- Miss Kalu, as a first-class graduate of the Nigerian Law School you embody the standard of academic excellence. Can you share with us some of the challenges you faced during your time at the Nigerian Law School and how you overcame them?
Okay, I would sum it up into three; fear, pressure, and tiredness. Now, the fear came from previous stories of Law School. People had spoken about how Law School is very difficult, how it would be, how it would stress you out, how it would be very hard and tough. To address and overcome this fear, I comforted myself with God’s word. You know, the Bible says God has not given us the spirit of bondage again to fear, but boldness. So, I began to see that God’s word has already dealt with fear, and God is with me through the Law School journey, and there is nothing to be afraid of. So, this really helped my mind and helped me focus on what really mattered.
For pressure, now pressure came from heightened expectations. There’s expectations from people. Having graduated with a second-class upper in the university, there were people that already set their expectations straight, that oh Grace you know what, you must have a first-class in Law School and having been someone that didn’t graduate with the best grade, so to say, coming into the Law School where people had graduated as best from their different institutions, there was just that self-inflicted pressure to perform. But how did I overcome pressure? You know, similar to fear, is what it was, making up my mind that I would not allow anybody’s opinion to affect me negatively. So, at some point, I didn’t really care again about what anyone thought, whether Grace Kalu would graduate with a first-class or not. I was very comfortable and excited in my journey. I knew that God had given me the spirit of excellence. That was about the same time I came in contact with Pastor Tara Akinkuade’s message the spirit of excellence. Listening in again and again, I just saw that there was no need to go through Law School with a competitive mindset. I would go through Law School understanding that God has given me the spirit of excellence and I will just show forth that spirit of excellence in all that I do. So this helped me relax. This helped me to be calm, settle down and really focus on giving attention to my studies.
Then the last one was tiredness. The truth is, Law School is physically demanding, and it’s mentally exhausting and it’s easy to get tired. But again, after I started listening to Pastor Tara’s messages, I knew the kinds of confessions to make about myself. So even on days where I felt like I should pack my things and leave the Law School… There was a particular time that I was so… I was browsing flights in class because I… I just needed to go home, I needed to rest. But in times like that, I would just remember again that the joy of the Lord is my strength. So I’ll start rejoicing, I would be happy and I would
encourage others. I would tell them, see, don’t say that Law School is tiring. Don’t say that Law School is stressful. I literally would tell everyone around me, do not complain. So I maintained an atmosphere of thanksgiving, great joy, never complaining irrespective of what we faced on the way. I believe that this really helped me and gave me perspective for success.
2. Can you walk us through how you handled the waiting period between after writing your final bar exam and when the result came out.
I will share five thought patterns to adopt while waiting for your results.
After I saw my result and I wanted to share that post, I said: “The post I wrote in September is now worthy of public view. Yes! God did it. The FIRST CLASS grade from NLS is God’s gift to me. It’s all God! Thank God I believed!”
- ‘I will NEVER write the Bar Exams again’
The first thing you should settle in your mind is that you will NEVER write the Bar Exams again. I mean, you should make this declaration become a core of your subconscious. Tell yourself that no matter what happens, failure is not an option and would never form a part of your thoughts.
- ‘The ‘mistakes’ I made have no effect on my overall success’
You know what? The mistakes you think you made may not even be mistakes at all. How do I know this? After my Criminal Litigation exams, I cried because I felt I made mistakes in my charges. Everyone was talking about how the answer required one charge sheet meanwhile, I drafted two. Mind you, I did not have any intellectual justification to draft two charge sheets. I remember praying about that question in the exams hall and the Holy Spirit instructed me to draft two charge sheets. Post exams, I was initially worried that Criminal Litigation would affect my results negatively until I had a conversation with myself to evict such thoughts. I found myself saying that even if I made a mistake in the charge sheet, it would not be so fatal that I would score ‘1/25’.
Even if you actually did make some mistakes, believe that the mistakes are not too fatal to make you fail.
