USAP Nigeria Profiles
Profiles for our Nigerian students are still coming in and we will update this page as they become available. Below we profile the students whose information we have on file.
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Yannick Johnson
University of California Berkeley '17
"If your dreams do not scare you, then they are not big enough" - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Yannick was born in a small village in Owerri, in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria-the second child in a family of four children. After attending half a dozen primary schools, he finished his elementary school education at L.E.A primary school, Wuse zone 3, graduating as the Overall Best Student. He proceeded to Junior Secondary School Asokoro, and was honored to participate in various academic competitions, bringing laurels and awards to the school in the process. He also graduated as the Most Outstanding Student with 13 A's in the Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination. After his Junior secondary school education and in an attempt to broaden his experience and meet more people outside his immediate community, he left home and attended Government Secondary School, Gwagwalada-a boarding school at the outskirt of the Federal Capital Territory. It was as a student of Government Secondary School, Gwagwalada that Yannick learned how to dream big. As a result of being exposed to to so many accomplished students and teachers and having so much uplifting and inspirational experiences, Yannick was spurred me to attain to higher and previously unattained heights in his school. He loves learning and enthusiastically absorbed whatever knowledge he could and remained at the top of his class throughout his educational career. Also, he was the president of the Green Society, a founding member of the Anti-HIV/AIDS club, and in his final year, was elected Assistant Head prefect of his class. Because of his stellar academic record and intellectual promise, he was selected by his school to attended many science and mathematics competitions at both the state and national levels. Worthy of note are the Maltina National Reading Competition, Nigerian Chemistry Olympiad, Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN) Mathematics and Science competition, and the Nigerian National Petroleum corporation (NNPC) Science and Mathematics Competition. Yannick was the first student in the history of his senior secondary school to qualify for the National Final of the Maltina National Reading Competition and State finals of the Nigerian Chemistry Olympiad. In 2011, he graduated as the Overall Best Student and had the best West Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) result of his class.
Yannick intends to major in Chemical Engineering in the University of California, Berkeley and use his knowledge to the betterment of his community and country as a whole. From secondary school, Yannick has been particularly interested in the conservation of the environment and intends to connect this interest to his major. As a student of the top-notch research university, he intends to make research on how to make the refining of petroleum more friendly to the environment and also discover ways to contribute to the growth of the petrochemical industry in Nigeria. He believes that global warming should be taken as a serious issue in Africa and plans on learning how to minimize its impact on his country and if possible, the African continent. He honestly feels blessed, lucky and humbled to be given this opportunity to effect positive changes in his country. And he cannot thank the USAP program enough for making his dream (regardless of how unrealistic and huge it was at first!) of studying in the United States a reality.
Oghenefego Ahia
Tufts University '17
Born and raised in the coastal Pedro suburb of Lagos, Nigeria, Oghenefego is the second of three children. He attended Brilliant Child College in Lagos where his passion for excellence manifested itself in his academics, extracurricular, and social life. He was a Head Boy full of creative energy and intellectual curiosity, and was granted a full merit scholarship, the first of its kind at BCC. He was actively involved in the Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) Society—for which he was twice voted president—his co-founded Young Writer's Circle, Hepatitis Awareness Program, and the crowd-pulling French Recitation Team. He served as Captain of the victorious All-State Science Olympiad Team as well as the soccer team, where he was a superb attacking midfielder and a staunch fan of Manchester United FC, the team where soccer truly lives.
In recent years, Oghenefego has garnered accolades from across the globe, and this manifests his long-term dream of making a difference through academic excellence, philanthropic efforts and creative writing, for which he is an international star. While in high school, he was invited to Washington DC, having excelled in the Gulen Institute Youth Platform's International Essay Competition, as well as London, UK, having been shortlisted for the Litro/ IGGY International Short Story Award—which drew about 500 entries from 40 countries—for a second time. He also emerged a two-time winner (and one-time runner-up) of the Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition, Nigeria's premier and time-honored high school non-fiction contest. Oghenefego achieved a bronze essay award from the Royal Commonwealth Society UK for his non-fiction piece, 'The Shadow of a Woman's Dream,' in addition to the inaugural Ugreen Foundation Short Story Prize, for which he feels honored to have bested seasoned writers twice his age. This is in spite of his strong childhood passion for engineering.
