Meet Dr Philip Emeagwali, the Inventor of the World’s Fastest Computer
By Dr Bakia Thomas
Dr Philip Emeagwali, Popularly called the “Bill Gates of Africa”, the Famous Black Inventor from Onitsha, Anambra State, was born in Akure, Ondo State.
Like many African schoolchildren, he dropped out of school at age 14 because his father could no longer afford to train him in school.
Even after dropping out of school, his father didn’t give up on his son. He continued teaching him at home. It was recorded that everyday, his father made Emeagwali, performed mental exercises such as solving 100 math problems in one hour.
Fifteen months after Emeagwali’s high school education began, the Nigerian Civil War broke out. Him and his family fled to the eastern part of the country and he was surprisingly drafted into the Biafran Army.
Emeagwali’s family lived in a refugee camp until the war ended in 1970. More than half a million Biafrans died of starvation.
He didn’t give up on his dreams, he studied hard and got scholarship to Oregon State University when he was 17 where he obtained a BS in mathematics. He also earned three other degrees – a Ph.D in Scientific computing from the University of Michigan and two Masters degrees from George Washington University.
In his words, “My focus is not on solving nature’s deeper mysteries. It is on using nature’s deeper mysteries to solve important societal problems.”
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In another 200years, African filmmakers will never have reasons to complain that they’re out of stories to tell. We are a blessed continent with blessed people and a rich cultural heritage.
God Never Forgets!
-Dr. Bakia Thomas
Neighbourhood Child Foundation
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