- ‘I will be thankful to God for my success every day until the results are released’
Instead of feeling bad, tensed, worried and the likes, why not maintain an aura of thanksgiving? Wake up every day and be thankful. Let me give you a gratitude list. You can say
Thank you, God:
-For a wonderful result, overall.
– For my ‘A’ in Corporate Law Practice.
– For my ‘A’ in Criminal Litigation.
-For my ‘A’ in Property Law Practice.
-For my ‘A’ in Professional Ethics and Skills.
– For my ‘A’ in Civil Litigation.
– For there shall be no complications in my script
– For there shall be no mix-up in the compilation of my result
– For an outstanding success at the Bar Exams
You can add yours.
This aura of thanksgiving will help you live in FAITH, not FEAR.
- ‘I will only have good dreams about my results and not nightmares’
When you are plagued with nightmares, deal with them by consciously enforcing pictures of success in your mind. I remember that I had at least 5 dreams while awaiting my results. Guess what? In all those dreams, I had a First Class and in one of those dreams, I was called up to receive awards. You know how you think of something so much that you dream about it? That was my situation. You may call it obsession. Yes! I was obsessed about good success and my spirit, soul and body knew. I remember that on I even wrote something in my journal in September 2019 which I wanted to post online after the results are released. Here is an excerpt from what I wrote:
“Alas! My journey to the Nigerian Bar is ending. It has been six amazing years of experiences that can write a book. Few days from now, I’ll be at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, on the third day of the call, carrying the RED SCROLL in answer to the call to the Nigerian Bar.”
After I saw my result and I wanted to share that post, I said: “The post I wrote in September is now worthy of public view. Yes! God did it. The FIRST CLASS grade from NLS is God’s gift to me. It’s all God! Thank God I believed!”
- ‘I will focus on developing myself while I await my result’
It is easy for unwelcoming thoughts to fill up your mind when you are not actively engaged in some other activities. So, one way of scaling the post-exams period is to involve yourself in other productive activities. This is a good time to develop your capacity – spiritually, intellectually and professionally. Here is a list of things that you could do.
Take a retreat
Pray more
Take a course on your area of interests
Volunteer in an organization
Learn a skill, especially digital skills
Write articles
Build your portfolio (CV/Resume) and develop your personal brand
When you are focused on personal development, you will see to a better version of yourself so that you will enter the legal profession with an increased value.
Consciously work with these five thought patterns and watch the positive effect in your spirit and your mind. I bet you, on the day your results will be released, you will be sorry you worried at all.
3. The Excellence Summit has become a significant conference most law students look out for. What motivated you to start this summit, and what specific issue does it seek to address?
I remember in 2022, I thought about the fact that more students needed to hear what I have to say about excellence, more students needed to be reached, thousands of people needed to be reached at once, and they needed to know. I needed to pass down the things that made me have excellent results, not just the physical but the spiritual part. So that’s why the Excellence Summit was conceived as that platform where most importantly, there will be an impartation of the spirit of excellence.
My motivation to start this summit was reaching out to more people and imparting the God-given spirit of excellence upon them and the specific issue it seeks to address… when I think about Excellence Summit, I see a summit where people come in and they are transformed, I see a summit where people come in and they receive a transformation of their personality, they receive a renewal of their personality. Someone comes into Excellence Summit shy and feeling insignificant but they leave with boldness and the mindset that they can dominate. Someone comes into Excellence Summit with fear in their hearts towards an exam, and they leave that exam with great confidence that they can charge at life.
I remember someone that came for the 2022 edition and after the summit, when the Bar finals results were released, the person said to me that before they came for Excellence Summit they had not started reading at all for the exams. This was just about 42 days or thereabout to the exams, they started reading after that summit. They graduated with a second-class upper, and this was beyond their expectation. I’ve had people say how that they came to the summit just with an expectation of having a pass, and they ended up having a first-class or second-class upper.