He achieved straight distinctions in his O'Level WASSCE Results, as well as the Learn Africa/ NECO National Excellence Award for emerging the second-best candidate in the National Examinations Council (NECO) exams among a total of about 1.1 million candidates from across the country. This meritorious achievement climaxed a colorful journey in which he excelled in the Cowbell Math Competition (State Champion), the NNPC Science Quiz Competition (Western Region Runner-up), National Institute of Physics (NIP) Quiz Competition (3rd Prize), and Oluwole Awokoya National Chemistry Competition, for which he was medalled a top-ten student-chemist in the country by the Chemistry Society of Nigeria.
Indeed, Oghenefego strongly hopes to inspire lives with his God-given potential, as well as engineer the African renaissance in coming years. He hopes to create ways through which indigent kids and creative youth in his country can achieve their dreams, regardless of their backgrounds. In fact, he is eternally grateful to God and the amiable EducationUSA advisers for making his dream of studying in the United States a reality, and he believes this is a stepping stone toward setting his footprints on the world stage. He hopes to major in Electrical Engineering at Tufts University, MA.
Ibrahim Yasir Mohammed
Amherst College '17
Yasir is an excited teenager with a larger than life attitude. His friends always say he dreams too much but Yasir always believed that his dreams are attainable however astronomical they seemed. He attended Jolatsen Nursery and primary school where he graduated as the best student. He then moved to junior secondary School Gwagwalada where he was exposed to a lot of competitions. He won some and each one he lost, he took as a lesson. He was also honored to be the assistant head boy of the school despite his small size and age. After graduating with the best JSCE result in the school, he got admitted into Government Secondary School Gwagwalada. This was where his life transformed. After an initially topsy-turvy start to life at the school, he eventually settled down and started getting the desired result. Due to his stellar academic record, he represented his school in a lot of competitions like the NIPOST national essay competition, Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN) mathematics and science competition, inter-school science quizzes and a host of other competitions. He was the first student in his school to win the NIPOST national essay competition, claiming the first prize in the process and he also grabbed a lot of other awards. He was also an active member of a lot of clubs and societies like the anti HIV/AIDS club, the Consumer Safety Club, Young Farmers club and a lot more. Eventually, he graduated as one of the best students in his class year and also graduated with the best National Examination Council (NECO) result in his year.
He got accepted into USAP and with the help of its wonderful advisors, he got admitted into Amherst College-one of the best colleges in America. He intends to major in computer science and with world fast becoming a computer palace, he intends to use the skill he will gain to better his community and help improve the scope of computers in his country. This is an opportunity he feels extremely lucky to have gotten. He cannot put into words the immense help the USAP Program have been to him. They have truly helped him transform his dream of studying in the United States a reality.
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" - Eleanor Roosevelt
Ibuakaeze China Sophia
Berea College '17
China was born as the second child in a family of eight, in Aba a town in the eastern part of Nigeria. She completed her primary education at International Early Learning Center, graduating as the best student. She attended Dority International Secondary and during her time there, excelled in both academic and extra curricular activities. She constantly received awards as best student in different subjects and is a member of her school hall of fame. She represented her school in the Petroleum Technology Development Fund and Public and Private Rights Watch debate competitions, Junior Sciences Olympiads and Senior Biology Olympiads and performed excellently. She received an award from the International Academy for the Gifted due to her excellent performance in competitions.
