Twin brothers — Matthew Busoye and Matthias Busoye — share their stories with BIODUN BUSARI after emerging as the best-graduating students of the Faculty of Technology, University of Ibadan

Mum chose my course — Matthias

Why did you choose to study Electrical and Electronic Engineering?

I sat the UTME in 2017 after leaving secondary school. I got admitted that same year. It was my first UTME, and I passed, but I was not admitted to UI that year because of the age restriction of 16. So, I had to defer admission to the next session. I resumed a year later. However, choosing Elect/Elect was a funny story. My mother chose it for me.

There were many options, but my family knew I was going to be an engineer. It was just which engineering? So, we settled for electrical/electronic. The major reason was that my mum told us (me and my brother) that we needed to do something that in the worst-case scenario, we would have a backup plan. So, electrical-electronics seemed like the fit that we could open a shop and be self-employed.

Didn’t you object to the idea?

We did not. It wasn’t like she just decided. It was based on a conversation. In secondary school, we were good in Maths, Physics, and Chemistry. We knew it was going to be science or engineering for us. Engineering was the strong option. My elder brother did Mechanical Engineering from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Ogbomoso. My twin brother and I opted for our course because we didn’t want to study Mechanical Engineering.

What was your mum’s connection with science or engineering?

She’s a trader; but she is educated. According to her, she was a science student in her senior secondary school days but she changed to commercial class. I think she did business.

Growing up, we wanted to go to UI but we knew it was tough in terms of scoring high and knowing people. So, while we were younger, my father always talked about LAUTECH instead. His discussion of engineering pushed us.

Did you plan to graduate with a first class?

Everyone knew that getting a first class was a tough task but I didn’t believe the popular opinion. I just understood my lessons and read for exams. I didn’t nurse any fear of getting a first class. The goal was 4.0. We were optimistic. But in terms of the first class, I didn’t think about it.

Were there special formulas for your reading?

The main thing that I tried to do was prioritise understanding the concepts when I had much time. I tried to understand because it helped in the long run. Well, in terms of till-day-break (TDB) or morning-till-night reading in UI, I didn’t have those formulas.

But I did a few TDBs in my final year. Formulas didn’t work for me. I’m a flexible reader. So, I read based on vibes and timing. I studied the time when I was in the mood to read. I did not have a fixed schedule. I tried to manage my time as much as possible to balance my activities.

This helped me to multitask and read. So, those TDBs helped me in terms of balancing extra things and academics. I remember there were times that I would be on the road and possibly watching YouTube videos to try to understand something to save time. So, I did not really have a fixed pattern or a trick.

What’s your final CGPA?

I had a CGPA of 3.94 of 4.0.

You talked about multitasking; what other things did you do apart from your studies?

UI was a lot for me. I was the speaker of the student union. So, that was a lot in my final year.

What was your campus politics experience?

The goal was to finish with a 4.0. We also wanted to have fun and play around. But politics was not in it at all; maybe just football and some extra collaboration.

But, when my GPA was not perfect, I decided to do other things. I told myself, ‘If 4.0 is not working, let me just try to do other things.’

Then, I joined Junior Chamber International in 200-level. Then the COVID came in 2020. Later, the faculty association elections came up. Then, people were not really interested. So, I saw the opportunity to go into it, and I went for the finance secretary of my Faculty Association. So, I went for that. That was in 200 level. I was also into the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers while doing some academic tutorials.

Then, during the COVID pandemic as well, I did a bit of programming. I started doing embedded systems and AI. Around that time, I also started doing a remote internship for AI ML. So, it was research, and I was able to get a paper published. I think that was 300 level. In 400-level, I did not do much. What I did was I joined the Student Representative Council; then, I started loving the experience of the SRC.

It was non-political. Then I left the house. I decided to go. The campaign was stressful, because I was doing it in Lagos. I had to campaign, coming to Ibadan most weekends. I tried to balance it, and I thank God I won. Then in 500 level, I became the speaker. I think the experience was a whole lot, and I enjoyed it. I was doing my tech skills, embedded systems, and AI

Were there times challenges made you feel like giving up?

I think my 400 and 500 levels were like that. I was a bit losing interest in academics. The economic situation affected me. This caused my major drop in 500-level. I went from 3.95 to 3.92 or something. So, I was not serious, and I tried to cover up in exams. My thesis project was burdensome. One of the major problems was in terms of giving as much time, not just in terms of work. I think I kept doing as much work as needed.

Also, there were three protests early in the semester. That took a mental toll on me. I was down. I was sent home three times. I was sad about how the protest went. I could not read in that period. I just came back to school. I had to start. However, my major reason for not giving up was my motivation — my mother. She did a lot for us as a single parent.

How many are you in your family, and did you all study engineering courses?

We are four children; my elder brother, my elder sister, and then my twin brother and me. My sister studied Mass Communication.

How do you feel after having this first class?

I feel very excited, not just for me, but for my mother especially. It seemed like her effort was crowned.

How did you share the news of your result with her?

We told her via a WhatsApp message. It was much easier to tell her because initially, we were not sure if it was going to be two of us because the results dropped individually, not together. I had a B; so, I was not really joyful until I saw the result. When we saw it, Matthew just told me that he was a bit higher than me. She was thankful to God when she heard that we made it.