So for me, Excellence Summit gives people hope, it gives people that transformation that they didn’t know they needed. It gives orders to people’s priorities, making them see that life is more spiritual than physical, and when the power of God comes into what they do, they can have exceptional and extraordinary results.
4. Having achieved academic excellence, what advice would you give to current Law School students on balancing academic rigor with personal growth?
I would say this: you are not a law student or a law school student with different lives. You have one life, and that life flows into everything that you do. So with that in mind, you would understand that law school should not stop you from doing every other thing you want to do to develop yourself. Law school should not stop you from handling multiple projects. Permit me to say at the same time. I remember one of my mentees that was still actively in business while in law school, and she had a first-class. There are other people like that. Law school is not a badge to pause your life, so to say. You can handle law school while being invested in your personal growth. It all has to do with capacity.
In 1 Kings 4:29, the Bible says that God gave Solomon a large heart, that was as vast as the sand on the seashore. The verses prior to that 1 Kings 4:29, the Bible was talking about how Israel itself was like, particularly verse 20 which says that Israel were as many as the the sand on the seashore.
So when I read that scripture, it made sense to me that if Solomon was to rule the children of Israel who were described as vast as the sand on the seashore, then the wisdom that he needed to go through this would be that vast. His capacity must be able to accommodate it. And so when I saw how that God gave him a large heart, it dawned on me that with an enlarged heart there is no limit to what you can do.
So I will tell you to give yourself to God’s word that enlarges your capacity, enlarges your heart and makes you see that you can do multiple things at the same time without fainting. I will recommend some resources on The Supernatural Student Telegram channel. You can listen to ‘Building Discipline for Your Success’ and ‘It is Easier at the Top’. These resources would make you see that no matter how much you are climbing high in your academic portrait, you can still be strengthened to give what it takes to excel in every other thing that you do.
5. As someone who has excelled in the Nigerian Law School, what personal traits, strategies, or habits do you believe are crucial for students who aspire to succeed at the highest level?
Galatians 6:4-5 the Message translation says: “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.”
My advice with respect to this question would revolve round the scripture. It’s a scripture and diet for success. If you want to succeed at the highest level, then give yourself into the work you have been given. I’ll take that again: if you want to succeed, first, you must have a strong consciousness of who you are, of your identity. Who are you? When you say you are God’s child, what does this mean to you? When you think that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, what does this mean to you? Your foundation, your identity must be deeply rooted in Christ. This is very important because the results that you see are a direct reflection of the pictures that are in your heart, and the pictures that are in your heart are a direct reflection of who you think you are.
So if God’s word says, “Oh, you are an excellent student, you are ten times better than all your peers,” your journey to success must start from exploring that identity and this is why it is very important. Make a careful exploration of who you are. Now, the work you have been given or the work that you’ve seen yourself to handle, which is being in the Nigerian Law School or being a student, that’s your work. Give yourself into it. What will it take to excel in your courses? Diligence, study. I remember when I was in the Nigerian Law School, I promised myself that no single day would pass without me interfacing with anything that relates to my studies, and I did just that. Some days it would have just been for five or ten minutes, but I ensured to have interactions with my course content every day.
So don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. I said this earlier in one of the questions I responded to. You are not in a competition with anyone, so don’t compare yourself with others. Comparing yourself with others would make you be in that place where you are not able to learn from people what God would have brought your way to learn from. So remember, you are not in a competition with anybody. If you are in a competition, it is with yourself. It is to be the better version of yourself.
Then take responsibility for doing the creative best that you can in these studies that you have given yourself to. What is the best you can do? I remember when I was in the Nigerian Law School, I brought out different study techniques to pass my courses. I will bring out different study techniques to memorize my authorities, different study techniques to read my books. I remember then I had maintained five interactions with any outline to be covered for the week, in a course. Take Corporate Law Practice for instance. The class was on Thursdays, so I would:
- Solve the pre-class tasks and take part in group meeting the previous day (Wednesday evening).
