Foreign
NNPC Science Quiz Champion TONY OKEKE bags double First Class in US
Award winning Tony Kabilan Okeke, 21, the 2018 Nigeria National Petroleum (NNPC) Science Quiz Champion, graduated on June 13, 2024, from Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America (USA), bagging double degrees of Bachelor of Science, B.Sc., and Master of Science, M.Sc., in Biomedical Engineering with summa cum laude – First Class with the highest Distinction – in both degrees.
Tony left the shores of Nigeria in the fall of 2019 for United States of America where he enrolled in a 5-years-accelerated program for dual degrees of Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) and Master of Science (M.Sc.) Biomedical Engineering with a concentration in Bioinformatics (M.Sc.) and Neuroengineering (B.Sc.) in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems, Drexel University. From the fall of 2019 till the summer of 2024, he was listed in the Drexel University Dean’s list in recognition of his academic excellence.
Drexel sources said, “Beside being very outspoken and ever ready to offer suggestions to make analysis more efficient, Tony’s academic journey in Drexel has been exemplary. He consistently achieved top grades, illustrating his deep understanding and innovative application of complex concepts in data structures, algorithms, bioinformatics, and machine learning. His insatiable curiosity and passion for learning new technologies, algorithms, and programming paradigms are evident in the projects he’s worked on. Tony would always go beyond the course requirements to explore cutting-edge techniques in bioinformatics and machine learning.
A notable example of his applied learning and innovation is his development of a sophisticated machine-learning pipeline across Quantitative Systems Biology and Machine Learning courses. In this project, Tony’s objective was to predict biological functions (“Gene Ontology Enrichment”) from genome-wide transcriptomic data. To this end, he processed 11,000 RNA-sequencing datasets through a custom differential expression pipeline, utilizing Google Cloud computer resources to leverage parallel computing for more efficient processing. His methodical evaluation of multiple models and careful tuning of model parameters to optimize performance were exceptional. The significance of this work was further recognised by the USA Society of Toxicologists when, on invitation by the Society, Tony flew into Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, where he made abstract presentation of the work during the session on Bioinformatics at the Society of Toxicology, SOT, 63rd Annual Conference from March10 to 14, 2024.
Tony and his Senior Design Team developed a novel machine learning algorithm to aid in treatment planning for patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). They submitted an abstract and a poster on this work to the 50th Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference, NEBEC, April 4 – 5, 2024, in Hoboken, New Jersey, United States. NEBEC, a premier gathering in the field of bioengineering, fosters collaboration and showcase innovative research and education programs in North Eastern United States. Accepted as an innovative research, NEBEC on 5 April, 2024, selected Tony and his team to present a poster on this work during the poster session of the Conference.They worked on this project in collaboration with Moberg Analytics (a startup, developing software to aid Neurosurgeons in monitoring and treating traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Dr. Dmitriy Petrov (a neurosurgeon at Penn Presbyterian Medical Centre). The algorithm they developed identifies past patients similar to an inputted patient and predicts the likelihood of the inputted patient developing secondary injury (a key indicator of the long-term trajectory of TBI)
Beyond his academic course work, Tony excelled and showcased his outstanding talent in high impact industry research internships, some sort of real world experience, in some establishments in the United States of America which included the Ivy league University of Pennsylvania, UPENN, the multinational Pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and others. Publishing extensively as first-author and co-author on several publications as well as multiple abstracts at Scientific Conferences, he became versed in integrating Biomedical Engineering domain expertise with rigorous computational analysis to advance pharmaceutical research.
Some of his most notable accomplishments were made during his internship in 2020 at Penn Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, UPENN, USA, at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic where he was engaged in investigations of biomarkers for immune activation and neuro-injury in acute COVID-19 infections. His work contributed to enhanced understanding of immune responses, organ failure and the impact of anti-viral treatments in COVID-19 patients, and resulted in his publication of high-impact papers on Covid-19. He also presented the work at the Critical Care Congress Meeting/Conference of the USA Society of Critical Care Medicine in Puerto Rico between April 18 to 21, 2022. His work investigating temporal biomarker changes and immune responses in Covid-19 patients in 2020 is remarkably impactful for a young undergraduate student.
As an intern in Non-Clinical Safety Research at GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, Collegeville, Pennsylvania, USA, sources said he was instrumental in developing a multitude of data analysis packages and helped to advance GSK data science that enabled the GSK laboratory to investigate mechanisms of toxicity, using new platforms being developed by GSK scientists.
