The Joint Admission Matriculation Board, JAMB disclosed to all candidates who will be sitting for the 2021 UTME examination that they will be tested on a Use of English Novel titled "The Life Changer by Khadija Abubakar Jalli''.
The book "The Life Changer" by Khadija Abubakar Jali is a novel that changes the narrative of life in campus.
Laced with underlying optimism, the book upholds the tenets of hope and redemption in the lives of our youth.
The story follows the escapades of Salma and her roommates in the university as a swim in the turbulent and seamy tides of the academia.
2021 JAMB Novel The Life Changer Comprehensive & Concise Chapter by Chapter Summary
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Khadija
AbubakarJalli holds a Bachelor of Science(Mathematics) Education
degree. she is an entrepreneur and the CEO of the She's Boutique
Afrique. She is happily married with children.
PLOT SUMMARY
Khadija
Abubakar Jalli's " The Life Changer" is a debut novel that explores the
narrative of life realities at the Nigeria University campus; the
freedom of dressing, way of life, and attitudes towards life. It also
explores the good, the bad, and the unthinkable aspects of human
characters especially in response to freedom.
Furthermore, the
novel is laced with the underlying optimism towards hope and redemption
of life in the present youth through its embedded narrative that details
Salma and her roommate's escapades in the university as they glide in
the turbulent and seamy sides of academia.
The story begins with
Bint, a five-year-old girl and the darling of the Ahmed family narrating
her classroom encounter with their meddlesome social studies teacher;
Mallam Salihu. Mallam Salihu who seems to believe he understood every
little bit about every subject was somewhat ridiculed when Bint who had
answered his question on how to say " Good Morning" in French asked him
to say "That is very good" in French. Mallam Salihu was unable to answer
the question but with the help of the French mistress, this made him
leave Bint's class and never returned till after the break Of course,
Bint's courage to ask a teacher a question he couldn't answer was
appreciated by her classmates. While she recounts her tales to her older
siblings, their mother whim they are used to her impromptu barging into
their room as tactics she uses to keep them on their toes on issues of
personal hygiene came in and joined their what sounds like an
interesting story. She however put them in the right perspective not to
mock Mallam Salihu but rather celebrates his humility to accept that he
doesn't have an answer to her question and calls the French Mistress to
their aid.
Omar's arrival changed the conversation. Omar has just
been admitted into Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to study Law. This
good news calls for celebration. Omar had been a precocious child and
his outstanding success in both his SSCE; which he described his
achievement as "no means a small feat", and JAMB gave his mother the
need to explain and shares her experiences at the university and how she
responded to them. Some of these life experiences were hers while many
are through Salma's and her roommate's embedded story.
Ummi tells
her son that admission into the university is a life changer. She
recounts how she left Lafayette to the university after agreeing to her
father's condition that she must be married before she graduated but
luckily for her, her husband agreed to marry her before she went for
registration at the university and this calls for a double celebration
for her and the entire community.
At the University, Ummi and
many other students were in a queue at the Faculty registration office.
The lecturer in charge had taken ages to commence the exercise.
Then
Salma, a fair-complexioned girl, tall and slim in tight—fitting clothes
had only arrived at the venue barely fifteen began to grumble about the
ineptitude of the registration officer, the University lecturers having
previously had an awful occurrence from her previous university where
she was expelled from the school for the offense of examination
malpractice. While she was grumbling, a young man politely addressed her
to be calm that others have come earlier than her yet they remained
calm in the queue but Salma wouldn't refrain from saying spiteful things
about university officials.
However, the twist of all happened
when a Janitor emerged from the office and handed the keys to the office
to the young man who had engaged Salma and the turnout became a
discomfiting moment for her. The faculty registration commenced and in a
short time, Ummi was through and she proceeded to the department for
her matriculation number. At the department, Ummi was shocked to see
that the departmental head, Dr. Samuel Johnson was a young man, he had a
tribal mark that gave him away to either be an lgala or a Yoruba man,
the crucifix That dangles across his chest from his necklace is an
indication that his religious ideology is Christianity. His hospitable
gestures towards Ummi who is still filled with all derogatory
allegations Salma talked about university lecturers made her
uncomfortable. She later learned from her husband that Mr. Samuel
Johnson was the one who assisted him with her admission into the
university.
Furthermore, Ummi recounts the story of "the quiet
one" alongside more unfolding tales about Salma and her roommates to
admonished her children especially Omar who is now a university
undergraduate.
The moral from the story of the quiet one is for
her son not to trust anyone because it is impossible to be certain of
people especially to the fact that looks could be deceptive. For Salma's
story, the children learned to be careful of whom they make as friends.
She admonished them to avoid friends that can lure them into cultism or
those who could engage them in Emal (examination Malpractice).
