot. With time, I had to tell myself, you have to get out there. Like, this is university, you will never be in this space anymore. I had to start networking and started giving myself that freedom to associate. Well, even before I entered pharmacy school, I have always wanted to be a pharmacy student.
_Many students struggle with time management—what practical techniques did you use to stay organized and productive?_
Well the practical thing is to have a timetable, to write it down somewhere, use a sticky note if possible. Tell yourself, if you wake up in the morning, you will achieve something within 24hrs and it will be dutifully accounted for. Give yourself enough sleep time. Don’t procrastinate; whatever I want to do for today, I have to do it for today. There is no excuse, even if it’s something not within your power, maybe you got sick or you got involved in an activity you didn’t know would take longer than it should, make sure you cover for those times and do what you meant to do. Be very strict and discipline with your time and be so strict with whatever you say you will do, just be a talk and do person – I said I’d do it and I have to get it done. So that way you don’t really have a lot of pile over that you’re trying to sort out.
_Who or what would you say played a significant role in your success (mentors, peers, family, or personal discipline)?_
For these people that played typical roles in my life as you mentioned, I had mentors, I had senior colleagues, people that I looked up to, and they were always very supportive when I asked them questions. My family? Wow, my family was very very supportive. I didn’t have to worry about how I would fare with my studies and all. So their support, financially, was very encouraging. My peers, that’s my friends, I surrounded myself with were very good friends, people I think alike, with and people that are in the same headspace, not like people that would distract me. We have a lot of things in common. Even though we don’t see the bigger picture, but we always believe in everything. So, yeah, my friends were very supportive they were always checking up and playing the reminders.
Personal discipline is very important. I’m someone that had discipline on myself. I already know how to read. I didn’t talk. I’m not someone that need my parents to come and tell me, hey, you’ve not read your book today. No, nobody needs to tell me. I teach myself. I tell myself that this ought to take place. So I was really disciplined on my own.
_Looking back, what would you do differently if you had to go through the journey again?_
I would have tried contesting for something politically to help me network, to get to know people from other faculty, and be more social in activities that are beyond pharmacy. Let’s see, more of NFCS than CAPSTAN, you know, try to get involved with other departments, socialize with them, just talk with them, just get to see how they think and all. Just get to know people more, socialize, have more fun, you know, go to the stadium, all of those fun things.
_As a Best Graduating Student, what advice would you give to current students aspiring to achieve academic excellence?_
My advice to first year students is that the moment you step into that UNN gate, have a clear vision of what you want, know what you want, tell yourself what you want to achieve, don’t wait for somebody to remind you, don’t do this because my parents said I should study this course. No! Your parents said you should study, yes! You are here because you choose to be, you could not have packed your bags from your house to enter that school, choose what you want to be and be it.
Own it, be accountable for your actions, don’t be making excuses. I want to graduate with a first class, work towards it, put in your best, don’t be distracted by social media, movies – all those things can wait, when you graduate you will see them.
Don’t be pressured by anybody, just do your own thing, work at your own pace. Yes! A lot of smart people are there, that should not make you not to believe in yourself. Always believe that you’re the best in your own space, always put in your best. Do a library card, study outside of where you are, go to your own safe space, don’t bulk read, don’t go for night class if it’s not something you can handle. Take it easy on yourself, have good time management skills, write timetable, find good friends.
Your company matters a lot; who you go out with and be determined on your own that you want to be the best and put in the best, trust me you’ll see the result. Be focused, read, read in your own space and understand it. If you need help ask people, just know you have grace for the fact that you qualify to enter UNN, you’re already a smart person. Pray as well, hold God very importantly, it’s not by our power or by our might but by He who gives us the grace. So always be prayerful, always hold God first, associate yourself with Christian organization, for your moulding, for your faith and everything. God knows the plans he has for you and he will perfect it in your life.
_Thank you very much Osefo Cynthia for granting us this interview, it was an honour._
Thank you very much.
