[size=14pt]How Chidera and Chinbudu raised Nigeria’s profile in UK[/size]


Wednesday, 12 January 2011


Two Nigerian girls recently made their country proud in Britain. Miss Chidera Ota, a 15-year-old student at Highstead Grammar School, Sittingbourne, Kent, posted 15 A’s in both the science and the arts subjects in her O/Levels. The performance earned her automatic scholarship to pursue her A/Levels at King’s School, Canterbury; she hopes to study medicine.

Also, Miss Chibundu Onuozu,19, an undergraduate student at King’s College, London, signed a two-novel deal with frontline publisher Faber. That remarkable deal has made her the publisher’s youngest woman author.

Her first novel entitled The Spider King’s Daughter is expected to be published next year.


Chibundu

In an interview with CNN, Miss Onuozu disclosed that she wrote the novel in her last year at school. She has been writing since she was 10 and The Spider King’s Daughter is the first book she has finished. By this feat, Miss Onuozu has joined the growing list of talented young Nigerian writers, mostly girls.

These include Ms Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction, thanks to her novel entitled “Half of A Yellow Sun”, and Ms Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani who authored “I Do Not Come To You” By Chance; it has won several awards including the Commonwealth Writers Prize.


Chidera

In July last year, a 15-year-old Nigerian, Miss Kimberly Anyadike, caught the world’s attention for breaking aviation record: she became the first African American to pilot an aircraft from coast to coast. Classified as an at-risk youth, Kimberly manned the one-engine Cessna aircraft for about two weeks, cruising from California on the West Coast to Virginia on the Eastern Coast to the admiration of ecstatic crowds in all the 13 cities in which she touched down. Her historic feat dominated major local and international media.


Tricia

But why are the Nigerians girls making waves globally while most of their mates back home are performing woefully? The perennial mass failure of Nigerian students in major examinations like the WASCE and NECO is a sad commentary at this stage of our development. One major factor responsible for this sorry state of affairs is the hostile environment that stifles intellectual growth and youth development.

There are many Kimberlys, Chideras, Chibundus, Chimamandas and Adaobis waiting to be discovered. Government at all levels must go back to the drawing board and address the challenges facing the nation’s education sector with all the seriousness it deserves.

Parents too have a crucial role to play.

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/features/15988-how-chidera-and-chinbudu-raised-nigerias-profile-in-uk

Greatest Naija, I know we are intelligent but . ,

thweraja10:

Greatest Naija, I know we are intelligent but . , 

But what?

But what?

All this crazy politicians keep killing our dreams

thweraja10:


All this crazy politicians keep killing our dreams

Politicians have no hand in killing your dreams. You control your own destiny.