Another Jos breed hits global spotlight

Jos, Nigeria: A 25-year-old Nigerian graduate, Mr. Nwangele Godwin, has emerged winner of the 2020 Rhodes Scholarship for West Africa.

Born and raised in Jos, the capital of Plateau State, Godwin became the second Nigerian and the fourth recipient of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship from the region since its relaunch in 2017, after beating 2,782 applicants for the 177th year-old scholarship.

With this, Godwin now joins former US President, Bill Clinton and other world leaders who made the list of Rhodes scholars in the past.

In a telephone call to Rhodes Scholar-Elect Nwangele, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State expressed “deep excitement” on the achievement

A statement from Simon Makut, the State Director of Press and Public Affairs, quotes Lalong as saying, “This rare achievement is another testimony to the great minds that have emerged out of Plateau State and are making the country and the world proud.

“This achievement puts you in the exclusive list of great achievers that we are planning to celebrate during the Glorious Stars Event coming up in 2020 where we plan to tell the positive stories of Plateau State as we continue to rebrand and open up our potentials to the outside world. We are very proud of as a young ambassador of our State.”

The Governor, according to the statement added, “unfortunate crises” in the State’s recent past had “sought to damage the hard-earned reputation and positive image of the State as the Home of Peace and Tourism as well as centre of learning, entertainment, sports and creativity.”

This he said “has to be countered with the right narrative which can be told simply and clearly by the testimonies of those who were groomed in Plateau State before being unleashed to the world where they made, and are still making huge impact.”

The Governor encouraged Godwin to be a good ambassador of Plateau State as he proceeds to Oxford University, United Kingdom, for his post graduate studies.

Godwin attended Albakans Pre-Science Private School, Tudun Wada-Jos before where he constantly maintained the top spot in his class and represented Plateau State at the NTIC Regional Mathematics Completion where he came tops, doing the State proud.

He went ahead to fly the colours of the State at the National Stage. He had his Secondary Education at St. John’s College, Jos where he also maintained top spot in his class, and also represented Plateau State at different competitions.

He later moved on to study Electrical Engineering at the University of Nigeria and graduated with a first class as the Best Graduating Student from the Faculty. He later received the COREN award as the Best Graduate Engineer in Nigeria for 2017.

He is currently carving out a niche in the renewable energy space of Africa, a dream he wants to live because of his love for mother earth, and the decision to join in the struggle to save earth and to redefine Africa.

Godwin intends to study Energy Systems at Oxford and says his goal is to deepen his technical knowledge, enhance leadership skills, build valuable networks and develop a global strategy that would help to grow the vision of energy sustainability in Africa and beyond.