AFRICA | A Nigerian man wins 6 scholarships as an undergraduate, graduates as best student, set record as first-ever African winner of US John Poynter Award
A young Nigerian man named Muhammadufatiu Adepeju who won six scholarships as an undergraduate achieved success and won the best graduating student of the University of Lagos, Nigeria.
He also made history as the first-ever West African to win the John Poynter Global Scholarship Award.
Adepeju not only graduated as the best-graduating student of his department, but he also earned the highest graduating cumulative grade point in the over 50-year history of the department as shared on his Linkedin.
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After graduation Adepeju applied for the 2024 Rhodes Scholarship for his post graduate studies in the United Kingdom. Though he made it to the final application process, he was not awarded the scholarship.
Being a West African finalist, Adepeju was invited to join the Commonwealth Rhodes finalists from selected regions to apply for a global scholarship, The John Poynter Award.
Fortunately, seven months after his application, he was selected as the 2024 John Poynter Scholar-Elect. This achievement made him the first West African to receive the Award. The scholarship will allow him to further his studies at an Australian University.
Adepeju stated that as a student at the University of Lagos, he built a profile that served to inspire his community and dare every young person to dream. Aside from being a Rhodes finalist and a winner of the John Poynter Scholarship Award, he earned notable accomplishments.
He was the 2023 MSSN UNILAG All-round Student of the Year, a three-time NNPC Limited/TotalEnergies Scholarship National Awardee, three-time Abdulkabir Aliu Foundation Scholarship Awardee.
He was also a 2023 The Platform Young Professional Bootcamp Fellow and 2022 LEAP Africa Young Leadership Development Bootcamp Fellow.
Adepeju was also one of the 30 fellows across Africa selected for the African Liberty Writing Fellowship in 2019 and one of three further recommended for the Agora Fellowship.
He expressed his gratitude to the Association of Rhodes Scholars of Australia (ARSA) for the conferral, the individual who shared the opportunity with him, and his referees for the continuous recommendation.
Adepeju said over the next decade, his immediate focus will be on deepening his academic and professional foundation in communication, AI and technology ethics, and digital society.
He added that he is building to become a technology ethicist supporting the development of humane technology and AI in Africa.
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