Promise Ekpo Osaine is a Princeton University fall 2021 incoming PhD Student at the Computer Science department where her research interest will focus on the application of machine learning in healthcare especially in the reduction of maternal and infant mortality. 

A first-class (Summa Cum Laude) graduate of the department of Computer Engineering, Class of 2020, University of Benin, Promise was the best graduating student of her department (CGPA: 4.75/5.00). She holds several awards such as Shell Undergraduate Scholarship 2016, NNPC Quiz (SPE Conference, 2018), Huawei and Glo Students Award for Academic Excellence 2019, and Michael Taiwo Scholarship 2020.

Promise was an intern with Shell where she developed technical skills in SQL, Python, and data management applications such as EP Catalogue, SharePoint, and ASSAI. She was involved in the Shell Eco-Marathon Monitoring Global Project, where she did sentiment analysis and reporting. She has also worked with Union Bank as a data engineer where she did Extract, Transform, and Load processing using SQL Server Management tools and Visual Studio Code.

At the University of Benin, she held leadership roles such as Secretary-General of Computer Engineering Association, Secretary-General of Engineering Final year committee, Zonal and University Coordinator of the U-Genius Club for student academic outreach and free mentorship.  

Promise owns a mentorship platform aimed at improving the educational opportunities of students and is the convener of the “Get an Undergraduate a scholarship”, project. She plays piano for community church as well as campus fellowship.  

She was selected as an EducationUSA Opportunity Funds Scholar in 2020 and through the guidance of the EducationUSA Advisers (Lagos) and knowledge gathered through the membership boot camp, she secured fully funded Computer Science and Engineering PhD scholarships into two R1 universities (Princeton, $98,000 and University of Notre Dame, $89,000) in the US. 

Connect via LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/promise-ekpo-osaine/  

Rupert, a twin and 7th child among eight siblings, hails from Igbo-Ukwu town, Aguata Local Government Area, Anambra State, Nigeria. He was born and spent a better part of his teenage life in Sapele, Delta, where he went on to conclude his Junior Secondary school education at Christ the King College, Sapele, Delta State. He then moved to Lagos where he completed his initial and sophomore senior secondary school education at Bachel Model College, Ogba, Lagos State. There, he served as the Class Representative and first elected Head Boy of the then “infant” school in Ogba, as they had just begun operations in the area. Later, he moved to Asaba, Delta State, where he went on to conclude his secondary school education at Holywood Bilingual International School, Asaba, Delta State. During his secondary school journey, he always came out top or just within the top four students in his class. Upon graduation, he won an Award for being the Best Chemistry Student for the session ending 2010/2011.

In 2013, he went on to gain admission into the Department of Animal and Environmental Biology at the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State (UNIBEN). There he finished with a First-Class Honours Bachelor’s of Science degree. During his time there, he finished his first session as the best student in the department and went on to finish his 200 level with a perfect CGPA of 5.0. Outside studies, he served as the Class representative and took part in active Departmental, Faculty and SUG politics as an Electoral Chairman, Student Representative Council member (SRC), and Faculty Stake holder at the SUG level, respectively.  

Upon graduation from UNIBEN, he went on to secure an opportunity at Academic Journals Limited, a journal publishing company as an Editorial Assistant. From there he went on to serve under the National Youth Service Corp from 2018 to 2019. After which, he returned to Academic Journals Limited, where he was elevated to a Project Manager for an affiliated project. Also, he worked part-time as a Research Assistant at Harmony Path Laboratory, where he took part in biotechnological related research. Meanwhile, he remained connected with mentors from UNIBEN, who are seasoned researchers, and took part in review paper preparations.

Later, after a move to Lagos State, he applied to the EducationUSA Opportunity Funds Program 2020/2021 and was selected alongside 33 other successful cohorts out of over 500 applicants in Lagos. Through top notch coaching and counselling by the admirable EducationUSA advisers, he was able to apply to the US and secured a fully funded Ph.D. acceptance at Stony Brook University, New York, United States. Here, he was offered a Graduate Teaching Assistantship totaling $44,000, where he began pursuing his interest in cutting edge Ecology related research.