- Read the topic outline and outcomes the night before (from 11pm to 1am).
- Have a discussion with my Study Group (Group 90) on Thursday morning from 6:30am to 7:30am.
- Learn that topic extensively in class.
- Revise that topic after class, during my personal evening review at about 7:30pm to 9:30pm.
Then give yourself to resources that would help you and help keep your mind in check. For this, you’d know my recommendation. Actually, I recommend resources on The Supernatural Student platform. You can find it on Telegram, on YouTube music, on Spotify and on Apple music. Get on these platforms, listen to the resources there and you would really be spurred up and helped to excel.
6. Can you walk us through some of the highlights or most memorable moments from the previous Excellence Summits and how they’ve shaped your vision for the future?
I remember Excellence Summit 2022, I had planned that the meeting would be for 10am to 2pm. I was supposed to travel back to Ibadan after the meeting, but then at 2pm I tried to end the meeting but the attendees said no, you would have to still minister to us. So I had people wait behind say oh, Grace, I would want you to minister to me, and I laid hands on them, ministered specifically to their needs and that’s when a significant miracle happened. One of the ladies that came out to be ministered to told me that she could not hear in one of her ears, so she was deaf in one ear. It was blocked; she couldn’t hear at all, at that point, the first question that came to my heart was a miracle has to happen. I mean, the first thought that came to my heart was, a miracle has to happen here, and God has to show up and honor His word and honor Himself in that situation.
So quickly, without feeling ashamed, without thinking, what would happen if her ear does not open up, I laid hands on the ear and I spoke words of healing over her. I asked her to cover the ear that could hear, and then I started snapping my finger at the one that could not hear. In less than two three minutes, she could hear clearly. The most significant thing about that healing was that months later, she still reached out to me saying that she had stayed healed, every pain she had and discomfort had disappeared and she was fine. She now mentioned how that this had affected her studies greatly, such that she was not able to study properly, she was not able to focus.
So this really redefined the vision for Excellence Summit for me. I saw that this meeting might as well just be that one meeting that someone would have to attend and see their lives transformed. From that time, I told myself that I would stretch and give all that it takes to show up for meetings such as this, and that has informed my travel to Port Harcourt twice in the last two years to minister to the people, bless them, and see them transformed, see them healed, see them delivered from every oppression, every negative pattern that has affected their excellence and productivity.
So yes, I would say that that remains a very striking moment in the history of Excellence Summit. Yes, I remember another instant where someone came for the meeting and then. I think they mentioned that they had not read, so they were so afraid, so so so afraid. But then I ministered God’s power to the person and gave them instructions on how to approach their studies, and they came out with excellent grades. So with this and many more testimonies, I’m inspired to continue and give myself to transforming people.
7. Looking ahead, what are some of your personal goals or future plans, both in the legal profession and in your leadership of initiatives like the Excellence Summit?
For the legal profession, I see myself empower and train the rising generation of lawyers. God has helped me to be an employer of labor and I see that I will do a lot more in raising people. I mean people with depth of character and people that have the same values that I have garnered for success in my life. I see myself raising them and training them to work with me and I see myself empowering them for success in their different endeavors.
Then with respect to initiatives like Excellence Summit, I see Excellence Summit expand beyond the law school, beyond the shores of the law school to be that sought-after meeting for students, for professionals, for people that want to have an experience, an encounter with the spirit of excellence. I see it as that massive conference where people discover and are empowered to live life in accordance with the God-given pictures of excellence.
I am pushing out this year and in years to come. I’m pushing out with an initiative which I call PEP. PEP is purpose, excellence, and prosperity. These are the three things I will be focusing on to speak to a generation about purpose, to speak about excellence, to speak about prosperity. So in the coming years, watch out for initiatives such as the PEP Summit, PEP Talk, everything PEP. I will be giving myself to raising a generation, teaching them the things and values that have worked in my life across these three areas: purpose, excellence, and prosperity.
Last modified: February 3, 2025