John David Academic Letter

Does attending Christian fellowships or serving in campus affect your grades?

My answer will be YES and NO.

📌YES

👉If you pray more than you study, you'll likely fail. Prayers are important, but you are here to study and not to spend all your time praying.

I know you would want to tell me we should pray without ceasing, I believe that too, but God knew you were coming here to study, so yes pray, but study more. This is not emotional, it's the truth.

👉If you keep jumping from one fellowship to the other, shouting power up and down without doing what you came to school to do, you'll definitely fail.

I don't understand how you'll do every other thing except why you came to school.

Even the bible advised us to work and have faith too. Don't call forth good grades or collect miracle pen, when you can just easily study and pass with ease.

📌If you take up more responsibilities that it makes it hard for you to have enough time to study, then you are already in trouble.

Just like the bible said that anyone that prays receives, is the same way anyone that studies passes.

Your failures are not orchestrated by God, but by your ignorance to diligence.

📌NO.

👉So many clueless young people are in the university and this is the time to actually find God and purpose and attending Christian fellowships is the best way to do that.

Surround yourself with other people who struggle to live right just like you, and with time you'll begin to make sense of life.

True fellowship helps you find balance, because the Holy Spirit wouldn't want you to be faithful in church and unfaithful in your studies.

He'll keep you restless until you've studied and He'll even make studying very easy, as He is going to tell you exactly the topics to look at and when.

I can't count how many times I passed a test or exams just because the Holy Spirit whispered something to me.

Fellowship helps you find balance, excellence, dedication and seriousness.

If you serve God right, there's no way the Holy Spirit won't prompt you to read your books and even the little you've read, He'll bring to your remembrance when it's time to recall.

It is ok to do church in school, it is ok to do fellowship in school, but do not forget your priority should be your studies. Putting the kingdom first doesn't mean putting the church first, the church is not all there is to the kingdom. The kingdom is bigger than the church. I hope you get this.

Go for spiritual fellowships, but study even more. You are here for books.

Prioritize friend.

If excellence is attainable, you have no business settling for less.

Three (3) things I found out about excellent students and I'm going to keep it very short.

📌They start studying on time.

All the excellent students I know study very early. When every other person is busy resting or taking new semester pictures, excellent students are already on their second course.

They believe in "The Earlier The Smarter."

📌They have a strong routine.

They don't just wake up and study or stumble into studying or wait until they feel guilty for not studying, before they study.

They create a strong routine and strategy. One of them I know study for 2 to 4hrs every day, from the day school resumes and then 8hrs close to CA and exams.

📌They don't accommodate unnecessary events, visits, parties, and waste of their time.

One guy I met prefer sleeping than going to a place that won't be of value to him.

They prioritize their time and make use of it effectively and judiciously.

I believe these three things is going to help you this semester.

When you say "let's lock-in" mean it.

If excellence is attainable, you have no business settling for less.

Three (3) things every smart student will do.

📌Every smart student will learn how to make friends with the right people.

My philosophy on this is that, in every 4 months you should make a new friend not from your department, but other departments. For me, it's non-negotiable.

The more people you know and network with, the more opportunities you find.

Do you know that I was looking for scholarship opportunities until my 200L second semester?

What changed?
I met people who getting those opportunities were their daily lifestyle. Now, I wish I learnt this earlier.

📌You are as strong academically as the least person in your cycle.

The people you associate with affects your performance and the level you play at. If you want to level up, drop that pride and shyness, get close to smarter people.

A smart student is one who works with smarter students.

📌Make sure you don't graduate without knowing for sure what you want to do with your life.

Christianity can help you with this, prayer can, reading books can, decisions can.

Whichever works for you, just make sure you don't graduate clueless.

Reach out to other students doing well whether physically or on social media, have conversations with people. Reach out and figure things out.

Graduate sure!

Know what you want to do and I don't mean wishes that you are not ready to follow through. I mean serious business.

I have many things to say but let's stay here.

If excellence is attainable, you have no business settling for less.

Going to class doesn't help 📌

I remember in my 100L, how eager I was to attend all lectures, even when it's too early or impromptu, I felt it was a requirement for my success but my result showed me differently, that was my worse semester so far.

This content isn't to tell you to stop attending lectures because to some extent attending lectures helps, I mean it does in a big way, but not a guarantee for success.

In the university, if you don't learn to teach yourself, you'll fail. Most lecturers are not there to make you understand, they are just there to teach you what they want and fulfil all righteousness.

You have the full responsibility of teaching yourself. Personally, I don't think I'll trust any lecturer enough not to study everything personally again.

Attend lectures so you'll understand what the course entails, attend lectures so you'll understand how the lecturer thinks, but don't for a moment take that thing you are writing down as the only thing that will help you pass. You'll fail.

Study on your own as though there's no lecturer and attend lecturers are though lecturers are all you've got.

Maintain balance.

If excellence is attainable, you have no business settling for less.

Excellent students don't work hard.📌

What I am about to say is common among Excellent students, whether in the First Class range or 2:1.

When you are among the average, you work hard, you study for hours, you spend all the week studying, you might even fall in love with night class, but guess what? Your result always disgraces you.

You'll want to give up because what you are getting is not correlating with the work you've put in, so you easily get frustrated and get tired.

But when you ask the right questions, meet the right people and follow the right person on social media as you just did now.

