A 22-year-old Nigerian,
Emmanuel Ohuabunwa, has
made history at John Hopkins
University, United States of
America. Ohuabunwa from
Arochukwu, Abia State, has done
the nation proud by becoming
the first black man to make a
Grade Point Average of 3.98 out
of 4.0 to bag a degree in
Neurosciences in the university.
He was also adjudged as having
the highest honours during the
graduation that was held on May
24 this year.
For his efforts, he has won a
scholarship to Yale University to
pursue a degree in medicine.
Besides, he has been inducted
into Phi Beta Kappa Society, a
prestigious honour group that
features membership of 17 US
Presidents, 37 US Supreme Court
Justices, and 136 Nobel Prize
winners.
Ohuabunwa, who was born in
Okota, Lagos and attended Lilly
Fields Primary School, Lagos, said
he left Nigeria after his junior
secondary school education at
Air Force Comprehensive School,
Ibadan, Oyo State.
He moved to the United States at
the age of 13, at that time he
was admitted into Fondren
Middle School, which was in the
middle of the ghetto, so he was
subjected to Racism, He said, ”
“Some asked me if I lived in mud
huts and ate faeces for
breakfast. I remember one day,
when I was walking to the
school bus, a boy came from
behind and punched me in the
face, called me an African and
walked away. It took everything
in me not to retaliate. I knew that
God had put me in the U.S for a
purpose and it did not involve
fighting or selling drugs or doing
the wrong things”.
But in spite of this humiliation
and racial prejudice against him,
the first in a family of three was
not discouraged. He faced his
studies and was always coming
top in his class. After he
completed his middle school
education, he passed the
entrance examination to
DeBakey High School for Health
Professions. It was at this school
that his interest in neurosciences
and medicine started.
Worried that his parents might
not be able to sponsor him to the
university, Ohuabunwa
purposed to work very hard. He
did and when the result of the
PSAT came, he performed so well
that he won the National
Achievement Scholar.
By virtue of this award, he
received certificates of
recognition from various
organisations including senators
from the Congress of both Texas
and the US. He also received
scholarship from the University
of Houston; Rice University,
Texas A&M Honors College and
many more.
He had also won the Principal’s
Award during the annual awards
ceremony at DeBakey High
School.
“During our graduation
ceremony at DeBakey, I also won
the Award for the Most
Outstanding Senior Young Man
and the student volunteer award
for my volunteer activities in the
State of Texas,” he said.
But his breakthrough came
when he won the Bill and Belinda
Gates Foundation full scholarship
to any university of his choice.
He worked hard and gained
admission to Johns Hopkins
University to study
Neuroscience.
Source: Vanguard News.
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