EducationUSA: Providing Opportunities

Cross section of participants
during the graduate fair

It is sunrise in Abuja with the skies resplendent in white and blue. Looking at my wristwatch, it is almost nine, and my anxiety concerning the event hit me. As I paid attention to the gate and waited for students to come through the entrance, the admissions officers from different schools in the U.S. arrived, pulling out their trifold and other materials for the fair. Before I could look around, students from all types of schools, with different colors of uniforms arrived and were already signing in. The sight of them took me down memory lane as I recalled my own brown and white high school uniform.


The fair began with the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) David

DCM with FCT Secretary of Education, 

Alh. Musa Yakubu who represented the Minister

Young cutting the ribbon. Students flocked into the exhibition hall asking a series of questions. Some knew what they wanted, some looked lost, some were excited about the freebies all around, and others were just concerned about scholarships. I listened to conversations around the hall all day with over one thousand students, five open colloquia, and multiple exhibitions. What a crowd!

It was a great day for investing in young people, giving them information that may transform their lives, offering them the opportunity of a U.S education.