There are geniuses and geniuses. In the just released
results of the 2008 Gambia Basic Education Certificate Examination (GABECE), 16
candidates got aggregate six - a remarkable achievement in its own right. But
out of these 16 geniuses, one of them stands out as a super-genius: she stands
firmly on top with grade 1 in all the nine subjects she took in the exams. This
phenomenon is no other person than one Kaddijatou Fofana, of the Gambia Methodist Academy
It is no everyday we come across the Kaddijatou Fofanas of this world: They come once in a blue moon. Her incredible performance will once again stir up the debate whether ingenuity is a matter of heredity or environment, or what some scholars describe as nature versus nurture. Some believe that intelligence is hereditary, but we opine that even it is hereditary, it gets better and better if it is nurtured. We hold that there are no special brains in anybody's head; it's all a matter of discipline, determination and diligence.
Kaddijatou Fofana gave her soul to her studies and has been amply rewarded for her efforts. That is how the world goes - what you sow is what you reap. If she had been indolent, she would have just been lost in the mediocre pack. She willed herself to succeed on a phenomenal scale, backed it up with the requisite effort, and she got what she wanted.
Her success story should serve as an inspiration to everybody, especially to young girls, that a bright future awaits anybody, who strives for their goals in life with zeal. She has also shown that success is the outcome of perseverance.
The gender dimension to her success is also relevant. It is beginning to appear that we are now living in a world of female ascendancy. Female presidents are coming up everyday; women are now occupying positions that were once considered to be taboo for them. And now our own Kaddijatou Fofana has shown that being a girl child does not mean being inferior to the boy child.
We heartily congratulate Kaddijatou Fofana, her parents and her teachers who all in one way or the other contributed to her success. We are calling on her not to get complacency with success. She should keep working harder and harder: if she had been studying eight hours a day, for example, she should now double, because all eyes are now on her.