A 22-year-old Nigerian has emerged one of the top
graduating students of John Hopkins University in
the United States. He obtained a Grade Point
Average of 3.98 out of a possible 4.0 to earn a
degree in Neurosciences, SEGUN OLUGBILE writes.
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.
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