A brilliant Nigerian Lady named Islamiyat Ojelade has won 7 PhD Scholarships in 7 top United States universities without having a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.
Islamiyat who announced her achievement on LinkedIn stated that she was able to secure both admission and scholarships to the universities’ PhD program with a Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate.
The HND certificate in Nigeria is offered after completing a 4-year academic program in Polytechnics.
Islamiyat graduated with an HND in Science Laboratory Technology (SLT) from the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Ogun State, South-West, Nigeria.
She graduated outstandingly from the institution with a cumulative grade point of 3.89, making her the best graduating student of the 2018 set.
Islamiyat fought against the discrimination of HND certificate holders in Nigeria. She explained that after her undergraduate studies, she was confused about the next steps to take. “I was scared and confused on what next to do after my undergraduate studies.
I summoned the courage to discuss my ‘big dream’ with some people including friends, fathers, mothers, and lecturers,” she wrote on LinkedIn.
She noted that very few people keyed in to help her but in the end, she got PhD Scholarship offers from Florida State University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Kansas, the University of Kentucky, the University of North Texas, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Marquette University in Wisconsin.
