By: Dr. Salihu Lukman, Assistant Professor at the University of Hafr Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia (MRCP Ex-Student)
Twitter Handle: @SalihuLukman
Published in Refresher Magazine (Vol. 2, No. 1): August 2019
A very long time ago, I was born and grew up in Zaria City with little or no remarkable performance at my basic education period i.e. primary and junior secondary school years. Though, I independently read widely books written in English language during my free times. My performance was above average in that subject.
In SS1, I joined science class and wasn’t getting much from my regular classes at school and so decided to intensify personal efforts which pushed me to seek out for assistance out my older colleagues to explain several concepts of especially physics. It was on this personal voyage that I was introduced in 1995 to the Muslim Refresher Course Program (MRCP) (hereinafter referred to as Refresher) by a nephew and a childhood friend, Engr. Idris Nuhu Malami (Major). From then on, a fire had been ignited, a zeal and a passion for science, a force so strong, that nothing could stand in my way. Suffice it to say that I was always top of my class since then.
I found in Refresher, teachers that were exceptional, whose only goal was to impart knowledge to any knowledge-hungry person by all means and at all cost without regards to any material worldly gains. Although Refresher was scheduled from 9 am to 1 pm on weekends only, their teachers were available for us 24/7 to satisfy our thirst for quality knowledge which could not be obtained in most of the then Government-owned secondary schools. For instance, in addition to attending the regular Refresher classes, my friends Dr. Abubakar Hassan (Chairman), Major, Dr. Shu’aibu M. Bala, Bashir Mohammed and I organized another lesson on Biology during weekends from 4 – 6 pm. It was taken by Dr. Lawal Halliru (Dr. Daddy) who taught us Chemistry in Refresher and was a medical student in ABU then. I would also consult Dr. Suleiman Garba in his own room from 2 – 3 pm on weekends if I had any problem in Mathematics and Physics. Dr. Daddy would teach me Biology in his own room regularly from 2 -3 pm during some days of the week. Engr. Bello Atiku also personally taught me Mensuration (plane shapes in Mathematics). Early in the morning, he offered me his breakfast before starting the lesson. From him, I learned for the first time, the irresistible taste of liquid milk in ‘koko’ (pap). In the evenings, one of my main mentors, ‘Major’ – who was a year ahead of me at Refresher, gave me regular lessons in Mathematics and Physics.
This intensive personal learning voyage yielded positive results within a short while. While in SS2, I won a 1st position trophy in Essay and Spelling Competition organized for secondary schools in Zaria by Zaria Educational Development Association (ZEDA). Encouraged by one of my mentors Dr. Daddy, I also sat for WAEC External Examination in SS2 which I passed with flying colors including an A2 in Chemistry. After I was presented with the trophy at the ZEDA Annual General Meeting (AGM), His Royal Highness, the Emir of Zazzau, Alh. (Dr.) Shehu Idris secretly pledged to personally sponsor my tertiary education. He lived up to his words and even bought me a desktop computer system needed for my final year project at the undergraduate level. I still have this computer system and it is still functional – I hold it so dear to my heart and consider it a very important souvenir that I will live to tell my children the interesting story behind it. This is in addition, he gave me about four different bicycles in total sequentially whenever he learned that I lost my bicycle or it was stolen.
Dr. Daddy strove very hard to make a medical doctor out of me. After I completed my secondary school education, by encouraging me to study Further or Advanced Mathematics in preparation for becoming a medical student. Even after I passed out from Refresher after completing SS3 in 1997, I continued to take my Further Maths lessons from Refresher teachers. In this case, Mal. Zubairu Rilwan (Baban Jummai) and Mal. Hassan Sabo came to our rescue. They laid a solid foundation in Further Maths for my friends. I can still remember purchasing my first Further Maths textbook by Godman & Talbert titled ‘Additional Mathematics for West Africa’ from my mentor, Dr. Daddy at about N120 and later exchanged my ‘Pure Mathematics 2’ (by Backhouse) with ‘Intermediate Pure Mathematics’ (by Blackey) with Mal. Baban Jummai. I gave these details so that readers of this piece will clearly understand and appreciate how these ‘angels’ in human forms did not only direct us to the best books but went a step further to help us acquire those rich texts. After tasting the sweetness of Further Maths, I arrived at a conclusion that a life devoid of the combo- Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry was not something I could imagine. So, well equipped by my mentors, I followed my heart and started a bachelor’s degree in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering at the popular Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
My arrival on campus was not unnoticed when in 100 L first semester, I had A’s in all my Physics courses. I was personally interviewed by some of my lecturers and colleagues who were surprised to find out that I attended a public school and an extra-mural lesson called Refresher. Some of them could not believe that I did not attend Therbow School or a Federal Government School because it was uncommon at that time to find products of Government schools studying professional courses. I became very popular on campus as a tutor of several ‘tough’ courses like Calculus, Heat and Properties of Matter, Strength of Materials, Differential Equations, etc. My tutorials were attended by a large crowd of students. While in the university, I would also come back, especially on weekends, to teach at my alma mater, the popular Refresher and Muslim Potential Doctors (MPD) now called Muslim Special Training Centre (MSTC) which we started as a special class under Refresher and later developed into a full-blown extra-mural lesson similar to Refresher. In a short while, Refresher became popular among my colleagues who came from different places to study at ABU including those who were residents of Zaria but unaware that programme like Refresher existed. It became even more popular a year later when Dr. Kabir Ahmed’s set came on board. Refresher became a household name in the Faculty of Engineering to such an extent that students who came from places other than Zaria used to ask whoever hailed from Zaria whether he or she had attended the prestigious Refresher.
Even in the university, Refresher teachers continued to relentlessly mentor us to academic excellence. My MRCP teachers mentored me throughout my undergraduate days until I graduated as the best student in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering in 2004 and was employed during my NYSC as a lecturer in the same department. I did my MSc in Hydraulics and Engineering Hydrology in ABU, in 2009 before gaining a scholarship by the Saudi Arabian Government to do my PhD in environmental engineering, in the prestigious King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) – the best university in the Arab world and one of best in the world. I was fortunate to finish in a record time of 3 years, with an outstanding number of publications in international journals and conferences. I was then offered a faculty (lecturing) position as the first assistant professor of civil engineering in one of the prestigious KFUPM colleges in Hafr Al-Batin (now University of Hafr Al-Batin), Saudi Arabia, where I rose – within a year – to head the departments of Mechanical, Civil and Chemical Engineering. Currently, I head the Civil and Chemical Engineering Departments at the same university.
To all the good people of Refresher; Aliyu Sabo (Coordinator), Baban Jummai, Hassan Sabo, M.D. Nata’ala, Kabir Lawal, Umar Hassan, Dr. Daddy, Dr. Suleiman Garba, Dr. Abdurrafi’u, Dr. Ahmad Ismail, Ibrahim Physics and others too numerous to mention – you believed, taught and mentored me to stand firm – may Allah (SWA) reward you with Firdaus and ease all your affairs. Let me conclude with a popular secondary school debate conclusion phrase, I hope you are fully convinced and not confused that Refresher made me what I am today and what I will ever be in the future, by Allah’s will.