President Bola Tinubu has extended his congratulations to six accomplished Nigerians in the Diaspora who were recognized by President Joe Biden as part of the 400 recipients of the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in the United States.
In a statement released on Thursday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), it was noted that this esteemed award, established in 1996 by former President Bill Clinton, represents the highest honor granted by the U.S. government to exceptional scientists and engineers in the early phases of their careers.
According to the statement, this year’s awardees, announced by President Biden on January 14, 2025, are either employed by or funded through 14 participating U.S. government agencies.
The Nigerian recipients of this honor include Azeez Butali, who holds the Gilbert Lilly Endowed Professorship of Diagnostic Sciences at the College of Dentistry, University of Iowa; Ijeoma Opara, Associate Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences) at the Yale School of Public Health, Yale University; and Oluwatomi Akindele, a Postdoctoral Researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Others are Eno Ebong, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biology at Northeastern University; Oluwasanmi Koyejo, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University; and Abidemi Ajiboye, Executive Vice Chair of the Case School of Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University.
President Tinubu commended these distinguished individuals for their exceptional contributions to science, technology, and engineering. He emphasized that their recognition highlights the immense potential of Nigerians to excel both locally and globally.
The statement further expressed President Tinubu’s anticipation that the honorees will leverage their diverse expertise to contribute to Nigeria’s development initiatives under the Renewed Hope Agenda. He affirmed that such achievements reflect the global prominence of Nigerians and inspire national pride.
