Ifeanyichukwu Eke

University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Wayne State University, PhD Microbiology

Ifeanyi is a 2018 Opportunity Funds Program scholar.Through the program, Ifeanyi is currently pursuing his PhD with full funding (over $50,000) at Wayne State University.

Ifeanyichukwu graduated with First Class Honors in Microbiology and was the overall best-graduating student and valedictorian at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka for the 2015/2016 academic session. Ifeanyi volunteered as a research assistant for a collaborative research team at UNN which gave him the opportunity to publish several of his papers internationally and present at numerous conferences and workshops.

Through OFP, Ifeanyi is pursuing a doctoral degree program at Wayne State University with a special focus on molecular biology and biotechnology.

Jane Agwara

Ahmadu Bello University

University of Rochester, PhD Chemical Engineering

Jane Agwara is a 2018 Opportunity Funds Scholar who is currently pursuing her PhD in Chemical Engineering at University of Rochester on full scholarship.

Jane Ngozi Agwara graduated from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Kaduna State Nigeria with a First-Class degree in Chemical engineering. She was the only female that graduated with a first-class degree in the department’s class of 2016. In 2013, she received an award as the Best Female Engineering Student in Ahmadu Bello University from the Association of Professional Women Engineers in Nigeria (APWEN). She was also a recipient of the Agbami undergraduate scholarship and Petroleum Trust Development Funds (PTDF) undergraduate local scholarship.

 In 2017, she received an award as the Best Engineering Graduate in the North-Western region of Nigeria from the Council of Deans of Engineering and Technology (CODET). One of her undergraduate projects was published in the American Chemical Science Journal. Through the Opportunity Funds Program, Jane got a full tuition scholarship, a Teaching Assistantship and a PhD fellowship to pursue a PhD in Chemical Engineering in the University of Rochester where she will be focusing on Biofuels as her research area of interest.

Jideofor Odoeze has a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he graduated with First Class honors. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Electrical, Electronics and Communication Engineering in Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology on a full scholarship given to the best among many students interviewed from Nigeria. With the help of the EducationUSA Lagos Opportunity Funds Program, Odoeze secured full funding to obtain a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.

Joshua Okafor obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry/Zoology and a Master’s degree in Pharmacological Biochemistry from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Soon after obtaining his Master’s, he became a beneficiary of the EducationUSA Lagos Opportunity Funds Program. He received full funding to attend the University of Utah, where he is currently a Graduate Teaching Assistant with the Department of Chemistry.

Justus Nwachukwu

University of Nigeria Nsukka

Arizona State University, PhD Biochemistry

Justus Nwachukwu is a 2018 Opportunity Funds scholar. Through the Opportunity Funds Program, Justus secured over $60,000/year to pursue his doctoral studies at Arizona State University.

Justus graduated with a First Class in Biochemistry and won the Departmental Prize for the Best Graduating Student from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Justus while working as a Graduate Assistant at UNN. completed his Masters with Distinction in Industrial Biochemistry and Biotechnology.

Through the OFP Justus got three fully-funded PhD offers to study in the United States. He chose to attend the Arizona State University Center of Biodesign and Applied structural discovery because of his passion for renewable energy.

Lamide Isiak Ogundeji

Ahmadu Bello University

University of Toledo, MSc Chemical Engineering

Lamide is a 2018 Opportunity Funds scholar. Lamide graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in 2015 with a First-Class Honours degree in Chemical Engineering. He was awarded the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Undergraduate Scholarship Award, which funded his undergraduate studies. His plan of pursuing his graduate studies in the US was initially hindered by his financial need. However, due to his strong academic records, leadership experience, and extracurricular participation Lamide was selected for the Opportunity Funds Program. Through the program, he got a Graduate Assistantship position and Full Tuition Waiver to pursue his Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toledo.

Lilian Iyeghe Uchechi

University of Nigeria, Nsukka

University of Missouri-Columbia, MSc Nutrition

Lilian Uchechi Iyeghe is a 2018 Opportunity Fund scholar. Thanks to the Opportunity Funds Program Lilian received full funding for her Masters in Nutrition at the University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou).

Lilian Iyeghe is a 2:1 graduate of Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Nigeria Nsukka. While at UNN, she collaborated with her professors which resulted in 3 of her papers getting published in international journals. She has presented her abstracts at several conferences and also received a travel grant to present her work at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) meetings held at Madison, Wisconsin USA (March, 2018) and Sacramento, California USA( November, 2018). With the help of EducationUSA, Lilian received several funding offers and eventually selected Mizzou.

Mercy Madu

University of Nigeria, Nsukka

University of Georgia, MSc Journalism

Mercy Madu is a 2018 Opportunity Funds scholar currently pursuing her Masters in Journalism fully funded (over $40,000/year) at University of Georgia.

