BOX 2.1: NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS BY NIGERIANS AND PERSONS OF NIGERIAN ORIGIN Arts and literature • Professor Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka – Nobel Prize for Literature, 1986. • Professor Albert Chinualumogu Achebe – father of African literature; author of Things fall apart in 1958 (translated into 50 languages); recipient of the Man Booker International Award, 2007. • Dr Ben Okri – Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Africa Region, Best Book), 1987; Paris Review/Aga Khan Prize for Fiction, 1987; Booker Prize for Fiction, 1991; Chianti Ruffino-Antico Fattore International Literary Prize, 1993; Premio Grinzane Cavour (Italy), 1994; Crystal Award (World Economic Forum), 1985; Premio Palmi (Italy), 1995. • Ms Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – only 29 years old; her second novel, Half of a yellow sun, won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction. • Mr Tunde Olojede – Pulitzer Prize (International Reporting Category) for his fresh look at Rwanda a decade after the genocide. • Ms Sade Adu – winner of the 1994 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group for No ordinary love. • Ms Sophia Okonedo – winner of the Black Reel Award, 2005, for Best Actress in a Drama: Hotel Rwanda. Science and technology • Professor Adeoye Lambo – first Western-trained African psychiatrist; deputy director-general, World Health Organization (WHO), 1980–1988. • Professor Bartholomew Nnaji – founder and director of the Automation and Robotics Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts, 1984; recipient of numerous awards and research grants for robotics studies; recipient of the US Secretary of State’s Distinguished Public Service Award. • Mr Philip Emeagwali – awarded the Gordon Bell Prize by the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers for his work on an application of a CM-2 massively parallel computer for oilreservoir modelling. His use of 65,356 microprocessors to perform 3.1 billion calculations per second inspired Apple Computer to use his multiprocessing technology to manufacture its dual Power Mac G4, with a peak speed of 3.1 billion calculations per second, and IBM to manufacture its US$134.4 million supercomputer, which had a peak speed of 3.1 trillion calculations per second. He is also the recipient of several other awards, including the World Bank-IMF Africa Club Prize. • Brigadier General (Dr) Oviemo Ovadje – medical scientist and inventor; Best African Scientist, 1995; first African to win the WHO Sasakawa Award in the year 2000. • Mr David Olajide Ladipo – awarded the Scientific Achievements Award in 1990 by the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) for “Clonal selection and development of a predictive model for early branching in Obeche Triplochiton Scleroxylon”, the only African recipient of the award since its inception in 1971. • Nigerian Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) – launched in May 2007, it is the third Nigerian satellite to be placed in orbit and the first African geosynchronous communications satellite. 62