Nigeria @ 52: Men and women whose light sparkles in darkness
However, many Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, are contributing to the growth of the world through their inventions. From Science to Medicine, Technology to business, arts to leadership, they have made their marks. These are those we refer to as Nigerians of the future. From current global trends, the future belongs to me […]
However, many Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, are contributing to the growth of the world through their inventions. From Science to Medicine, Technology to business, arts to leadership, they have made their marks. These are those we refer to as Nigerians of the future. From current global trends, the future belongs to me whose ideas solve human problems; those who dream with open eyes, to beat new paths in various fields. In the last 52 years, the majority of Nigerian leaders have been ensnared by corruption because they had gazed too long at wealth rather than life-changing innovations. The transient glory of power had deceived many from the pursuit of noble causes, thereby denying the country of the benefits of the fruits of their innate talents. In the following pieces, we have identified few Nigerians who could be referred to as exceptions to the uninspiring way of life that has dragged the country to political and economic cul-de-sac. They are men and women who have followed the dictates of their spirits and have made a difference. Their outstanding lives give Nigeria pride among the comity of nations. We call them Nigerians of the future, because to these kinds rest the hope of this most populous African nation.
. Professor Bwala: Tackling Parkinson
disease, stroke at National Hospital, Abuja Quiet and unassuming, Professor Sunday Angaya Bwala is an agent of hope to Parkinson disease and stroke patients at the National Hospital in Abuja. Born in 1950, he has done so much work in Neurology, a very sensitive area of Medicine, such that in Africa and the world at large his expertise is sought in handling delicate and unusual cases. Professor Bwala, who hails from Borno State is the author of over 40 research publications in the field of neurology and has worked in many hospitals in and outside Nigeria. A former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) of the University of Maiduguri, now on Sabbatical at the National Hospital in Abuja, he is still carrying out research on the pattern of neurologic diseases at the hospital and the causes of stroke in the young (those who are less than 45 years). He is still working on the aspects of extra-cranial and intra-cranial vessels in stroke at the National Hospital.
At a time when many trained medical doctors have given up on research into diseases among patients, and rather look up to government for political appointments, this Bwala’s curriculum vitae bears a testimony that that he has never engaged in politics or political appointments. In his profile of over two thousand words, reference is made to hospitals and medical departments of universities where he had worked. It says Professor Bwala “has worked in so many places as Locum Consultant Neurologist at Taiwan Hospital and UAE University Medical School Abu Dhabi; Consultant physician and Head of Department of Medicine King Khalid Military Hospital Saudi Arabia; Registrar in Neurology at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital UK; Registrar Neurosurgery at National Hospital for Nervous Diseases Maida Vale, London and Registrar in General Medicine at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria among others. He was also Head of Department of Medicine King Khalid Military City Hospital Saudi Arabia among others.”
. Gilbert honours Africa with accident equipment
Brino Gilbert is another Nigerian who has given hope not only to Nigeria but Africa as a whole. He has invented a gadget called Counter Collision Gadget (CCG). It is said that the CCG device has the capacity to prevent accidents on the road, air, sea and rail.
Gilbert who is a physicist has proved to be a man of industry, hard work and resilience. All this has earned him numerous acclamations including two medals and a trophy. He made tremendous impact at the May 2003 edition of the Invention and New Product Exposition (INPEX) in the United States. He won a bronze medal in the Aerospace/Aeronautics category and a silver medal in the manufacturing category.
Gilbert who hails from Edo State spent 10 years seeking government attention for his research. He also approached several groups and individuals for sponsorship. Then luck came his way at INPEX.
It was really tough for him because he suffered shortage of funds and materials for his research work.
In his words, “I had to source for funds here and there to get my air fare, BTA and the participation fees. Thank God for the award. My eyes were suffused with tears, as I looked around me, not seeing any Nigerian with me. I did Nigeria and Africa proud. I did Edo State proud.”
This was a big honour because Gilbert was in contest with great inventors from across the world.
He has a strong vision for the way forward for science and technology in Africa. This is obvious in his words, “The African continent could come off the aged drowsiness of technological backwardness as there is no limit to what the human mind can do. Nigeria is blessed with human power, but no one listens or pays attention to research and development. The government does not invest in what may yield a great economy in the nearest future. The African mentality is the now factor, not tomorrow.”
His vision is to make CCG exportable to many countries of the world.
. Deola Sagoe: New thinking in fashion
A mother of three children, Deola Sagoe has become a big name in Nigeria’s fashion industry. The Ondo State born fashion designer actually studied Finance and Management at the University of Lagos and the University of Miami, United States. She started designing in 1998, but what has been described as her “lively and colourful designs” has shot her to the front row in global fashion industry. Recently, she was appointed to represent the country in a United Nations World Food Programme campaign entitled “Catwalk the World: Fashion for Food.” The young lady exhibits in several countries including the United States and South Africa, and has won several awards for her Africa designs.