2021 UTME Novel he Life Changer by Khadija Abubakar Jalli 23 Characterization Summary
1. Ummi Ahmed
Ummi
Ahmed is the main character and the narrator of all the embedded
stories in the novel; "The Life Changer". She got married to Mr. Ahmed
before she proceeded to the university as fulfilling her father's
condition for her to get a university education. She is a teacher and a
mother of Four children; Omar, Teemah, Jemila, and Bint.
2. Bint
She
is 5 years old and the darling of the Ahmed family. She is a brilliant
and very inquisitive child. She boldly answered Mallam Salihu's question
in French but in return asked him a question that he couldn't answer.
This somewhat embarrassed Mallam Salihu out of her class.
3. Mallam Salihu
He
is a meddlesome social studies teacher in Bint's school. He believed he
has a little bit of knowledge of every subject especially French but he
was somewhat ridiculed in Bint's class when she asked him a question in
French and he couldn't give an answer.
4. Jemila
Jemila is the third child and the second daughter of the Ahmed family.
5. Teemah
She is the second child and the first daughter of the Ahmed family.
6. Omar
Omar
is Ummi's first child and the only son. He is eighteen years old. He is
always decently dressed and clean. He described his SSCE as outstanding
performance as " by no means a small feat". He also passed his JAMB and
gained admission into Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to study Law.
7. Talle
He
is named Talle because his mother died shortly after his birth.
However, he is called the "quiet one" because of his quiet nature even
as a child. He is born and bred in Lafayette. The ghastly car accident
that claimed his father's and stepmom's life when he was barely twenty
years old compounded his state that he withdrew completely to himself.
He conspires with Zaki to kidnap a young boy to extort his father. Talle
and Zaki were sentenced to some year imprisonment with hard labor.
8. Salma
Salma
is a fair-complexioned girl, tall, slim and busty. She was expelled in
400|evel from her former school on the offense of Examination
malpractice.
9. Tomiwa
Tomiwa
is a Muslim girl from the west, lbadan to be precise. Tomiwa is the
brightest and the cleanest in her room. She abreast herself with the
latest information in the entertainment industry because of her ambition
to become a singer. She also knows the latest and the craziest fashion
outfit. She dates Honorable Habib.
10. Ada
Ada is from Benue but insists that people call her place birth Middle belt. She is also Salma's roommate at Queen Amina Hostel.
11. Ngozi
Ngozi
is Salma's roommate who is from Umunze in lmo state and she is very a
quiet and reticent person. She is always reserved and withdrawn but she
is generous to a fault. She will never cook for herself alone.
12. Habib
Habib is a politician. He and his friend, Labara met Salma at Kwangila and offers to give her a ride to the University campus.
13. Labaran
Labaran
is Honourable Habib's childhood friend and his driver. They grew up
together but when Habib chooses education he chose to go to a driving
school. He sometimes supports his friend before he became a politician
with the little he earned as a driver at the local government and to pay
back for his kindness, Habib made him his driver when he became a
politician.
14. Zaki
Zaki
is the brain behind the idea to kidnap his friend's son and extort him
as well. He involved Talle in his evil plan because Talle needs money
and involving in the kidnapping seems to be a way to get some money.
15. Dr. Samuel Johnson
Dr.
Samuel Johnson is a young lecturer. He has a tribal mark that almost
confused him to be an lgala or a Yoruba man. He is the HOD at Ummi's
Department and a very dear friend to Ummi's husband. He also assisted
Ummi to gain admission into the university.
16. Dr. Dabo
Dr.
Dabo is a very discipline lecturer and he has never engaged himself in
any form of underhandedness with any female students. He has a track
record of treating his students Justly. He is never last for lectures
and his lecture rule is simple" Don't come in after me".
17. Hakimi:
He is the district head of the Lafayette community. The police apprehended Talle in his palace.
18. Kolawole Abdul
He
is Salma's coursemate and out of pressure from Salma when they were
writing their last paper, Moral Philosophy, he scribbled out some code
to the answer and gave it to Salma. He is brilliant and very smart. He
was implicated by Salma at the Exam malpractice and Ethic Penal that he
was also expelled from the University
19. Mohammad Kabir
Mohammad
Kabir was employed as the Dr Kabir who is an impostor. He is not even a
lecturer at the University let alone the chairman of the EMEC.
20. Lawal
He
is Salim's friend who refused to accompany him to meet his new social
media lover; the Fulani girll who turned out to be completely different
from the looks on the displayed picture on her profile.
21 Natasha
She is the girl that Salim met on a social media platform.
22. Kartagi
He is the leader of the gambling group where Mohammad Kabir gambled and won three hundred thousand naira.
23. Gumusu
Gumusu is the thug that was sent after Kabir by Kartagi after he won three hundred thousand naira from his gambling group.
