Husband & Wife bag PhD from UNILAG on the Same Day

A married couple, Olusegun Samuel and his wife, Temitope Samuel stole
the show at the 50th Convocation Ceremony of the University of Lagos
where they made history by becoming the first couple to bag doctorate
degrees on the same day at the institution.
While Samuel did his PhD work on Marine Ecology, with a focus on
Ecotoxicology- the study of how poison and chemicals affect the
ecosystem, his wife focused on Dermatophyte, agroup of fungi that
causes skin diseases.
Samuel who joined UNILAG as a lecturer in the Faculty of Science in
2007 met Temitope at thesame institution and they got married in May
2010. Temitope on the other hand, obtained herfirst and second
degrees at UNILAG. They are blessed with a child but decided not to
have another until they complete their PhD programmes, Temitope told
Punch .
" We decided that we were not going to mix pleasure with business. The
two don't go together. Why should we have another baby so soon? When
we got married on May 1, 2010, we both agreed on what would happen
before we started our PhD programme. But now, the programme is over,
we can return to that ," she said.
They said it took them a lot of hard work, sleepless nights, and huge
financial resources tocomplete the programme.
"It took a lot of sacrifice. But since we were both involved, we were
able to manage our time. Whenever I was not at home, my wife would be
there. Again, at times, we worked so late on the campus that we did
not get home until 11.00pm," Samuel told Punch .
He added that he is proud of his wife's achievement and doesn't feel
threatened by it. "It is what we both agreed to do. I don't feel
threatened that my wife has attained the same academic feat with me.
It is for the benefit of the family."
They don't intend to stop at a PhD but plan to pursue their post-doctoral works.
"Definitely, getting a PhD is not the end. The next thing is to pursue
post-doctoral works outside the country, because there is no
facilities for such in Nigeria. Then, there is the need to get our
findings published in a reputablejournal. For some, it costs about
$500 to get published. Some may say they want to publish it free, but
it may take more than two years to get published. For two years, they
may tell you that they are still studying your findings, " Samuel
said.
Their achievement is indeed admirable and we wish them the very best.

Source: Bellanaija