Your mind set changes, all of a sudden - you start noticing loopholes in your strategy and study pattern. And the moment you start filling up those gaps, you'll discover you worked harder when you were failing than now you are succeeding.

There's just something about getting a strategy right, you'll stop doing try and error.

If you spend 1hr studying, what you'll get in that 1hr will feel like your former 8hrs.

So yes, I am not sure I've met an excellent student that will tell you they studied hard.

They'll only tell you, I did what I should when I should.

If excellence is attainable, you have no business settling for less.

If you are studying a course you believe is useless read this.

Many students are caught in this web, they are struggling just because they accepted an admission in a course that they'll later regret, but that's not the end.

If you are one of those, you have three options and you can choose one of these:

📌Leave school and drop out. This is if your sponsor has the resources to continue sponsoring you, it is better to drop out and start afresh, than graduating with a certificate you will forever regret. If you are almost done, consider going for a second degree in what you want.

📌If it's possible based on your department and CGPA, change department and study something you want or at least related. It will slow you down, yes - but you will be glad you are doing something you actually want to do.

📌Focus and bring out the best in the course, study harder, graduate with First Class or Second Class (Upper Division). Don't end here, seek opportunities related to that course, get YouTube videos on other graduate of the course, learn from them and improve your positioning.

Lastly, ask yourself how you can leverage that same course to get what you want. Every course that students see as useless has a reason why they see it that way, find out what and find a solution and you'll see yourself succeeding.

I hope this helps.

If excellence is attainable, you have no business settling for less.

Did you hear what Monie Point CEO said few weeks ago?

I was tasked with writing an Essay for a competition recently and it's about the gap between Academic Knowledge and Industrial Skills Demands.

After writing, I realize that Africa in general is in trouble because we are really not ready industrially, because of what our Educational Systems are teaching our youths.

Take a look at what Monie Point CEO said.

Moniepoint CEO Tosin Eniolorunda said the company is struggling to fill about 500 job vacancies or thereabout because of a shortage of qualified talent in Nigeria.

He said this at The Platform event in Lagos on May 1, 2026.

It’s not just that they can’t find enough people. The few people that they found were not up to the global standards that they need.

He blamed weaknesses in Nigeria’s education system and changing social values among young people. He mentioned excessive social media consumption, hookup culture, and “yahoo yahoo” culture affecting focus and reasoning.

Moniepoint is a company that competes globally, including with firms from China, so they need world-class talent.

But Nigeria Educational System are not training students for that kind of relevance.

NYSC are teaching graduates how to make liquid soap.😂

Lecturers that probably have not built anything are teaching students about business and economics.💔

Universities hardly partner with firms to come and educate students on what is required in the industry.

We keep playing with peoples future.

Now, it's left for the student who really want growth to actually do something about it.

It's well with Africa.

Is sleep a reward or a necessity?

Many student believes that sleep is a necessity due to the fact that most times we can't just help but sleep.

But if you ask me, I'll tell you "sleep should be a reward and not a necessity."

If every time you sleep, it's because your body wants you to, then you already have a bigger problem than you are ready to admit.

Hard working people, excellence students and those working on important projects will tell you this: they wake up even when it's not convenient, they show up even when they feel like sleeping more, they stay up at night working and creating.

They sleep when the job is done and most even have to schedule a week of rest specially, just not to burn out.

If you allow nature predict the course of your life, you'll find it hard to achieve what you've set your heart on.

If you want excellence academically, in your projects, business, skills; treat sleep as a reward not a necessity.

This doesn't mean: don't sleep.
It means: sleep when you need to.

If excellence is attainable, you have no business settling for less.

Until you are ready to see B as a failure, you have no business expecting a First Class.

I realized this in my 300L that First Class doesn't just mean you can read and pass, it means you have to see some things others see as success differently.

You have to structure yourself to feel differently than everyone else and this is also transferred to your projects.

You have to see anything less than 70% as failure and that's a frequency most students and people wish to operate on but lack the strength and discipline to actually live there.

You have to see anything short of excellence as a failure, it doesn't matter whether it worked or not.

Until you can see a "B" as failure, just give up on getting a First Class.

Someone said that "B" is for hard work, but "A" is for excellence.

And I believe that too.

If excellence is attainable, you have no business settling for less.

Do you know the problem with graduating with 2:2 or third class?

It's not just the fact that you'll hardly be considered for internships, scholarships or projects that matter, it's the mindset I want you to pay attention to.

I understand that they are people disabled when it comes to the activity of the brain, that no matter how they try, they can't get beyond C and it is medically proven. I understand, but I'm talking about those whose failure is based on bad study patterns, choices and nonchalance.

These set of people are ready to get your project messed up because of lack of discipline.

The same way they felt their academics doesn't matter is probably the same way they would treat that project or job, except for a few who decides to be serious than they were in the University.

Many people think it's just books, I'll be serious in life. You actually can't, you can't all of a sudden have a different attitude towards your academics and something different toward a project, it is the same you and the same mindset. It only changes if you choose to make it work.

Failure is a mindset and until you regret failing, you will never have success nor discipline.

If you don't change you, what affected your grades will affect your life, remember it is the same sleep, same procrastination, same unseriousness, same lack of motivation.

If excellence is attainable, you have no business settling for less.