1. The Life Changer Chapter One - Comprehensive and Concise Summary
Bint,
a five-year-old girl and also the darling of the Ahmed Family narrates
her encounter with her importunate social studies teacher; Mallam Salihu
who often believes he knows every little bit about every subject to her
siblings. He was however somewhat ridiculed when Bint answered his
question on how to say "good morning" in French asked him to say "that
is very good" in French. Mallam Salihu's inability to interpret" that is
very good" in French causes him to leave Bint's class and never return
till after break While she and her siblings were giggling about her
story, their mother barged into their
room to join their
conversation. She then encourages them not to mock Mallam Salihu but
celebrate his humility to accept his cluelessness by seeking the French
mistress assistance to answer Bint's question.
Omar's arrival
with the news of his admission into Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to
study Law changed their conversation to a more torrent flow of thoughts
on life issues that concerns Ummi's children, especially to Omar who had
just gained admission to study Law.
2. The Life Changer Chapter Two - Comprehensive and Concise Summary
This
chapter recounts how Ummi gained admission into the university has
agreed to her father's condition to be married before graduation. But
her husband decided to marry her even before she proceeded to
university. She recounts how she met Salma and how she embarrassed
herself for saying spiteful things about the University official at the
faculty registration office. Ummi's gave an unwelcomed gesture towards
Dr Samuel Johnson's hospitality when she visited his office to get her
matriculation number. She later learned from her husband that Dr Samuel
Johnson was a good friend of his and the one who help him to sort her
admission out at the University. Ummi felt bad and request that her
husband visit Dr Samuel Johnson to tender an apology on her behalf.
3. The Life Changer Chapter Three - Comprehensive and Concise Summary
In
chapter three, Ummi tells the tales of the quiet one to admonish her
children especially Omar, her first child, and the only son who had just
gained admission into the university. Talle is born and bred in
Lafayette, the circumstances that surround his birth were known by all
citizens of the community. Talle lost his mother shortly after his birth
and he was barely twenty years old before he lost his father and
stepmom in a ghastly car accident. This incident compounded his state
that he withdrew completely to himself. Talle became so lonely that he
dedicated his zeal to his work at the local government office where he
served as a driver. But one day, things take a dramatic twist for him as
people in the grocery store where he gets foodstuffs noticed that his
purchase has increased from the normal he usually buys and knowing that
he has no one that stays with made the grocer calls the attention of the
District head, Hakimi, that Talle now buys more than he can consume in a
week in days. Hakimi summoned Talle to the palace for some questioning.
However,
Talle's inability to answer a simple question gave him away to be
guilty of something that no one had any idea of. While this was ongoing
at Hakimi's palace, the police arrived at the Hakimi's palace with some
military escorts as well. They told Hakimi that Talle, one of his
subjects is involved in kidnapping, armed robbery and extortion. Talle
was arrested and he took the police to his house where he hid his
victim. He and Zaki were sentenced to some years of imprisonment with
hard work.
4. The Life Changer Chapter Four - Comprehensive and Concise Summary
This
chapter recounts Salma's story of how she got into the university when
she was barely twenty years of age. Her encounter with Dr Dabo who is
the then 100 level coordinator is significant to this chapter.
Dr
Dabo is a very discipline lecturer and he has never engaged himself in
any form of underhandedness with any female students. He has a track
record of treating his students Justly. He is never late for lectures
and his lecture rule is simple" Don't come in after me". But as Salma
appeared radiantly gorgeous to his office he threw cautions away and
didn't know when he requests that she should befriend him intimately.
Salma rejects his request immediately and this made him feel so bad that
he repented and vow never to lose guard again. Salma got the most
famous Queen Amina Hall. At first, she didn't like her roommates;
Tomiwa, Ngozi and Ada. She hates the idea that she could not choose whom
to be her roommate but later got along faultlessly with them that they
lived like sisters.Salma met Habib and Labaran at Kwangila one evening
when she was returning back from home. They offer to give her a ride to
the school campus and when they dropped her off, Salma told them her
name is Tomiwa and also gave them Tomiwa's number.
5. The Life Changer Chapter Five - Comprehensive and Concise Summary
The
next day at 8 pm, Habib called Tomiwa to inform her that they are
parked at the front of her hostel and requests that she comes out so
they could hang out. Tomiwa decided to feed her curiosity as she stepped
out of her hostel to meet Habib. However, Habib was smart enough to
know that Tomiwa was not the lady he gave a ride to the previous night.
Tomiwa confirmed his guesses and realize that Salma gave them Tomiwa's
contact. Habib sent Labaran to get some provision and Suya for them to
eat and also gave fifty thousand naira to her and asked her to give her
roommate Ten thousand naira each while she keeps the remaining twenty
thousand naira. Tomiwa was wowed and when she returned to the hostel
with the money and a lot of goodies. She and her roommate began to
ululate and scream forjoy as they savoured the chicken suya she brought.