Were there times you both read or discussed academics together?

We didn’t study together. We helped each other with questions, but we didn’t read together. I mean, we were roommates, at least neighbours, for most of our five years in UI. But in terms of assignments and classwork, we discussed solutions to them.

How do people differentiate between you and your twin brother?

We didn’t like confusing people with our identities. Before, we liked wearing the same clothes but we just changed all of a sudden. Those who were very close to us would distinctly know the difference. I have a scar on my head, but it is not visible to anyone except when they come closer. It’s not really a distinguishing feature until you come close.

What are your aspirations?

My plan right now is to build, keep building, and keep learning. Right now, we are looking at doing an internship to try to build our embedded system. I’m interested in embedded AI engineering, the intersection between embedded systems, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

I’m also looking at possibly getting postgraduate study, research, and mainly focus on a PhD. In the future, after money is made, politics is something I will consider.

My mum became a loan collector to fund our academics — Matthew

How does it feel making a first class?

Well, I would say the feeling is joyous. I’m grateful for the achievement and the completion of that stage of my life. There’s one thing I am quite grateful for and that is the fact that I was able to make my mum proud. I would love to dedicate the results to her because she’s the reason why I was able to get there.

As part of my speech during the induction, I also said it (dedicating my results to her) because she stood by us since the demise of our father when we were 12. There was a time when she faced financial hardship on how to pay our school fees. The wisest thing would have been for uncles to take us, but she said no.

She made a particular statement that if it was for her to suffer and eat garri for us to succeed, she would do it. She did everything in her capacity to fund our education. We stayed together through thick and thin. She was a constant loan collector to make ends meet. She tried for us.

Did you plan it?

I was not the most serious person. I just did what I had to do in terms of reading. But making my mother proud was not something I focused on in terms of making a first class. I knew that my mother did not care about the results I came out with.

I remember I only told her my results once. She has never asked us about our results. So, that was not a criterion to make her proud or not.

Meanwhile, the first-class thing was quite bad at first. We just did our best, and it turned out that our best was good for the first class. It was not like we were trying to achieve something in particular. It was just what we did best.

What are the secrets of your success?

I was an open-minded person in school. But my major strength was the fact that I knew myself. I knew what could work for me. I was involved in some things apart from academics. My course — Electrical Engineering — is built on foundation and understanding. I leveraged that. Every new concept is built on parallel knowledge.

 So, one thing I tried to do when I read was to understand the concept as much as I could. In my 300 level, most of the things I understood were the things I was taught. Another thing was self-motivation. I could clearly remember in my first year, I was trying to balance my departmental students’ association presidency with academics. I wanted to give up.

What sessions did you consider toughest and easiest?

Let’s start with the easiest. The easiest by far would be 100-level. Though it was like my worst because it had my lowest GPA, the reason why it was my lowest was not because I didn’t know what I was doing. It was mostly not my fault because courses that I did not have more points were just advanced secondary school knowledge of the courses.

I was grounded in the science subjects like Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. Going to my toughest; that would be 500-level. It was because I needed time to balance my academics and school politics. I was going for the position of the president of my department, and I faced a lot of opposition. The only way I would not win the presidency was if I could not contest.

So, they tried to put the stakeholders of the department to make sure I did not go for the post of the president. I was mentally drained, which made me lose interest. That was the level I had a lot of courses to take.

So you were involved in campus politics; what was the experience like?

I was mostly involved in departmental politics. I started when I ran for assistant public relations officer. I won. Shortly after that, I was a public relations officer. After that, I became president. So, apart from my department, I was able to serve as a student representative member for my hostel.

I was a representative member of the campus assembly. Also, for non-technical, I was the hardware lead for Globally Distributed Software Engineering, UI. Eventually, when I ran for the departmental presidency; I won over 80 per cent of the votes.

Were you and your brother roommates?

Luckily for us, we stayed together in the same hall of residence — Nnamdi Azikwe Hall — which I felt was a little bit of a coincidence. We were Zikites. We heard stories that most twins were usually separated on purpose. But for us, in 100-level, I stayed in his room throughout.

We were given separate rooms but in the same hostel. However, I don’t think I ever slept in my room at all. I slept in his room throughout. In 200-level, I stayed with him throughout. That was during COVID-19. It was in the third year that we decided to stay separately, even though we were close to each other.

Did you have reading formulas?

I could read in uncomfortable places. So, I knew I could balance. I could be in a meeting and be reading. There was no reading formula for me to adhere to.

What did you finish with?

I had a CGPA of 3.94 out of 4.0. My brother and I were the best in our department and faculty.

Did people have difficulty identifying both of you?

There were a million times people mistook us for each other. Meanwhile, it can be said that there were people who were close to us and identified us. Numerous people were very close to us, but still couldn’t differentiate us. I know some of my classmates who never differentiated us. I’m not even sure if any of my lecturers differentiated us at all.

What are your plans?

My goals are summarised into two: I hope to continue my academics and maybe have a direct PhD in an embedded-related course. Hopefully, I will start working on that soon.