Tinubu Urges Honoured Scientists to Aid Nigeria

President Bola Tinubu has expressed his anticipation for six distinguished Nigerians in the diaspora, recently recognized by President Joe Biden among the 400 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in the United States, to contribute their expertise towards Nigeria’s development.

The Nigerian president also congratulated the honorees on their remarkable achievements.

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), disclosed this in a statement on January 16, 2025.

This award, established by former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1996, is the highest honour bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers.

The Presidency revealed that the Nigerian honorees include:

Azeez Butali, Gilbert Lilly Endowed Professor of Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa. Ijeoma Opara Associate Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Yale School of Public Health, Yale University. Oluwatomi Akindele, Postdoctoral Researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Eno Ebong, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biology at Northeastern University. Oluwasanmi Koyejo, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University. Abidemi Ajiboye, Executive Vice Chair of the Case School of Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University. President Tinubu commended these trailblazing Nigerians for their outstanding achievements in science, technology, and engineering.

“He looks forward to the honorees sharing their multidisciplinary expertise to benefit Nigeria’s development efforts under the Renewed Hope Agenda,” the statement added.

The Nigerian leader also emphasized that recognizing these exceptional talents underscores Nigerians’ vast potential to excel both locally and globally.