Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has said that Nigeria’s drive for socio-economic development will be better served by huge investment in education.
The former Vice President made this assertion while commending the academic excellence of a Nigerian, Mr. Emmanuel Ohuabunwa, who broke new grounds at the Johns Hopkins University, USA.
Mr. Ohuabunwa, a Neuroscience graduate of Johns Hopkins University emerged as the first Black man to attain a grade point average of 3.98 out of a 4 point scale, a feat which has already earned him a scholarship to study Medicine at the prestigious Yale University.
Atiku, in a statement signed by his media office in Abuja, noted that reading through the story of Ohuabunwa’s academic excellence in The Punch of Tuesday, June 26, was “a very cheering experience.”
According to him, “the story of Ohuabunwa is a clear testimony that Nigeria will, one day, unlock its full potential as a great nation where every young man and woman will engage in a healthy competition for scientific and technological innovations.”
The former vice president noted that our current challenges notwithstanding, Nigeria must take the lead in the race to move Africa away from poverty and despair and transform the continent into an intellectual powerhouse.
He therefore called on government at all levels to be serious with their commitment to investment in education, saying: “no amount of money spent on education is ever too much.”
“We need young men and women like Mr. Ohuabunwa (and I know that many of them abound) for Nigeria to rise above current challenges. Our youths must take up the challenge of re-writing the story of Nigeria, and it is important the youths get the necessary encouragement and tools from government through adequate investment in education,” Atiku said.
Also today,the Leader of the Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), congratulated a Nigerian, Mr. Emmanuel Ohuabunwa, for exhibiting academic excellence in the Johns Hopkins University in the United States of America.
According to Senator Ndoma-Egba, “Nigeria is very proud of the achievement of this young man, and his story should stimulate other young Nigerians to reach for excellence in their field of endeavours.”
Ndoma Egba recalled that Mr. Ohuabunwa, a 22-year old Nigerian emerged as the first Black student to attain a 3.98 grade point out of the obtainable 4.0 grade point, thus winning an induction into Phi Beta Kappa Society, a prestigious honour group that features membership of 17 US Presidents, 37 US Supreme Court Justices, and 136Nobel Prize winners.
Ohuabunwa is also expected to proceed on scholarship, to the prestigious Yale University to study medicine.
A statement from the Office of the Leader of the Senate, however, said that a time has come when Nigeria must invest heavily in education in order to overcome the problem of intellectual brain drain in the country.
He said, “The story of Mr. Ohuabunwa has further reinforced the need for us to revive our education sector and harness the inherent potentials of our youths.
“I therefore wish to express my congratulations to Mr. Ohuabunwa and also encourage other young Nigerians to take after him.”