Ruth is the last child of a family of eight and was born and raised in Lagos. Her academic strengths were evident all through her primary and secondary school years where she was constantly performing excellently. Throughout secondary school, she was always at the top of her class, was awarded the overall best student for the three consecutive years in senior secondary school and finished as the best graduating student in class of 2019.   

Ruth attended Norwood Int'l Schools during junior secondary school and Totland Secondary School for her senior secondary education. Her leadership skills and academic excellence made her the class captain in almost every class, the president of her school's Junior Engineers and Technicians Club, a member of the Student Representative Council, an executive member of the entrepreneurship club, and then the Head Girl in her set.   

One of Ruth's biggest involvements was her gender-based violence (GBV) advocacy. From her second year in senior secondary school, she joined NGOs advocating against rape and later became the spokesperson of Teennation Coalition Against Rape. She was featured on two state TVs, several shows and articles, and organized awareness sessions to speak on our roles in eradicating rape and all forms of GBV. She was also named a Global Social Leader by Future Foundations for her advocacy against GBV.

Outside her advocacy and school, Ruth had involvements in several other community development activities. She hosted various shows ranging from health to leadership as she has a love for public speaking. Ruth is the Executive Assistant of Upsurge Leadership Foundation, an executive member at Teennation Africa, a team member at King Homes Charity, Teen Expressions Radio Show, and GenZ writes.

Ruth has a huge passion for health and would like to work in the field of public health soon. She is currently a neuroscience student at Bowdoin College where she is receiving over $70,000 in financial aid. She hopes to go on to medical school and afterwards establish health service providers for people in marginalized communities.

Reflecting on her journey as an Opportunity Funds Scholar, Ruth advises that you "set your heart to what you want to achieve and work tirelessly till you get it. The journey would not be easy, but just one YES can change your life forever".

Urinrin was born into a medical family of a Pharmacist and a Nurse in Warri, Delta State Nigeria. She was the third child, raised alongside three siblings. After the death of her dad in 2003 which caused the family financial lack, Urinrin became determined to pursue academic excellence to mitigate this lack.

A year later, she was admitted by two of the best secondary schools in the state at the time after graduating from primary school with distinctions. She eventually chose to attend Federal Government College Warri. At secondary level, she became interested in analytical subjects, excelling noticeably in technical drawing, mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc.

Urinrin’s excellence in analytical subjects piqued her interest to study engineering at the University level. She was later admitted to The University of Port Harcourt in 2012 to study Civil and Environmental Engineering. Shortly after resuming on campus, she got two scholarships from Chevron Nigeria and an NGO committed to provide financial assistance to students who had lost a parent. These covered her tuition and living expenses for the 5 years of her undergraduate studies.

As one of a handful of female engineering students, also faced with the requirement to maintain an excellent grade point to retain her scholarships, Urinrin needed to beat the enormous odds and excel. She graduated five years later, top of her class with a 4.73 CGPA on a 5-point scale, becoming the first student to graduate with a first-class honour from the University’s civil engineering department, and as the best engineering student of 2017 at the University.

Inspired by the good work of the scholarship bodies that sponsored her tuition, she joined a group of students and young graduate in numerous community development initiatives including ‘HTLPF’ and ‘ENGINE’ (Educating Nigerian Girls in New Enterprise) where she joined a team of Women in Lagos, Nigeria in educating, mentoring, and providing counselling to young female students in different subject areas including career path, abuse and handicrafts. 

While on her National Youth Service Corp in 2019, a senior colleague from the University of Port Harcourt told her about EducationUSA Opportunity Funds Program which she applied for and was selected. From that point on, Urinrin worked closely with advisors and mentors who guided her during her applications. A process that saw her secure six funded admission offers to pursue a graduate degree in some of the top universities in the United States and even emerged as a finalist in the Stanford Knight Hennessy Scholars Program. 

Urinrin began attending Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where she received a fully funded offer worth over $60,000, as of fall of 202, pursuing a Doctoral degree with research focus on Resilient and Sustainability of Structures and Infrastructures Systems. She intends to use the findings of the research to improve the use of green and resilient construction materials in the civil engineering industry in her home country.

