Five Times Nigerians Made Headlines on the World Stage

With over 250 ethnic groups and about 500 languages spoken, Nigeria is one of the most diverse nations in the world. Data retrieved from the World Factbook 2015 shows that Nigeria has a population of over 188 million people who share a common national pride and are willing to fly the country’s flag high when called upon. In today's post, I will be discussing five times Nigerians represented the country in good light and attracted world attention.

Nigerian Coat of Arms
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Ben Enwonwu: Ben Enwonwu is renowned the most influential African artist of the 20th Century, his pioneering career and works have inspired most of the artists from Africa to use their art forms to spread the African experience and story around the world. Since 1950 Enwonwu has been acknowledged as the” Africa’s Greatest Artist” by international observers. 

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Among his many notable works include an official bronze sculpture of Queen Elizabeth and a painting masterpiece titled “Tutu” which was considered lost for decades but was found recently in a London apartment and was auctioned for $1.67 million. He is a holder of numerous awards including Member of the Order of the British Empire, National Order of Merit in Nigeria and the naming of a crater on the planet Mercury after him.

Phillip Emeagwali: Phillip Emeagwali is renowned for his accomplishments in the field of computer science, he won the 1989 Gordon Bell prize for an application of the CM-2 massively parallel computer. He was passionate about nature and studied it closely this led him coming up with the idea of emulating bee’s honeycomb construction to make computers faster, armed with this idea and a creative mind he was able to invent the worlds fastest computer using 65,000 processors. 

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This computer was able to perform computations at 3.1 billion calculations per second. His inventions earned him the title “Bill Gates of Africa.” His computers are currently used to monitor weather conditions and predict the likelihood and effects of global warming.

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Stephen Udotong: At 16 Stephen embarked on a mission to build a nuclear fusor in an attempt to help make the environment cleaner and safer for all. The nuclear fusor brings hydrogen atoms together with great force within a steel orb, fusing them with helium to produce small amounts of energy mimicking the reaction that occurs in the sun. He created a GoFundMe page to raise money for parts; he exceeded his goal $1500 in a week. He was accepted into Yale’sYoung Global Scholar Program and became the first black student to build a nuclear reactor.

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Chioma Ajunwa: Chioma Ajunwa was a police officer in Lagos, Nigeria before she was selected to represent Nigeria at the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta due to her outstanding athletic ability. She started out as a soccer player and even played for the Nigerian women’s team in 1991 but was rarely featured in games. At the 1996 Olympics, she was drafted into the track and field team and starred in the 100m, 200m, and long jump events. She made her mark at the Olympics by winning the gold medal for long jump to become the first Nigerian to win a gold medal at the Olympics. She later returned to serve the country and continued in her role as a divisional officer with the Nigerian Police Force.       

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Agbani Darego: In 2001 Agbani Darego won the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria title months later she represented Nigeria at the Miss Universe contest where she finished seventh; becoming the first Nigerian to make it the top ten. In November 2001 she went on to win the Miss World title making her the first Sub-Saharan African woman to win it. Her other work includes being a judge on several pageants, modelling and fashion competitions most notably the Miss World pageant 2014, Mr Scotland 2002, Miss England 2002.

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