Nigeria’s student population is the third highest from non-European Union countries in the UK, just behind India and China, according to statistics provided by UK Council for International Student Affairs.
A message from Mr. Ayo Akinfe for nigeriancentenaryawardsuk.com said, “Increasingly, the number of Nigerian students bagging first class degrees is on the rise and it is only a matter of time before we have the highest number.”
He also noted that there will be about 30,000 Nigerian students in the UK by 2015, accounting for about 7% of the student population.
“Given that the future if any Nigerian is in its youth, we have to pay a lot more attention to this segment of our population. Diaspora students are a vital part of Nigeria’s future and will play a key role in shaping the country’s destiny.”
On the above photograph, Akinfe said, “This young lady posing here with her parents at graduation two years ago is 21 year-old Nigerian Nana Skari who graduated from the University of Kent in the UK with a first class degree and an outstanding award in engineering. At her graduation, Nana received an award as the most outstanding graduating student on an Institute of Engineering and Technology accredited course.
Nana who was born in Borno State, grew up in Nigeria and attended primary and secondary school in Kaduna.
She said she wanted to study paediatric neurosurgery but got scared off by the number of years involved, so opted for engineering instead. Immediately upon graduation, Nana said she planned to do an MSc in international oil and gas management and her long term dream was to make a fortune, build an empire and impact as many people’s lives as possible, in any positive way she can.
If you know of any Nigerian student in the UK who has made us proud like Nana and who deserves to be recognised and honoured, please go and nominate her at www.nigeriancentenaryawardsuk.com so that person can be shortlisted for an awards at the Nigerian Centenary Awards UK on June 27 in London.
Nana is following the steps of the first black military pilot Ahmet Ali Çelikten, also known as Arap Ahmet Ali or İzmirli Ahmet Ali(born İzmirli Alioğlu Ahmed; 1883–1969). Ahmet was an Ottoman aviator regarded as the first black military pilot in aviation history and was one of only two black pilots in World War I (the other being Eugene Jacques Bullard). His grandmother came from Bornu (now in Nigeria) to the Ottoman Empire as a slave.