On AI (Artificial Intelligence) in healthcare,Tony founded Meddibia, an interdisciplinary team, during the 2023 Philly CodeFest hackathon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, which developed an AI-powered iOs application, envisioning diagnostic assistants that provide reliable and interpretable guidance to augment the decisions of healthcare workers for healthcare delivery in undeserved communities especially in developing countries. As the project lead, he developed machine learning solutions to power core functionality. This included training a classifier to predict diseases from lists of symptoms. Additionally, he utilized transfer learning to adapt a pre-trained ‘Convolutional Neural Network’ to identify skin lesions by training on over 15,000 images across 23 skin disease. This project, out of the 40 entries that competed in the Philly CodeFest hackathon, emerged the winner of Philly CodeFest Collaborative Team Award, one of the top prizes in the hackathon, affirming the innovative nature of their approach and showed, firsthand, how machine learning models can augment clinical diagnostics and make healthcare information more accessible.
In May, 2024, Tony’s Meddibia team came tops in the Startup Fund Competition organised by the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship, Drexel University. The competition provides non-dilutive grants, mentoring, investor introductions and incubation services to the winner for their startup ventures. Speaking on the award, Tony said, “The journey to the tops in the University Startup Fund Competition involved a rigorous multi-stage selection process. We submitted a detailed application focusing on market analysis, including target customers, market size, and competitors, outlined our problem statement, product development plans, revenue models, and estimated costs to bring the product to market.
From the application pool, 21 startups/competitors were selected to proceed to the first round of pitches on May 16, 2024, via a comprehensive 4-minutes pitch presented to the panel of judges via zoom by each competitor. Eight (8) competitors/startups made it to the final round.
In the final pitch of 10 minutes span allocated to each competitor, we addressed potential market entry obstacles, our mitigation strategies, both technical and user adoption-related, showcased demos of products, and discussed customer acquisition and retention strategies, concluded with an interactive discussion that addressed the judges’ remaining concerns. Hours later, news came that we were tops in the startup fund competition; we won the award for the Spring of 2024!”
Tony’s scholarly achievements and contributions to the advancement of knowledge in Biomedical Engineering are already being noted by some institutions in the United States. On December 3, 2021, he was inducted into the USA National Engineering Honor Society, Tau Beta Pi (TBP) because of the distinguished scholarship shown in his academic achievement and exemplary character of personal and professional integrity as a student. In the Spring of 2023, he won a research award: Genetic Toxicology Technical Committee (GTTC) Professional Development Award for Genetic Toxicology Workstream from Cross Industry Consortia, the Washington DC based Health Environmental and Safety Institute (HESI) focusing on Emerging Systems in Toxicology.
Again, in the winter of 2024, he was honoured with a nomination for full membership of the interdisciplinary Scientific Research Honor Society, Sigma Xi, a society founded in 1886 with more than 200 Nobel Laureates, in addition to others, as members. Tony’s nomination letter states that his membership of the society distinguishes, and recognises, him as an exceptional contributor to the research community.
Tony’s most exceptional qualities extend beyond his academic and technical prowess. He demonstrated maturity and leadership rare for his age, co-founding and spearheading student organisations like Drexel Computational Design (DCD) and mentoring peers. The group provided students with peer tutoring for programming courses . As a tutor, he assisted students who struggled with introductory programming classes, covering basics including data structures, algorithms and their applications in Biomedical data analysis. His approach helped foster an engaging, inclusive environment, and helped students grasp intricate programming concepts. The DCD was recognised as the New Student Organization of the Year, 2022, a testament to their collective impact on their peers.
The Nigerian community in the United States has been thrown into mourning following the sudden death of Eric Ezeokoli, a student of California State University, Long Beach.
Ezeokoli, who was born on October 6, 1960, reportedly died on Friday, April 11, 2026, at Saint Mary’s Hospital after a brief illness.
Until his death, he was studying Engineering at the university, also known as Long Beach State University. Sources disclosed that he had previously lived in San Jose before relocating to the Los Angeles area.
Tragically, at the time of his passing, Ezeokoli was said to be homeless and living in his car, with no fixed address.
The deceased was originally from Anambra State, although details about his exact hometown remain unclear. There are indications he may have hailed from Aguata, but this has not been officially confirmed.
Efforts are currently underway to locate his family members and relatives in Nigeria. Members of the Nigerian community and concerned individuals are appealing to anyone with useful information about Ezeokoli’s background or family to come forward.
A contact person, Paul Kizito Eze, has been designated to receive information that could help trace the deceased’s relatives.
The appeal has also been extended to people from Anambra State, particularly those familiar with communities in Aguata, to assist in identifying and notifying the family.
The situation has sparked renewed concern over the welfare of some Nigerians living abroad, especially those facing hardship and isolation.
