A 22-year-old Nigerian has emerged one of the top
graduating students of John Hopkins University in the United
States with a Grade Point Average of 3.98 out of a possible
4.0 to earn a degree in Neurosciences
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.
According to Wikipedia, The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an
academic honour society. Its mission is to “celebrate and
advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences” and
induct “the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at
America’s leading colleges and universities.”
It was founded at The College of William and Mary on
December 5, 1776, and thus it is the oldest honour society for
the liberal arts and sciences and among the oldest
undergraduate societies in the US.
In an online interview with our correspondent, 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.
“My parents moved the whole family when I was 13 years old.
I was about to begin SS1 at Air Force, Ibadan. When I got to
the US, I was enrolled with my age mates, which meant at 13,
I was in middle school. I went to Fondren Middle School,
which was in the middle of the ghetto. That was one of the
darkest years for me because I encountered a lot of peer
pressure. Some of the students, ignorant about Africa, bullied
me and called me names such as ‘African booty scratcher’
because to them, Africans were dirty and scratched their butts
all the time.
“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.
“My experience during that year gave me a thick skin. I
learned to stand for what I thought was right even when the
opposition seemed insurmountable. I also learned to look at
the positive in all situations. Even though these kids were
bullying me, I was still gaining an opportunity to school in
America and nothing would stop me from making the best of
this opportunity.
“The shocker was that the kid that punched me in the face was
black. I would have expected the blacks to be nicer to me.
Nevertheless, I don’t blame those kids because they were
ignorant about Africa. All they knew about us was the stuff
they had watched on TV or documentaries, showing primitive
African tribes, living in the jungle and making noises like
monkeys.
“In regards to the whites, there might have been some minor
episodes but again I don’t blame them for it because it is a
problem with stereotypes,” he said.
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.
“By the second year of high school, we were able to interact
with doctors, nurses and other administrators in the hospital.
The more I learned about medicine, the more it felt like the
thing God was calling me to pursue and by being in the US I
got a lot of people to support me to do this. Even though in
high school, I got to see first-hand what it meant to be a
doctor. We studied advanced anatomy and physiology,
learned medical terminology, and learned important skills,
such as checking blood pressure, pulse rate, and many more.
“I knew I wanted to go to the best school in the US. I had
heard that Johns Hopkins Hospital had been ranked the
number one hospital in the US for the past 21 years and I
wanted to be in that environment.’’
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 Neurosciences.
But why Neurosciences, Ohuabunwa said, “I studied
Neuroscience, because I was fascinated with the brain, its
control of our behaviours and how various diseases such as
Alzheimer’s disease, lead to a decline in its activity. I also
minored in Psychology because I wanted to understand
disorders in the psyche. What causes bipolar disorders or
schizophrenia. I did not just want to label them as crazy but
to understand what causes these conditions and how we can
treat them,’’ he explained.
But what does he consider to be the missing links in the
education sector of Nigeria when compared with that on offer
in US, Ohuabunwa said unpredictable academic calendar,
corruption, examination malpractice and inadequate funding
were some of the problems confronting his home country’s
university sector. These, he said, were absent in the US.
“There were a few problems with Nigerian higher education
that contributed to our emigration in 2003. The first was the
number of strikes that occurred in schools. It took my uncle
seven years to graduate with a degree that should have taken
him only four years. A second problem was the corruption. We
had heard of people going into universities, because they paid
someone to look the other way. I also heard of a few cheating
scandals, where people would pay someone to take their
exams for them or get a copy of the exam a few days before,”
he said.
But is he saying that US university system has no such
problems at all? Ohuabunwa said, “Although this sometimes
occurs in the U.S, it is less common because of the strict
security. I remember when taking the Medical College
Admissions Test, test required before one can matriculate into
medical school, each student had to get his fingerprints taken
every time we entered and left the hall. The whole place was
packed with cameras and security staff that monitored
everything we were doing. The exam was computerised to
make sure that no one saw the test before the actual date.”
Another difference, he said, is that America rewards hard-
work while the system also emphasises on a balance between
academic life and extracurricular activities.
On how he won the scholarship to Yale, Ohuabunwa said his
3.98 GPA in Neurosciences, and many awards he had won
and God’s grace, contributed to his winning the scholarship.
“As at the time of my application for medical school, I had a
3.98 GPA of a 4.0. This made me the only black student
inducted into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa. I was also
awarded the Becker Family Scholarship for being the most
outstanding student in the Neuroscience major at Johns
Hopkins University. Furthermore, by God’s grace, I took the
MCAT and scored in the top five percentile.
“That, combined with my hours of volunteer service in different
hospitals across the US allowed me to gain acceptance into
every medical school I applied to, including Harvard, Yale,
Johns Hopkins, Columbia, and Cornell. As the time came to
make a decision, I had narrowed it down to Harvard and Yale.
Both schools, I enjoyed visiting. Nevertheless, while my
parents prayed, they asked God to give us a sign of what
school to attend. A few days later, I received a letter from Yale
Medical School, offering me a full ride scholarship for all four
years. That was the sign from God,” he said.
But would he come back to Nigeria after the completion of his
programme, he said yes.
“I am absolutely interested in the health care policy decisions
in Nigeria. Because there are many changes that need to
occur, I will not rule out the possibility of coming back after
my studies, in order to join hands with the leaders to make
these changes possible.’’
He added that his ambition is to become a medical doctor
specialising in brain surgery.
“Two weeks ago, my grandmother passed away after a long
battle with strokes. Even during emergencies, it was difficult
for her to get to the hospital, let alone get treatment. This is a
common theme not only in the health care system of Nigeria,
but in different countries in the world, where the poor get
neglected.
“Second, Nigerian hospitals lack the infrastructure required to
compete with major hospitals around the world. It would be an
honour to one day contribute to this transformation that is
necessary for improvements in Nigeria’s health care sector,”
he said.
He, however, advised Nigerian youths who have the
wherewithal, to go abroad to study. Ohuabunwa also called
on wealthy Nigerians to invest more in the education of the
poor rather than in acquisition of material things.
Ohuabunwa, however, said that his parents, who he described
as his greatest role models, contributed a lot to his academic
feat through Godly training, counsel and guidance. He also did
not forget the impact that his short stay at Air Force school
had on him.
“I was definitely not the brightest at Air Force. At that time, I
felt like I spent more time running away from seniors than
focusing on my studies. Nevertheless, I learned three things
at Air Force that have served me well in the US. I learned
discipline, adaptability and resilience. These attributes helped
me a lot in US,” he said.
Credit: SEGUN OLUGBILE of Punch Newspaper —