Victory Morenike Chiamaka Yinka-Banjo is the daughter to a Yoruba father from Ogun State and an Igbo mother from Imo State. Despite being a native of these two disparate tribes, she was born in Rivers State and spent most of her childhood growing up in Lagos State. 

Throughout Secondary School, Victory proved to be a true exemplification of her name by breaking several academic records, occupying numerous leadership positions, and founding countless fundraising initiatives. Her fantastic academic results read 9A1s in WASSCE, 6A*s out of six subjects in Cambridge IGCSE, 1540/1600 in SAT, and 8.5/9.0 in IELTS. She was the World Best Candidate- Nov/Dec 2019 Cambridge IGCSE, English as a Second Language, and her team won the Technovation Girls' Mobile App Building Challenge in 2019 as the best team in Africa. She also placed tops in numerous national and international essay competitions, including the Queens’ Commonwealth Essay Competition from which she received a Gold Award and the South African Airways Essay Competition through which she was declared an ambassador to the airline.

In the middle of the first phase of the Lagos COVID-19 lockdown, Victory stumbled across the Opportunity Funds Program and, hoping for the best, turned in her application. After a series of qualifying stages, Victory was selected as a 2020 EducationUSA Opportunity Funds Scholar. 

Subsequently, she graduated from Princeton College, Surulere, in Lagos as the Head Girl, Senior Prefect and President of the Students' Representative Council, and then decided to take a gap year from formal education to apply to universities in the U.S and Canada. 

During this period, she founded a Coding Club in her Secondary School, volunteered as a Technovation Student Ambassador to mentor girls in coding and mobile app development, trained girls for the First Lego League, taught students in the Coderina Lifelong Learning Program, and became more proficient at the Python programming language.

She received admissions to over twenty competitive U.S. institutions, with a full scholarship to seventeen of them. These included Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Washington University in Saint Louis, Brown University, the University of Virginia, Washington and Lee University, University of Rochester, Colby College, Williams College, and more. 

Additionally, she applied to the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia in Canada and was awarded full-ride merit scholarships to both. 

Ultimately, Victory is pursuing her overlapping interest in Computer Science and Molecular Biology by studying Computational Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a full scholarship worth over $80,000 per year. She looks forward to graduating as a member of the Class of 2025!

Victory currently spends her free time before university serving as an ambassador for the MasterCard Foundation x Data Science Nigeria Learn At Home Project, where she tutors Nigerian students who are preparing to sit for the WASSCE and UTME via radio/audio classes. 

Abel Okojunu

Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun

Florida State University, PhD Mathematics

“Born into a family of six children and growing up was a very touching experience. I struggled academically mainly because my parents, though caring, lacked the financial capacity to show their love to the maximum capacity. As children, we mainly had the support of my mother, a petty trader, who was and still is willing to sacrifice her all to make sure we got the best.

As a result of the harsh circumstances, I found myself, I never planned to attend a university at all. Even when friends used to ask me what I wanted to study in the future, I had no plans. A university education seemed to me as some dream out of reach.”

Abel was the overall best graduating student with the highest CGPA (4.95/5.0) since the inception of Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE). He was a gold medal winner at the National Mathematics Competition for University Students (NAMCUS). He has two technical publications and he is proficient in a number of mathematical and programming languages. Abel received 4 fully funded offers to pursue his PhD but opted for Florida State University for a PhD in Applied and Computational Mathematics.

Adetoye Henry Adekoya is a first-class graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ibadan. As a student, he served in several leadership roles including being the vice-chairman of the electoral committee of the department's student body (Nigerian institution of Mechanical Engineers, UI chapter). He was also a member of the Design and Manufacturing club and the Air, Land, and Marine Club and was involved in several projects which were primarily aimed at integrating newer students into the department. Prior to joining the Education USA program in 2019, Henry applied to 5 schools in the United States without being admitted into any. With the assistance of the EducationUSA advisors, He was admitted into 5 institutions. He accepted an offer from Northwestern University worth over $100,000 for his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering. Henry says that being part of the Education USA Opportunity Funds Program was what made a difference in his applications. He is grateful for the invaluable tips, guidance, and assistance all through the way.

Augustine Onyema

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University), Anambra, Nigeria.