. Abba Chedi Zubair: World renowned Pathologist
Dr Abba Chedi Zubair is a world renowned pathologist and specializes on transfusion medicine. A licensed Clinical Pathologist, Dr Zubair typically concentrates on Blood Transfusion and Stem Cell Infusion. He is one of the world’s leading scientists doing research on stem cell.
A 1991 graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Dr. Zubair also studied at University of Sheffield’s Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Cancer Center, Philadelphia, United States. Currently, Zubair, who hails from Kano State, is the Director of Transfusion Medicine and Stem Cell Therapy at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. He has been working alongside the Waisman Biomanufacturing to produce GmB messenchymal stem cells for treatment of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), a common disease associated with organ rejection post lung transplant.
He seeks to identify and characterize normal and cancer stem cells using immuno-phenotyping, molecular and cell culture techniques. Characterization of cancer stem cells will allow better insight into the mechanism of stem cell resistance to chemotherapy and might therefore lead to identification of new therapeutic targets, more effective anti-cancer therapies and chemoprevention.
. Dr Philip Emeagwali: World fastest ‘calculator’
Dr Philip Emeagwali shocked the world in 1989 when he received the prestigious Gordon Bell prize for his performance on the world’s fastest calculation at 3.1 billion calculations per second. His calculation was adjudged a remarkable feat in the world because it was twice faster than the previous world record and the method used to achieve it. Instead of using the supercomputer, Dr Emeagwali used the internet to access 65,536 through a system called massively parallel computers [the use of small computers simultaneously]
His discovery was of great value and breakthrough in the oil industry today. It’s being used for the stimulation of oil from the fields. This has helped many oil producing nations of the world for the extraction of more oil and thereby increased their revenue without difficulties as it were before this invention. Beside this, his discovery effort is also being used to predict weather patterns for at least 100 years forecast. The field of meteorology has witnessed great advancement as a result of his work.
The Nigerian scientist has over the years recorded other numerous breakthroughs in the fields of mathematics, computers and science which had earned him other awards and honours across the world.
The world known inventor and scientist was born at Onitsha, in the eastern part of the country. He received a scholarship to Oregon state university in USA where he bagged a BSC. Two masters Degrees from George Washington University and the third one from the University of Maryland. He earned a PhD from the University of Michigan also in the USA. His wife, Dr. Dale Brown is also a renowned microbiologist. She was named scientist of the year in 1996 by the National Technical Association.
. Jelani Aliyu: Automobile designer
Jelani Aliyu, the Nigerian prodigy who was recently conferred the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) is extremely talented and blazes the trail for African engineers in the global field of automobile design.
He designed the Chevrolet Volt, a state-of-the-art electric car, for General Motors.
Born in 1966 in Kaduna into the family of Alhaji Haidar Aliyu, a public servant from Sokoto State, Jelani Aliyu studied at Capital School, Sokoto before going to Federal Government College in the same town. He graduated in 1983 and received an award for Best in Technical Drawing. He then studied design at two other tertiary institutions in Nigeria before moving to the United States. He received his diploma in Architecture from Birnin Kebbi Polytechnic in 1988, where he was recognized as the Best Student. He had a brief stint at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, where he initially planned to study architecture, but later got a scholarship from the Sokoto State government to study in the US. In 1990, Aliyu moved to Detroit, Michigan to enroll at the College for Creative Studies where he received his degree in automobile design in 1994 before beginning his career with the design staff of General Motors. He worked on the Buick Rendezvous and was the lead exterior designer of the Pontiac G6. He also worked on the Astra with General Motors’ Opel Division in Germany in 1999. During his studies he received two awards from Ford Motor Company and Michelin, US.
Indeed, Aliyu recorded a major breakthrough in the automotive industry, with the design of “Chevy Volt”, described as an “American Revolution.” It was made possible by the brilliance of the Nigerian genius after a 10-month marathon sprint to bring the Volt to reality.
. John Dabiri: A new look at wind-energy technology
In 2010, Popular Science magazine named John Dabiri as one of its “Brilliant 10” scientists. A Nigerian based in the United States, young Dabiri is a 2001 graduate of Princeton University in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Now, he is an Associate Professor of Aeronautics & Bioengineering. Because of his achievements and nomination as one of Brilliant 10 scientists two years ago, Dabiri was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship which earned him $500,000 grant to conduct further research in wind-energy technology. He is renowned for getting ideas from Jellyfish to design propulsion systems, and he has given insight into new approaches for optimising power generation from Vertical Axis Wind Turbines. He is said to have told a publication that he was inspired by schooling fish. The significance of his discovery is traced to lack of space with current wind farms. Modern wind farms need a lot of land resources to separate wind turbines. Dabiri was quoted as saying that “propeller-style wind turbines suffer in performance as they come in proximity to one another,” hence his decision to work on vertical turbines which are new additions to the wind-energy landscape. His turbines would have no propellers; instead they would use a vertical rotor, such that they can be used in smaller plots of land. Dabiri added that “Our goal is to demonstrate a new technology that enables us extract significantly more wind energy from a given parcel of land than is currently possible using existing methods. We want to take advantage of our constructive aerodynamic interference between closed spaced vertical-axis wind turbines. Our results can potentially make better use of existing wind farms, allow for wind farms to be located closer to urban centres – reducing power transmission costs – and reduce the size of offshore installations.”
