FOOD FOR THOUGHT: As Nigeria’s HND holder, Islamiyat, with no BSc, MSc, earned 7 Ph.D scholarships in 7 American universities

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Islamiyat Ojelade, Nigeria's HND holder, bags 7 fully funded PhD scholarships in 7 US universities.

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Contributed by LOLADE KADIRI

Nigeria’s HND holder, Islamiyat Ojelade, has broken all the barriers on her way to bag seven fully funded PhD scholarships in the United States of America.

It should no longer have been news by now that Islamiyat achieved the virtually impossible feat of rising to PhD level from HND without BSc and MSc, being that the report has been on since 7 August 2022.

It is, however, still a news material and will continue to be relevant in public discourse for many months to come because of two reasons. One, an achievement believed to have been deliberately handed media blackout for coming from a Hijab wearing Muslim girl and two, for happening by HND holder in a country, where both class consciousness of some egocentric persons keeps exploiting weakness of the nation system to kill potentials of fellow citizens – BSc-HND dichotomy.

Islamiyat Ojelade, Nigeria’s HND holder, bags 7 fully funded PhD scholarships in 7 US universities.

As a result, the news remained underreported, unsung and has not enjoyed what would have been much trended and hyped with interview series across the major online, print and electronic media since it broke.

Islamiyat Ojelade is Nigeria’s practicing Muslim lady from South West Nigeria, where accessing education from primary to secondary school levels for Hijab wearing Muslim girl means for a camel to pass through the hole of a needle. No thanks, it was said, to Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and its agents within the public and private institutions in the region.

Islamiyat is a HND holder, who studied Science Laboratory Technology at the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State, South West Nigeria.

A post she made on LinkedIn says she has accepted one of the offers and she is preparing to start her studies at the Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.

A rare feat for HND holders Ordinarily, it would be thought that Islamiyat must have to go through a master’s, or pre-masters course before climbing the academic ladder, especially with the HND/Degree dichotomy in Nigeria.

But it is amazing that the scholarships are for PhD, straight from HND. Her story has gathered a lot of attention on LinkedIn where she shared it.

“Considering the dichotomy between HND and BSc in Nigeria, I was scared and confused on what next to do after my undergraduate studies.

“I am so elated to inform you all that I will be starting my PhD program in Chemistry at the Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA this Fall, having received full scholarships from 7 universities in the United States of America with my Higher National Diploma in Science Laboratory Technology (Chemistry Major),” she explained.

The schools she got offers from are Florida State University, University of Massachusetts Armherst, University of Kansas, University of Kentucky, University of North Texas, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Marquette University.

LinkedIn users react

Oyakhi Ibhagui said: “Congratulations Islamiyat Ojelade. Such a great breakthrough. But again, you’re the top student from Ilaro, it is hard for a decent US university to ignore you.”

Ajibola Faniyi said: “Congratulations Islamiyat Ojelade. Kindly share your experiences on how you achieved this for other HND holders to know.”


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