President Bola Tinubu congratulates six distinguished Diaspora Nigerians named by President Joe Biden among the 400 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in the United States.

This prestigious recognition, established by former President Bill Clinton in 1996, is the highest honour bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers.

This year’s awardees, announced by President Joe Biden on January 14, 2025, are employed or funded by 14 participating United States government agencies.

The Nigerian honorees include

Azeez Butali, Gilbert Lilly Endowed Professor of Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa;

Ijeoma Opara, Associate Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Yale School of Public Health, Yale University; and

Oluwatomi Akindele, 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 commends these trailblazing Nigerians for their remarkable achievements in science, technology and engineering.

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.

Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President
(Information & Strategy)
January 16, 2025