In senior secondary school (during her senior year), China was the class prefect of her class, assistant general prefect, Senior Secondary 3 judge, court registrar and news director of Dority press club. She has a passion for helping people especially children. She is a member of Abia State Children's Parliament and speaker of Ossisioma Constituency. She also represented her state, Abia, in a conference with the minister of education on the rights of children in the state. After her graduation from secondary school, she volunteered in a neighborhood school where she taught kindergarten children.
China hopes to study Communications and Business Administration at Berea College. She hopes to return to Nigeria and become an entrepreneur and Television host and presenter alongside motivational speaking and writing books and articles. She also hopes to give scholarships to indigent students like her. She remains grateful to God, USAP and her EducationUSA advisers for giving her the opportunity to realize her dreams despite all the challenges she faced.
Stephanie Agba
Franklin College '17
Stephanie Agba hails from Anambra state, South-eastern Nigeria, and comes from a family of eight. In the early years of her education, she attended different primary schools which were mostly in the northern part of Nigeria, and then began her secondary education in Government Secondary School Nyanya-Abuja, where she was the school's representative in several competitions, and was recognized as the best student in Academics in Jss2. After junior secondary school she completed her remaining three years of secondary education in Government Girls Science Secondary School Kuje-Abuja. During this period she was the Preparatory prefect, Chief Editor of press club and the coordinator of Y.C.S (Young Catholic Student), and in her final year graduated as the best student in Physics, Mathematics, Biology, and the overall best student in Academics. All these portrayed her profound interest in sciences and her dedication to academics.
Although Stephanie seemed to always stand out among her peers her journey was not always smooth. She believes that through several tough challenges, her desire to make a difference has always been a great motivation. For her, the United States Achievers Program (USAP) was among the toughest Challenges she faced, but was also the most rewarding. In her words: "USAP taught me that it is when things get tough that you shouldn't give up. No matter the situation, especially when it seems like it's the end, you are actually at the end – just push harder."
Presently, Stephanie is a sophomore at Franklin College, Indiana. She is in the Pre-physical therapy program, studying Chemistry (biochemistry track) and a minor in Mathematics. Stephanie earned the honor of being on the dean's list, as an academic merit, in her first semester of College, and at the end of her first year received membership into the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society. She is presently an At-large Representative of Student Congress, Treasurer of the Student Association in Support of Multiculturalism (SASOM), A Diversity Advocate, An executive in Uptil-Dawn, an organization that raises fund for the treatment of young cancer patients and a laboratory assistant in the chemistry department. Stephanie is also the first Nigerian to attend Franklin College, Indiana.
"None of these would have been possible if not for God's support all the way, and the tremendous opportunities I gained through USAP; for all of which I will forever remain grateful."
Joseph Thompson
Michigan State University '17
Anyone who knew Joseph Thompson would simply describe him as "a go-getter who will pursue every piece of his dream until they all materialize into reality." Joseph is a native of Lere Local Government Area in Kaduna State and grew up in Kaduna. The third child in a family of five, he has two brothers and a sister.
Joseph graduated from Federal Government College Kaduna with the best result in the West African Senior School Certificate Exam. He was successful in representing his school in several quiz competitions at the regional, state and national level. His passion for leadership and educational development led him to mentor and independently teach prospective SAT, TOEFL, IELTS test takers in Kaduna State. He loves soccer, reading, writing short stories, poems and has had his poem published by New Nigerian Newspaper during Nigeria’s Golden Jubilee.
His hard work fetched him an award at Michigan State University (MSU) where he became the first Nigerian undergraduate beneficiary of the prestigious MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program scholarship. Joseph, who is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, is a member of the MSU Honors College and an honoree of the MSU Dean's List. Joseph is recognized for his academic excellence and has his name written on the University Honor Roll. He is an honoree of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (student chapter).
Joseph is driven by the passion for solving engineering problems; he plans to conduct research to address complex societal problems such as oil spilling, global warming and even gas flaring- a problem that still looms in the petroleum industry. Upon graduating from Michigan State University, Joseph plans to leverage the skills which he acquired within and outside the classroom for the purposes of tackling pressing challenges.