Before he was at age 4, Ridwan Adegboye has always had the aspiration of becoming a pilot because he often watch aircraft in the sky, this became his driving force and one of the major reasons he dream of becoming a pilot.
However, things fall into improper fractions when he became visually impaired. The effect of this is that he was at home for a very long period of time, and it got to a point he started to operate his father’s radio to listen to radio programs. This made him develop a love for radio programs to the extent that he made it a hobby.
For Ridwan, this was the major motivation for him to switch his dream from becoming a pilot to becoming a presenter. After so many years of staying at home, in 2016, Ridwan decided to return to secondary school where he attended the school for people with disabilities in Owo.
During that period, he met a man who discovered him and started training him on how to become a presenter. This man gave beyond motivation to make him see the best he can be and most especially, made him see the need for himself to do better via constant practice for improvement. Ridwan did this many times and the man ensures that he always present news during assembly period in front of all the students in the school.
It doesn’t take so long before people started giving Ridwan compliments and encouraging him to study Mass Communication after secondary school and this gave the final decision to his dream of becoming a pilot thereby opening the door for a new dream.
Subsequently, Ridwan was introduced to a radio station where he continue to present and he also developed an interesting radio program that attracted positive comments from his audience. Since then, he continued to grow his passion for presenting and his confidence level began to improve.
Eventually, he applied to the University of Ilorin but was not given his mass communication. Ridwan had to change school because he wanted to further his dream, and to him, if not ‘Mass Communication, then it’s nothing else’.
Today, Ridwan is currently a 200-level Mass Communication student at Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba (AAUA). It was like having a volcano eruption, his passion for presenting kept growing day by day.
With his experience, Ridwan now hosts a radio program at the school radio station (AAUA radio) anchoring programs that have been educating people and impacting lives. This according to Ridwan is not so easy and one of his driving force is his fear.
“My greatest fear is my future, as human, we have to set a goal with a deadline, that is the period we wish to achieve the goal. For instance, when the 2022 strike started in February, it affected my motivation and dream because I had plans to achieve some things at that period already, so I’m always very conscious of my future and it has become my greatest fear”.
Q: What is your greatest achievement in life?
Ridwan: For now there is no greatest accomplishment in the sense that I am still moving. So if I accomplish anything today, I won’t tag it as my greatest accomplishment because I know I will still accomplish bigger things.
However, some of my accomplishments so far include my admission into the university, the ability to finance my education, the opportunities I have gotten as a presenter, and that has been getting me money even if it’s not so much, I know tomorrow is bright and I keep hoping for greater things.
Q: What’s your driving force?
My friends, my siblings and my family has been my biggest encouragement. They have been giving me the push I need as well as words of encouragement. Whenever I see people around me, I always feel a sense of belonging especially when I see people engaging me in things or asking me for help in areas of academics that they dont understand I feel motivated and encouraged.
Also, my mother has always motivated me, the same thing as my father before he died in 2019. Whenever I see people around me that see me as one of their own, I feel so relieved and comfortable.
Q: What are the unpleasant moments that have made you cry?
I cried in 2019 when my dad died. I was told to come home, then I got home and I was told that my dad was dead. I was so shocked to the extent that I didn’t know when tears began to drop.
There was also an incident that made me cry recently, something fell and I was trying to pick it up but I didn’t know a door handle was there, so immediately I bend to pick it up and got hit on my head against the door handle, I felt so much pain then that I began to cry. Although I wasn’t crying because of the pain from the door handle I cried because I knew if I could see I wouldn’t have hit my head against a door handle.
Q: How is school life for people like you?
Although the management of Adekunle Ajasin university Akungba has been trying its best to be considerate, I feel the school and some other schools in Nigeria generally should review the method by which blind students write their exams.
In schools like the University of Benin, the University of Jos, as well as Obafemi Awolowo University in Ife, visually impaired students are allowed to use laptops to write exams which has been the easiest option for them so this should also be put into practice in AAUA for those that have access to a laptop. Moreover, the world is evolving digitally so I don’t think it is wrong for the school to join other schools in doing something good, this will only help improve the standard of education in Nigeria.
Some time ago I asked the H.O.D of my department to table this in the panel so that visually impaired persons can be allowed to use laptops for our examinations. In this school, once you come to the exam hall with a laptop, it means you have violated the school rules and regulations because we are not expected to come to the exam hall with any electronic devices. So, I’ve mentioned this and I hope this school can do something about it, aside from that, I think the school is cool.
In the news
Africa Foundation For Young Media Professionlas will commence a disability and inclusion fellowship for early career journalist. This is a 4-6 month with stipend paid fellowship that will expose fellows to covering issues around disability, inclusion working with person with disability, advocacy, storytelling etc. If this appeals you may wish to reach out to them on info@afymp.org.
You must demonstrate your passions and what you have done either as a storyteller or early career journalist in your motivation letter.
Only qualified candidates will be contacted