Mercy first applied for the program after she had graduated from secondary school; however, she did not make it that year. After graduating as the Best Graduating student in Mass Communication from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, she applied for the graduate cohort. Mercy has served as a reporter for a National Newspaper and Radio station, as well as an Anchor for NTA where produced and anchored "Ajuwaya Half-Hour" on Nigerian Television Authority Channel 12 Uyo.

Through the Opportunity Funds program, Mercy is pursuing her Masters at the University of Georgia with a research interest in public relations.

Obed Dodo

Kaduna State University

Miami University- Ohio, MSc Chemistry

Obed Dodo is a 2018 Opportunity Funds scholar who received over $48,000 to pursue his Masters in Chemistry in Miami University, Ohio.

Obed is from Kaduna State in Nigeria. Atyap by tribe and from a family of four children. I am a the second born and the first in my family to complete any form of tertiary education. In my first semester of my final year, I worked with a security company as a night guard for 3 months without a single day off; this was because I needed to raise some money to buy a fairly used laptop to help me report, type, and edit my final year projects. Obed was the second-best graduating student in the Faculty of Science. He offered free tutoring to Chemistry students in his school.

Obinna “Bobby” Ilochonwu

Federal Government College, Nise

Berea College

Through the Opportunity Funds Program, Bobby secured a fully funded scholarship (over $51,000 per year) to study Nursing at Berea College.

Bobby is a proud alum of Federal Government College, Nise. In 2014, Bobby made the four-person team to represent Nigeria at the International Biology Olympiad in Bali, Indonesia. In 2015, he made the team again, that went to Denmark this time; where he emerged with the Best Nigerian result and 2nd best African result. Despite not gaining admission to schools the first time he applied, he never gave up and pushed through the application process again. Today, he is pursuing his passion on a full scholarship in the United States.

Olushola Awoyemi

University of Ilorin

West Virginia State University, MSc Biotechnology

Olushola Awoyemi is a 2018 Opportunity Funds scholar. Through the Opportunity Funds Program, Olushola secured over $30,000/year to pursue her masters in Biotechnology at West Virginia State University

Olushola Awoyemi is a first class graduate of University of Ilorin, Kwara State Nigeria from the department of Microbiology in 2015. Through the program, Olushola got a fully funded assistantship to pursue her Masters degree in Biotechnology at West Virginia State University.

Onyedika Ephraime Onuorah

St Pauls Academy, Jos

Bowdoin College

Onyedika Ephraim Onuorah is a 2018 Opportunity Funds Program scholar. Through EducationUSA, Onyedika secured a full scholarship of over $70,000/year to study at Bowdoin College.

Onyedika attended St Paul's Academy, Jos where he was the overall best student. His résumé boasts achievements such as the best in the Nigerian team at the International Biology Olympiad at Hanoi, Vietnam (2016); ranking 2nd and 3rd at the 2016 and 2017 National Biology Olympiads; achieving 8A1's in the 2017 WASSCE; Cowbellpedia Mathematics and NAFDAC competitions at both the junior and senior categories.

As a student, he was also active in sports and other extracurricular activities including the Fellowship of Christian Students (F.C.S), Boy's Brigade, JETS club (where he headed various research projects), MATHS club, and President of Tourism.

Oyindamola Omotuyi graduated from the University of Lagos, Nigeria with a Bachelor’s Degree (First Class Honors) in Systems Engineering. She was the first female in the history of Nigerian Universities to achieve a perfect CGPA of 5.0/5.0 and was the valedictorian of the 2015/2016 class at University of Lagos. Prior to graduating, she had

Richard Ewa Chukwu graduated with First Class Honours in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria. After graduation, he worked as a Process Engineer at Indorama Eleme Fertilizer and Chemicals Ltd. In search of a postgraduate experience, Richard applied and became a beneficiary of the EducationUSA Lagos Opportunity Funds Program. He successfully received full funding to the University of South Carolina, where he plans to obtain a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. His current research centres on the design, synthesis and characterization of nanocatalysts via flame synthesis for various applications.

Victor Fabiyi

Ahmadu Bello University

Clarkson University, PhD Chemical Engineering

Meet Victor Fabiyi, one of last year's Opportunity Funds scholars. Through the Opportunity Funds Program, Victor received over $60,000 to pursue his PhD in Chemical Engineering at Clarkson University.

Victor graduated with a First class in Chemical Engineering at Ahmadu Bello University. He had the passion to pursue excellence in academics and research at a top school in the United States but knew nothing about navigating graduate school funding until he got selected for the Opportunity Funds Program.

Today, Victor is about to start the 4th year of his PhD program. He is working on Molecular Dynamics and DFT Calculations.