. Yemi Adesokan: Invents drug-resistant infection kits
Yemi Adesokan, a Nigerian born and US based founder of Pathogenica Inc, was selected by expert judges of the Technology Review of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States of America for his discovery work on drug-resistant infections.
Adesokan, a 35 year old young Nigerian was honoured by the MIT in 2011because of his innovation work which has the potentials to change the way mankind responds to disease pathogens.
Medical experts are of the view that his innovation may bring an end to the problem of drug resistance in the world particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Renowned world innovators that were previously honoured by MIT included:Mark Zuckerberg , founder of Facebook, Sergey Brin of Google. Adesokan in 2011 joined other TR35 honourees to discuss their achievements at the Emtech MIT conference in Cambridge.
His discovery work was carried out by biotechnology start-up that he founded with Professor George Church of Harvard Medical School DNA technology. The Pathogenica’s kits were able to identify the presence, which enables physicians to screen for multiple diseases with accurate results and a rapid turn-around.
Since this innovation, sequencing technology has improved, equipping scientists with knowledge of individual genomics. Also, with his innovation, the cost of DNA sequencing has dropped more than 40,000 fold.
. Oluyemi Badero reaches the apogee
Oluyemi Badero, a cardiologist based in New York is one of the interventional cardiologists among top US cardiologists. Badero who is in his early 50s, was two years ago listed among the top 50 US and Canada-based Nigerians recognized by Nigerians abroad during the 50th independence anniversary in Abuja.
Badero who is the President and CEO, Cardiac Specialists of Brooklyn, LLC has said his listing this year by the Castle Connolly regarded as eminent among US medical professionals will further spur him to do more and do better for humanity stressing, “when you are devoted to do your very best, the recognition will come.”
By this honour, Badero is now at par with a handful of US Black doctors and Nigerians on the Castle Connolly list. Three other Nigerian doctors: Professor Ferdinand Ofodile, Dr Ola Akinboboye and Dr Chukwuma Okadigwe have so far been so honoured.
Badero who did his MBBS in 1984 from the then University of Ife had two residency programmes in the US both at the State University of New York between 1990 and 1994. He had two post-residency fellowships at SUNY and Yale, between 1994 and1998.
Badero was the Chief of Cardiology at Saint John’s Episcopal Hospital, South Shore, New York between 2003 and 2007, and also Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the State University of New York Health Sciences Center in Brooklyn.
Badero is popular not only in his field of study. He was awarded “Worthy Sir Knight, Dr Oluyemi Badero” by Knights of Columbus.
Few years ago, the 108th session of the US Congress praised Badero’s “outstanding accomplishments in the field of medicine,” and “one of the very few African-American specialists in his field.”
. Shehu Balami:The rocket inventor
Engineer Shehu Balami, 30, has since 2000 been involved in the invention of rockets. A graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, Niger State, he started by making research into how to make smaller models which instead of flying began to explode due to very low power and the lack of thrust to drive them. That was for his first degree thesis in 2008. As at last year, he had produced and launched two solid fuel rockets which were launched along the new Kaduna Millennium City Road in Kaduna State.
Explaining how he started, Balami said he developed interest in rocket making since he was a child, not with the aim of building them but to enable him build space satellite for Nigeria. He was quoted as saying, “I have a special passion for anything that flies, be it aeroplane or rocket and that was the reason why I started making research into rocketry. In fact, it informed my choice of my project topic in the university.”
For his invention he had to depend on friends and family members. He stated that for his invention in 2008, he got a support of N10,000 from friends, while for the modified one in 2011, he raised N30,000. The solid-fuel rocket was produced under the auspices of the Movement for the Propagation of Science and Technology in Nigeria. It is made up of those who have interest in science and technology.
As at 2011, Engineer Balami had commenced research into what he called remote controlled aircraft, though he complained that the major impediment to this project would be lack of funds. He had said, “If government pays attention to local scientists and technologists and supports them financially, with this kind of inventions I have launched, I believe strongly that one day we will be able to build our own satellite or the engine that will take the satellite to the space and save Nigeria a lot of money.”