Nworie
A
genius mathematician who graduated from the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka with firstclass is currently languishing at a farm in Ebonyi.
A 27-year-old Nigerian genius who graduated from the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka with a firstclass in Mathematics and now wasting away
cultivating cassava at a farm in Ebonyi state has left many people
speechless.
Read the full story as shared by TheCable:
In some countries, Emmanuel Nworie, a first-class mathematics
graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, would have used his
knowledge to advance the prospects of his country, either in an academic
environment or information technology sector. But the genius is wasting
away on a farmland in Ebonyi state.
Had it been mechanised farming, Nworie would have, no doubt, made
use of his skill effectively. But in a modern age, the scholar relies on
hoe and cutlass for subsistence farming. The life journey of Nworie,
who graduated with a cumulative grade point average of 4.92/5.00, is
chronicled in an article shared by Michael Taiwo, a US-based Nigerian
and sponsor of MT Scholarships.
Nworie had applied for the second edition of the scholarship which
provides support for payment of graduate school application fees and
TOEFL, GRE/GMAT — examinations required by candidates seeking admissions
abroad.
The 27-year-old lost his father to diabetes and hypertension when
he was in secondary school, and since his father’s demise in 2005, life
has been challenging, making it difficult for him to proceed with his
education.
According to the report, he took a job teaching mathematics “to
grades 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12 at the secondary school he finished from
where he had the honor of being awarded the Best Mathematics Olympiad
teacher in the State. His salary was $33.33 per month.
“Emmanuel lives with his mom and seven siblings in a house that
is not hooked to the electric grid, doesn’t have indoor plumbing, has
no address, and you need to walk a mile from it to get cellular
coverage. Widowed, his mom took to cultivating cassava on the land their
dad left behind. She also farms other people’s lands for a return of
some of the harvest. It’s the type of arrangement only people without
options take.”
Taiwo narrated how Nworie saved some part of his $400 (N185,000)
per year teaching job to obtain education in a polytechnic where he
studied statistics.
During his one-year internship after his polytechnic studies, he
took other teaching jobs and saved more money till he was able to fund
his university education.
Eight years after leaving secondary school, he gained admission to
the department of mathematics, faculty of physical sciences at UNN.
In his final year, he won the gold medal in the university category
of the 2018 national mathematics competition. After completing his
one-year mandatory national service as a teacher in a secondary school
in Enugu state, Nworie was retained to teach Advanced Mathematics at the
school for $77.46 (N35,000) per month.
But as the coronavirus pandemic led to the shutdown of schools and
businesses, the UNN graduate was forced to return to Ebonyi where he
engaged in cassava planting alongside his mother.
When the lockdown was relaxed, Nworie returned to the city to
teach. It was during the period that he learnt about the MT Scholarships
and decided to apply.
Taiwo quoted him as saying it would take up to seven years to save for US graduate application fees.
“If the restrictions were still in place, there is no way I
would have known about this from my house in Ebonyi. I have calculated
that it would take me 6 to 7 years to save for this,” he said.
The cost of applying to US graduate schools is estimated to be $1,000, although it could be less.
“And punished for what exactly? For the “crime” of being born
at the wrong place at the wrong time. There was a time in Nigeria a
prodigy like him would have been calling the shots, regardless of his
family circumstances,” the writer lamented.
“In many other parts of the world today, he would be pushing
the boundaries of science, adding to the commonwealth of knowledge,
exploring what is possible, preaching the beauty of Math. But alas, he
was born poor in Nigeria.”
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