From Brain Tumour to Top Scorer: Blind UNILAG Student, Ogunsua-Dixon Tijesuni Shares Experience

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Summary: Ogunsua-Dixon Tijesuni, a visually impaired first-year student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), has shared her story on how she overcame a brain tumour to emerge as the country’s highest-scoring candidate in the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s Equal Opportunity Group for Persons with Disabilities.

Ogunsua-Dixon Tijesuni, a visually impaired first-year student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), has shared how she overcame a brain tumour, blindness and years of rehabilitation to emerge as the country’s highest-scoring candidate in the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s Equal Opportunity Group for Persons with Disabilities. She shared this information with PUNCH newspaper on Monday, July 6, 2026.

Ogunsua-Dixon Tijesuni is a ‘fresher’ in Mass Communication at UNILAG. She scored 288 in the 2025 UTME, an aggregate mark of 81.2%, becoming a top scorer in the national exam disability category. She was recently honoured at the maiden Rite Foods National Academic Excellence Awards, where she was among the six other outstanding matriculants from the 2025 admission exercise.

According to her, the disability surfaced when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour at age 11 while in Junior Secondary School 2. She continued that the surgery was delayed because her parents did not want to disrupt her education. However, she began to lose her sight gradually and eventually collapsed, prompting an urgent medical intervention. 

“I was shaking so much because I was actually petrified. My self-esteem dropped a lot because I could no longer participate in sports. I was stumbling, dragging my leg. I was a wreck of myself. That was the life-changing moment,” she said.

Speaking about her life before the diagnosis, the scholar explained that she was actively involved in sports.

“I was captain of the female basketball team in primary school. I also played football, badminton and was learning how to swim. Then my left arm stopped functioning well, and I started walking awkwardly,” she said.

After her surgery, Ogunsua-Dixon underwent three years of rehabilitation in Ibadan, before she was moved to the Blind Centre in Oshodi, Lagos, where she received training in mobility and independent living. She also underwent hospitality and broadcasting training before deciding to return to formal education.

“At that point, I decided that I needed to go back to school. So I wrote another WAEC in 2025, sat JAMB again, and started processing my admission,” she said.

“There is no welfare structure for people living with disabilities in Nigeria. Very rarely do companies employ persons with disabilities. Once you show up with a disability, you are judged as unable to do anything. If there were more support, people would see what we can do because there are many talented persons with disabilities,” she urged the government and stakeholders to create opportunities for people with disabilities in Nigeria.