Ejiofor, President of Magna Curia Chambers, Calls for An inextinguishable Spirit of Academic Excellence Among The Newly Admitted Law Students

By Adekunle Famuyiwa

Busayo Ejiofor Simon

The president of Magna Curia Chambers OAU, Busayo Ejiofor Simon has call for an inextinguishable spirit of academic excellence among the newly admitted law students in the Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University. In a statement released from his office on Tuesday, October 24, 2023, he urged the newly admitted law students to remain resolute to their goals and avoid distractions. 

In his words, "Brackish water … not quite fresh, not quite salty. Alligators, Angler fish, Crabs and Crocodiles inhabit brackish waters. There is danger, isolation, fear and hurts of many kinds. Brackish water is not the kind of water for cordial things, but it’s so easy to unwittingly find yourself engulfed and choking on this murky, salty, stale water.

There is so much to unpack throughout the much larger passage of Proverbs 4, but nestled in the midst of a great wealth of parental advice is verse 23. This small, but priceless gem states, “Above everything else, guard your heart, because from it flows the springs of life.” This is an admonition that I’ve grown to understand at a deeper level over the years. When I was younger, I saw it as a warning to keep myself pure and abstain from things that would pull me away from my dream. A warning of things to passively avoid. However, as I’ve gotten older, I see it as so much more: It is an urgent call to arms. 

Invariably, pain by many names – disappointment, disillusionment, hurt, shame, anger, fear, grief, rejection – has caused trickles, waves and sinister, potentially deadly, slow seeps of brackish doubt to enter the hearts of many. When for instance,  Mr A have not stayed alert and actively guarded his heart, this brackish water will steal his joy, and do its best to quench his dreams and cause his heart to start feeling numb and callous. Mr A will feel like the proverbial “frog in a pot,” almost to the point of being unable to jump out of the water slowly killing it. 

Can you relate? Unfortunately, this fallen standard leaves none of us unscathed. The enemies of our dreams know that if they can cause our hearts to become callous enough, our ears will not hear and our eyes will not behold the beauty of our prospects; we will not be able to understand and rest in the promises of our dreams. Each drop of brackish doubt in our heart causes us to become less effective, or even ineffective, in our academic walk as students and an unwitting carrier of this malevolence, splashing it into the lives of others.

How, might you ask, does one defend against one’s spring turning brackish? Well, I wish I could say I am an expert on this, but I’m still “in process” and learning.

However, Magna Curia Chambers tells you to come to her for an inextinguishable spirit of academic excellence. What I have learned is that flooding, flushing and steadily filling my heart with the truth and solace found in Magna Curia Chambers helps dilute the doubts to where they are ineffective in causing catastrophic mayhem in my soul. Seeking to know more about myself, my potentials, my ability, my goals and how to improve on it for my own good— allows confidence to flood my soul, filling me to the brim and then overflowing into the lives of others. The more I know that Magna Curia Chambers believes in me and is always ready to help me grow to my full potentials, the more doubt is washed away and the more satisfied my soul is in the promises I know will be fulfilled, even if it’s not in the immediate timeframe I want."

He further stated that learning is a lifelong process that students must appreciate in achieving their dreams. 

"Friends, this is not a “one and done” thing. It is an ongoing, let's say, lifelong process, but the doubts will become more and more diluted and the spring in our hearts will become cleaner, clearer, and stronger as we continue to move toward our dreams together as Magnarians.

Also, Obafemi Awolowo University, the faculty of Law to be precise, may pose to be that brackish water. You may as well have testimonies from friends who have passed through this system or those before you but still in it, asserting this claim. However, you have my firm reassurance that Magna Curia Chambers, OAU is here to rescue.

We are committed to giving you a better testimony about this acclaimed brackish water. We thus suggest it to you to join Magna Curia Chambers and get the keys to your academic excellence.

Magna Curia Chambers is an association of Law students created in 2003 by students in the renowned faculty of law, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, to foster academic excellence among law students. The vision of the founding members of Magna Curia Chambers (Wole Kunuji, Michael Koyejo, Babatunde Olalekan etc.) was a student organization distinguished for outstanding academic excellence. This dream was propagated into the fabric of the Chambers and that formed the basis and very foundation upon which the Chambers was built and sustained. 

This has also earned Magna Curia Chambers a trademark in the faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University, as she is more often than not referred to as the Chambers of first class students because of the consistency Magnarians (Members of Magna Curia Chambers) in always graduating with first class in almost every academic year in Obafemi Awolowo University. The likes of Okedele Precious, Wole Kunuji, Reginald Aziza, Disu Damilare, Lomuwagun Grace many among others are all testimony of Magna Curia Chambers culture of academic excellence. The Chambers is also acknowledged across the entire faculty of Law for producing outstanding leaders both within the Chambers and Ifelaw in general. 

This is also owing to the fact that the Chambers motto, (redefining the standards in leadership through law), is always our guiding principles. Wole kunuji, Olayinka Akinwole, Aderibigbe Adenike, Oguniyi Joseph, Busayo Afolabi, Lomuwagun Grace Olayinka, Caleb Adebayo; Ekpa Stanley Ekpa, Oluwatobi Adetunji, Bello Olanrewaju Emmanuel,  etc. were all at one point in time President of Magna Curia Chambers and Faculty of Law (IfeLaw) respectively.

It is noteworthy of mention that these distinguished gentlemen displayed a high level of political acumen and astuteness while they led the faculty and Chambers and their imprints and legacies are still and continue to be very visible in Ifelaw.

Once again, Magna Curia Chambers welcome you to the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University. WE WISH YOU ALL THE BEST."