Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu has lauded six accomplished Nigerian scientists and engineers who have been named among the 400 recipients of the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in the United States.
The award, established in 1996 by former US President Bill Clinton, is the highest honour granted by the US government to outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers.
President Joe Biden revealed the beneficiaries of this year’s award on January 14, 2025.
They were chosen from 14 US federal agencies for their innovative contributions to engineering, science, and technology.
Ijeoma Opara, an associate professor of public health (social and behavioural sciences) at Yale University’s School of Public Health; Oluwatomi Akindele, a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; and Azeez Butali, Gilbert Lilly Endowed Professor of Diagnostic Sciences at the University of Iowa’s College of Dentistry, are the six Nigerians.
The others are Abidemi Ajiboye, Executive Vice Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case School of Engineering, Case Western Reserve University; Oluwasanmi Koyejo, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University; and Eno Ebong, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biology, Northeastern University.
President Tinubu commended the honourees for their outstanding accomplishments in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy on Thursday, January 16.
“The Nigerian leader notes that recognising these exceptional talents underscores Nigerians’ vast potential to excel both at home and on the global stage.
“He looks forward to the honorees sharing their multidisciplinary expertise to benefit Nigeria’s development efforts under the Renewed Hope Agenda,” the statement added.
