One of the most confrontational issues is the issue of black excellence as determined by non-white standards.Few people can describe black excellence beyond academic success.Few can describe black excellence beyond socio-political conquests.However,I am going to describe true black excellence:an exceptional black man who excels in ALL THINGS!.That young man is Henry Uwakwe...
Born to an Imo family,this young man is a gift,wrapped in flesh and blood.Henry isn't just an erudite,intellectual geek/nerd,but he exemplifies total excellence and capacity.He is easily one of the most intelligent students in the University of Nigeria history,top 10 in the Nigerian youths' intellectual ladder and here is proof...
Henry is not just book smart(easily a first class student...I know this because I saw him bag 4.8/5 CGPA while complaining about how disillusioned he was at the school),he is comprehensively smart.He topped his set in primary school(5th best result in the state),won a scholarship for fully funded high school studies and maintained the top 1% at his high school at graduation.Along with the rest of the trio,Dan and Val,Henry conquered Nigeria at the PTDF National Secondary School debate competition,winning a scholarship(again) and a place at the school's Hall Of Fame.He represented Nigeria at the World Schools Debating Championship in South Africa that year as a result.
Henry demonstrated excellence in both art and science courses(representing Government Secondary School Owerri at Math,English,Science quiz and even Cultural competitions) and excelled wonderfully with laurels..This young man did the DIY SAT test and scored 2012 just to prove Nigerians can have high SAT scores when a couple of his friends struggled with it.The signs were clear.He is simply gifted.
He won two more scholarships(again) in the early university days including NLNG,a 300,000 naira scholarship which over 10,000 Nigerian students wrote and only 100 were selected.He represented UNN at competitions in and out of Nigeria and never failed to excel.In debating,Henry is King in Nigeria having consistently made National University finals with different partners and even got to the finals at the All African Universities Debating Championship only losing to the Wits University from South Africa.When drafted into the school's Model United Nations team,Henry came first and won a trip to Switzerland this year.
Henry resoundingly breaks academic barriers and more intriguingly,any other barrier.He taught himself stock market trading and became a millionaire at the age of 22(which he did well to hide) and started an exportation company.He taught himself music and is an expert drummer.He writes so well that he got an offer to write for a U.S based news firm(with $100 per article pay).He taught himself languages and speaks basic French and Spanish.He has gotten 3 international scholarships to study in Germany,Mauritius and UK in the last two years and is preparing leave(Sorry bro!the world has to hear!).He has numerous invitations to tournaments,conferences and seminars in and out of Nigeria even when he doesn't apply (this year alone,he could have gone for 3 conferences in the US,Croatia and Thailand) but the young man has plans.He has revolutionary plans to solve Africa's problems and he is taking it a step at a time.He is easily a Harvard University material(and will prove it soon) and stands out in what he knows!He knows virtually about everything and his close friends know and appreciate this because,irrespective of your discipline,he can always help you.His smartness was noted so much so that a governorship candidate in Imo state asked him(and Val) to write a plan on how to intellectualize his political campaign.To fully epitomize black academic excellence,he was dared to learn a programming language in a month(takes at least 8 months to learn one)and create an android app,something traditional veterinary medical students or non-engineering students can't do but as I write,the app will be launching very soon and announced on his blog(which will launch soon..He loves secrets!).
Henry is not just intelligent,he is God-fearing.He maintains very pious living standards and value system.He is very courteous and takes God seriously.He is extremely ambitious and naturally outgrows his friends who don't match his ambitions.
He has his deficiencies of course and some people may find them upsetting but who doesn't?He doesn't run away from his mistakes and tries to correct them where he can.He may be passing through a lot of challenges but the fighter in him doesn't give up easily.He has a very forgiving spirit and loves to give and most importantly,loves and enjoys helping people,friends and associates alike....
Happy Birthday Rising Star...I am so happy about your future because you're built for elitist spaces your friends may not have access to...Thank you for epitomizing black excellence.Thank you for showing us that we can be better...Soyez Beni genius!!