City University of NewYork (CUNY), PhD Industrial Chemistry

It is said that life is a race and all champions who reach the end thought of quitting at one time or the others. Such is the story of Onyema, Augustine Chimezie; the third child of Andrew and Caroline Onyema in a family of six. With both father and Mother being petty traders, I attended Catholic School (CS) Ekondo-Titi in the South-West region of Cameroon where I was born. For years while in elementary and secondary school, I hawked as a means of helping the family during short, long, and public holidays. After being the best student in the sub-division in both GCE ordinary level and advanced level in the 2006 and 2008 exams respectively, I was forced to stay at home for two years without university education from 2008 to 2010. This was due to financial constraints and circumstances beyond my control.

I was able to graduate with first-class honors in Biochemistry and the best student the department has ever produced to date (December 2020). After running extramural classes under the auspices of “Plasma Tutorials”, I went for an M.Sc. in Pharmacological Biochemistry at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. Under the tutelage of EdUSA staff, I applied to many US schools and was granted a Ph.D. offer at the Graduate Center at the City University of NewYork (CUNY) from Fall 2020.

Ayuba Akinpelu

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University

Auburn University, PhD Chemical Engineering

I come from a low-income family; I could recall a phase in my life when my family moved to Abuja in search for greener pasture, then my parents, I and my older sibling were sleeping on a bare floor of a single room with only two mats to serve as comfort. My dad is a bricklayer and my mom a petty trader oftentimes living from hand to month. My parents were doing all they could to ensure we had at least an elementary education.

Ever since my high school, though I went to boarding school, during the holidays I would hawk pure water, zobo, and kunu so I could gather as much money as I can to help with my fees and provisions. Things got worse in university when I lost my dad after a stroke. I had to take up menial jobs to augment what little my mother could support me with.

I am forever indebted to the Opportunity Funds program. They gave me a platform I had always yearned for even when I had not envisioned it. With all these, I am here, currently doing my PhD which is fully funded at Auburn university in the United States.

Azuka studied Biochemistry at the University of Nigeria, and graduated with first class honours, receiving the University prize for the Best Graduating Student in Biochemistry. Some of his best life experiences have been after leaving the University, and EducationUSA has played a huge part: He has met some of the most intelligent people in the OFP, made good friends, learnt a great deal from wonderful advisors and published my first research paper (which also gave me my first citation). The 2019/2020 application cycle was successful, and he received fully funded PhD offers from: The University of Utah, Iowa State University, the University of Kentucky, and Michigan State University. He accepted the PhD offer from Michigan State University, where he is carrying out research in drug discovery and development (with specific interests in neurodegenerative diseases) within the Department of Chemistry.

Blessing Chinweotito Ogboo is a first class graduate of Pure and Industrial Chemistry from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. As a student in the University, she served in several leadership positions in her then fellowship, Loveworld, UNN Chapter, having received several awards for her outstanding leadership and partnership in ensuring the actualization of the ministry's missions which amongst many included taking indigent children off the streets and back to school. After being inspired by the Education USA advisors, she published her first "first-authored" paper, and has gone on to publish in papers in several journals and a conference. She accepted a fully funded teaching assistantship from the State of New York University at Buffalo worth over $40,000 per year for her PhD in Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Blessing says that been part of the Education USA Opportunity Funds Program (OFP) was the fuel behind her drive to succeed during her application process and she is grateful for their consistent guidance and assistance all the way.

Chiemezie Ilonze

University of Nigeria Nsukka

Colorado State University, Fort Collins, PhD Mechanical Engineering

My name is Chiemezie Okechukwu Ilonze, the first among six children and a First class graduate of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nigeria Nsukka. I grew up in Ezi-obodo; a village in Anambra state where my family shared a home with other family relatives and their respective families. Then, my mum was still studying while my father struggled in his auctioneering business, so the family faced severe economic challenges. Beyond the home front, I was performing terribly academically which culminated in several class repetitions.

In hindsight, I have come to appreciate this time as my formation period that prepared me for what was ahead. A change of school gave rise to my academic revival but was not short of difficulties as being sent home for inability to pay school fees became a norm. Since then, with commitment, consistency, and hard work, the trajectory has been upwards but not without difficulties. I have had to run private lesson services, sell flight tickets and vacation packages to make ends meet to say the least. Despite these challenges, by God’s grace, I have been transformed from that village boy that failed repeatedly whose parents struggled to offset his tuition to a Ph.D. student at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States.

