They are all Nigerian born with a dual nationality of United States of America. In their various chosen professions and capacities they have all brought glory to Africa’s most populous nation. They are all men of proven substance, towering integrity, highly respected all over America, other parts of the world for their ingenious and unparalleled cerebral intelligence. They are all achievers in their own rights, without a single strand of scandal either at work or outside their profession. In a difficult, most compelling analysis, the Editorial Board of Naija Standard Newspaper unanimously adjudged Honorable Ugo Nwaokoro, wave-making Nigerian born Deputy Mayor of Newark in New Jersey as Naija Standard Newspaper Man of the Year 2016 Winner.
Ugo, a soft-spoken thinker, humble with utmost dedication to the good service of humanity with clear-directional lead by Mayor Ras Baraka has ensured that Newark is home to more than 280,000 residents and a large international immigrant community. This is a major state in the whole of America where legal Africans from various nations, in their different languages who naturalized as African-Americans lawfully co-exist peacefully without any strife, arguments or violence.
Office of the Mayor in City of Newark situated along 920 Broad Street, especially the International Relations and Diaspora Affairs’ office has daily become a beehive of activities, as Ugo leads the transformation ideology in New Jersey which has made these various tribes to live together by way of one-big-family.
Ugo’s positively-impacting economic policies have cohesively brought the people of different colors, ethnic backgrounds and religious varieties together. Today, he is seeing in America as the invincible hand behind these lofty accomplishments.
Persons Of The Year Award Winners;
In the ‘Persons of the Year Award’ category, three Nigerian-Americans stand out in the Diaspora, they are: Dr Osato Osemwengie, Nigerian born America’s Expert in NASA Deep Space Robotics, Dr Bennet Omalu, Nigerian-American leading Physician/Neuropathologist & Dr Oluyinka Olutoye, foremost Paediatrics Surgeon in Texas.
Dr Osato Osemwengie, the brain behind America’s drone creativity working in The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at Space Electromechanics Inc, having studied Unmanned Aircraft Systems The Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati, University of New York and Regis University remains one of the shining lights that ever came out of Nigeria. He is originally from Edo state is really making Nigeria proud, flying high the flag of Africa’s most populous black nation here in United States of America. He is an embodiment of excellence in the academic circle of highest repute, spent his working life in academia.
Osemwengie, a focused and detribalized Nigerian believes education is the strongest weapon to fight ignorance and fought poverty. Having accomplished so much in the education sector in America, he had bagged six Masters degree in various disciplines and pursuing his fourth PhD at the University of Texas, Dallas. He is a Nigerian who builds drones for the United States Army, bags his 6th Masters degree, set for his 7th Masters pursuing his 4th PhD. Excitedly, he shared his photos with the following caption: “6 master degrees, not bad. I was in the State of Ohio on Monday December 12th, 2016 for my Masters of Business Administration (MBA) graduation. This is my 6th master degree and will begin work on my 7th master degree in January 2017, and my 4th Ph.D. degree at University of Texas at Dallas in September of 2017. You know the proverb, ‘All work and no play makes jack a dull boy’ well, for me, all work and my play is acquiring graduate degrees. Learning is relaxing and takes my mind of my job projects.”
Dr Bennet Omalu, a foremost forensic pathologist who identified and named a brain disease directly related to high impact sports called the National Football League’s Play Smart, while deriding Play Safeinitiative a sham, is a highly successful, cerebral Nigerian-American Physician who discovered and named Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive, irreversible, degenerative disease in people – mostly athletes — who have had a severe blow or repeated blows to the head. In a remarkable lecture at Westminster College’s two -day Hancock Symposium last year, he once reportedly said: “Nothing will change since its symptoms can appear as many as 40 years after the damage was done.”
Omalu earlier portrayed by actor Will Smith in the 2015 movie Concussion told the audience how the NFL “professionally ostracized” him and tried to discredit him when he discovered and announced CTE. Emphatically, he states that “Based on what we now know, children under the age of 18 should not be allowed to play football, hockey, box, wrestle or participate in other contact sports because such body contact can literally rattle the youths’ brains “that are like floating balloons inside their skulls.” Omalu, a member of the Igbo (or Ibo) tribe, is the Chief Medical Examiner of San Joaquin County, CA, serves as a Clinical Professor and Associate Physician Diplomate at the University of California-Davis Medical Center, Department of Medical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
Dr Oluyinka Olutoye, is a Nigerian born American Paediatrics Surgeon in Texas, who had Fellowship in Pediatric Surgery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the university of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. Olutoye worked in conjunction with Dr. Darrell Cass, his surgeon partner when they performed an operation on a pregnant woman that had tumour and successfully removed her 23 weeks old baby, extract the tumour, and returned the baby back into the mother’s womb; while the baby developed and was finally given birth to at 36 weeks as a normal child without any Cesarian section. Dr. Olutoye whose praise will continue to be on the lips of people for a long time to come had been trending on the social media across the world. This news about the Nigerian surgeon became viral sensation after the information about a baby that was born twice was shared. Olutoye and Cass, carried out an operation on a baby at 23 weeks. The baby was removed from her mother’s womb when they discovered she was suffering from a tumour known as sacrococcygeal teratoma. The operation was successfully carried out and the baby was returned back. Amazingly, the baby healed and continued to grow until she was born again at 36 weeks. This is a remarkable feat in modern medicine. It is exciting to know that a Nigerian surgeon was part of this setup. Lynlee Hope was given a chance to be born normal because of the surgeons who tried their best possible. Olutoye happens to be the co-director of the Texas children’s fetal center and fetal surgery team member.
This well praised doctor received his medical degree in 1988 from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He proceeded to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond where he got his PhD in anatomy in 1996. It was at the medical college of Virginia hospitals that he completed his residency in general surgery. His fellowship was done in pediatric surgery at the children’s hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. As a member of the international fetal medicine and surgery society, Olutoye is also a member of the surgical section of the American academy of pediatrics and American college of surgeons. As a Nigerian, he has come a long way when it comes to medicine. Without doubt, this humble Nigerian surgeon has brought glory to Nigeria.