Salma became slightlyjealous that almost degenerated into a rift
between her and Tomiwa but for Ada and Ngozi intervention the matter
soon became a
forgotten issue.
Habib and Labaran are childhood
friends. While Habib chose education, Labaran decided to go to a
driving school and being a good friend, he sometimes supports Habib with
some little fund from his earnings as a driver at the local government.
But when Habib became a politician he appointed his friend as his
driver to pay back his sometimes support in the past.
6. The Life Changer Chapter Six - Comprehensive and Concise Summary
School
routine had resumed and the girls are in their final year. It is very
interesting to note that despite the four girls involvement with men,
they never allow their studies to suffer for it. They are at the top of
their game, that they are all to graduate with a second class upper
degree even though they are studying a different course. Unfortunately
for Salma, Moral philosophy that is one of the easiest course and easy
to pass happens to be a difficult course for her. She like other
students didn't attend classes for this course since it a general
course. However, she attends the tutorial a day before the exam because
for some years the lecturer in charge of the course has been foolishly
repeating questions with minimal changes so Salma studied the past paper
and went in for an exam. To her ruin, when questions were served by the
invigilator, Salma realized that she was the only one who is not
writing because the lecturer had cut short her expectations. After a
while, she began to badger the person who seated next to her, Kolawole
Abdul for assistance. He resisted for a while but later conceded and
scribble some code response to the first two questions. But as Salma was
busy copying from the notes of salvation, the female invigilator was
amazed at her sudden inspiration to write after she had stayed more than
thirty minutes without writing. She quietly walked behind her and saw
where she was writing from for some minutes before she called her
attention and that of the security man outside the hall. Salma was
compelled to sign the EMAL form and Kola and the next female student
sitting next to on the other side were made to sign as witnesses. Sadly
for Kola, Salma implicated him when she was summoned to the panel and he
was also expelled from the school.
7. The Life Changer Chapter Seven - Comprehensive and Concise Summary
This
chapter recounts how Salma confided her friend, Tomiwa, how she thinks
talking to Labaran to talk to Honourable Habib could influence anyone
that matters to help her overcome her predicament. Unfortunately for
her, the only influential person he knows that could help is Professor
Dabo.
Salma felt so helpless to hear that the same Professor Dabo
she insulted in her l00level when he requested to be his girlfriend the
one that can help. She immediately and desperately pleaded that
honourable Habib to give her some money to bribe the chairman of EMEC
who she described could sell his mother's soul for money. Honourable
Habib agreed to give her some money but request that she gives him
something in return. She yielded right in his office. After she got the
money from Habib,
She prepared to meet with the Chairman of the EMEC
in a hotel and gave only one hundred thousand naira to one Dr Mohammed
Kabir as the Chairman of EMEC. She later discovered at the panel that
she had been swindled by Dr Kabir who is an impostor. He is not even a
lecturer at the University let alone the chairman of the EMEC.
8. The Life Changer Chapter Eight - Comprehensive and Concise Summary
This
chapter summarises how Dr Mohammad Kabir got the appellation of a
Doctor. It was a nickname given to him from secondary school. He was
employed at the university as an L.T; Laboratory Technician but his
friendliness got him intimacy with also all the people that mattered at
the University.
After Salma cried to Labaran and narrated her
ordeal of how she was bamboozled by an impostor. Labaran then engaged
the service of Zaki to trail Mohammad Kabir and recovered a sum of three
hundred thousand naira from himjust after he had a big win from
gambling with the money he collected from Salma.
This chapter
also shed light on whom employed the service of Zaki to Kidnap Alhaji
Adamu's son. It was Honourable Habib who instructed Zaki to deal with
Alhaji Adamu by kidnapping his son and he fumbled by involving an
inexperienced villager; Talle that almost cost him millions to cover up
the case with the police and to get him and Talle released.
9. The Life Changer Chapter Nine - Comprehensive and Concise Summary
In chapter nine, Ummi recounts Salim; Salma's fiance, experience with the usage of smartphones. A terrible experience that almost claimed his life. He met a girl named Natasha on one social media platform. The day they've planned to meet physically turn out to be a horrendous event. Salim agreed to visit her around right to nine in the evening since she claimed she would not be allowed to go out in the afternoon.However, the turnout of their meeting made Salim realized that Natasha was bait used by kidnappers and arm robbers. He escaped the set trap by Natasha and her gangs divinely.
NOTE: In as much as we tend to provide the above short, complete, comprehensive and concise summary of the 2021 UTME Recommended Novel "The Life Changer by Khadija Abubakar Jalli", Candidates are as well advised to bring out their time to read the full novel in-order to understand the summary above.
We have provided The Life Changer by Khadija Abubakar Jalli'' Full Novel Online for Download in PDF, and also the Likely Questions to expect during the 2021 UTME Examination.