After spending two days working on his EducationUSA OFP application, Chika submitted it and hoped for the best. As an OFP Scholar, his journey was adventurous; from pulling all-nighters to applying to 22 highly selective schools, Chika devoted hours upon hours to crafting the best applications possible; he also noted that a big component to his accomplishments as a scholar was his EducationUSA community, as well as his two advisers who diligently worked to ensure his success. He graduated as the Deputy Senior Prefect of King’s College Lagos, where he finished with 6As and 3Bs in his WASSCE. Chika’s applications were hugely successful; he was admitted to five U.S. universities with a full ride (Northwestern University, University of Texas, Dallas, New York University Abu Dhabi, Villanova University and Duke University), as well as two others with partial funding. After receiving funding worth over $86,000 from Duke University, Chika is attending Duke to study Mechanical Engineering.

Chinemerem Onah

University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Kansas State University, PhD Immunology

Being born into a lower-class family of seven siblings in Okpu-Orba, Udenu LGA of Enugu State, Nigeria meant not having the right financial support and mentorship for the kind of education which my late father wanted his children to acquire. Yet, I, Chinemerem Benneth Onah, managed to graduate in 2017 not only with First Class Honors but also as the Best Graduating Student of the Department of Biochemistry, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

A lot transpired at the University of Nigeria. For instance, for the most part of my first semester in school, I had to go from my village which is 20 km to the campus every day because there was no money to either pay for a university hostel space or an off-campus accommodation. I had to do some “side hustles” along the way to support myself and the family during this period. At a point, I had to hawk telephone accessories and apparel. Going to bed hungry was almost a culture, but I kept on “packaging”. My conscience wouldn’t even allow me to call home at those times because I knew what the family was passing through in order to even pay my tuition. My financial situation never stopped me from believing in myself and in my potential as a productive member of society. For instance, I was also involved in a series of leadership roles, the prominent of which are occupying my faculty’s seat in the House of Representatives of the Students Union Government of the University of Nigeria, heading the association of tertiary institution students in my town and others. While I would “package” myself well enough with a smile like most other students, I never forgot my root, nor did I ever lose sight of my goals.

I will be heading to Kansas State University where I was admitted with a Graduate Teaching Assistantship worth $34,959 per year to pursue a master’s degree in Biology (Immunology) with research focus in Lung Neuroimmunology and Host Defence Mechanisms to Respiratory Pathogens.

Chizoba Livina Iheme

Nnamdi Azikiwe University

University of Toledo, PhD Chemistry

I am the fourth child of my parents. I grew up aspiring to be a great Chemist and to contribute immensely to our society but my early adulthood pointed in the opposite direction, beginning from my mother’s early death, low-income father, and thus I was delayed in achieving my life goals on time. After my secondary school education, life became unbearable, as a young girl, I was left to take care of myself in every aspect, and even that of my siblings. However, I decided to acquire a skill in fashion designing because I had no one to sponsor my tertiary education and after my graduation as a fashion designer, I established my fashion business, and with the help of God, I got connected to so many customers both home and abroad who always promote my business, and from the income generated, I was able to feed the family and sponsor my younger brother’s tertiary education. I became the breadwinner of my home.

I gained admission into the University ten years after secondary school education, having stayed out of school for such a long time, I had fallen so far behind in my coursework that I don’t know where to start to catch up again, attending lectures became so hurtful because I lost track of the background knowledge in most of the science courses. 

Despite all the setbacks, I graduated as the best graduating student with a CGPA of 4.61 in the Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, 2016/2017 Academic Session at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State and retained as a Graduate Assistant In the Department of Chemistry. However, I represent possibilities for youths who are sometimes limited by age, low-income parents, and lack of financial support from relatives. Despite all these challenges of life, I strived to achieve success in my academic goal.

Presently, I have been offered a scholarship for a Ph.D. program in Chemistry at the University of Toledo, Ohio State, USA. Over the years I have discovered that success is not accidental, magical, or a product of lack but it is a simple function of deliberate and intentional working of its principle.