Anyone with relevant information is urged to reach out urgently to assist in reconnecting the late Ezeokoli with his family for proper burial arrangements.
President Donald Trump doubled down Monday on his threat to wreck Iran’s civilian infrastructure, warning US forces could destroy every bridge and power plant in the country within four hours and that a truce proposal from international mediators was not yet enough.
Five weeks into the Middle East war triggered by a joint US-Israeli air assault on Tehran, the US leader has demanded that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping by midnight GMT on Tuesday, or face a newly devastating round of bombing.
Both Trump and Iran have said that a proposal touted by international mediators for a 45-day ceasefire is not yet ready, and in a Washington press conference, the US president dialled up his warlike rhetoric once again.
“We have a plan — because of the power of our military — where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again,” Trump said.
Trump had earlier accepted the ceasefire plan was a “significant proposal”, but went on to say it was not good enough. Iranian state media quotes officials stating that Tehran too “has rejected a ceasefire and insists on the need for a definitive end to the conflict”.
Trump said intermediaries “are negotiating now” on improving the ceasefire proposal, which US media reported was being mediated by Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey.
Iran’s military said it would “continue the war as long as the political authorities see fit”.
Trump’s latest threats, including a profanity-laced social media post on Sunday, have sent shockwaves through the international community.
International Committee of the Red Cross chief Mirjana Spoljaric warned that “deliberate threats… against essential civilian infrastructure” are illegal.
But talk of a ceasefire came as the US and Israel were striking targets across Iran, including major petrochemical facilities, and as Iran continued missile and drone attacks around the region.
Iran’s virtual blockade of Hormuz has sent oil and gas prices soaring and pushed countries around the world to enact measures to contain the fallout.
Earlier Monday, Israeli strikes had hit major Iranian petrochemical facilities, including in Asaluyeh on the Gulf coast, the country’s biggest, and another outside Shiraz in central Iran.
Israel’s military said it had also struck Iranian air force targets, including planes and helicopters at airports in Tehran and elsewhere.
Iran’s Guards posted on Telegram on Monday that their intelligence chief Majid Khademi, had been killed at dawn in US-Israeli strikes.
Israel’s military also said it had killed Asghar Bagheri, commander of the Guards’ Quds Force special operations unit, on Sunday.
“We will reach anyone who seeks to harm us,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The Guards’ Intelligence Organisation vowed a “major retaliatory strike” against those responsible for killing their commanders, their official Sepah News website reported.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they launched an attack targeting Israel, supporting their backer Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
The war, which erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has engulfed the Middle East and roiled the global economy.
The worldwide oil squeeze has hit aviation, with Indonesia on Monday saying it would increase a jet fuel surcharge and low-cost carrier Air Asia X announcing ticket price hikes of up to 40 per cent.
South Korea will send ships to fetch oil from Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu, avoiding Hormuz altogether, a ruling party MP said, while Taiwan’s government said it too would take the Red Sea route.
Gulf nations allied with the US have also been sucked into the war, with Kuwait and the UAE reporting strikes and injuries from Sunday to Monday.
Iran has continued to launch attacks at Israel, where the military and medics said four bodies were recovered from a residential building in the northern city of Haifa that was struck by a missile.
Iranian media reported several attacks on residential areas of Tehran, while the state broadcaster said gas outages hit parts of the capital after a strike on a university.
AFP
Some Nigerians in India have raised the alarm over what they described as increased racial profiling and brutalisation by the Indian police.
They lamented visa regularisation challenges and high renewal fees, which they said had made life unbearable in the Asian country.
Some of the residents alleged that some Nigerian students were physically assaulted, adding that reporting to the authorities had changed nothing.
NANS issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government for urgent diplomatic engagement, warning that it would escalate advocacy actions nationwide if the issues were not addressed.
Speaking with journalists during the demonstration, the NANS Vice President (Special Duties), Abubakar Mallawa, decried the alleged ill-treatment of Nigerians, adding that the association had received multiple distress reports from students in Indian cities, particularly Mumbai, over visa challenges, discriminatory practices and systematic profiling.
He noted that the affected students and other Nigerians engaged in legitimate businesses had faced difficulties in renewing visas, mass arrests linked to immigration status, denial of rental accommodation based solely on nationality, closure of Nigerian-owned shops, confiscation of goods, and, in some cases, forceful entry into residences and detention under degrading conditions.
The group also raised concerns over the visa application process, alleging that Nigerian applicants were often required to pay interview and processing fees but denied visas without clear explanations.
In a recent interview on Arise TV, the National Secretary of NANS, Anzaku Shedrack, said the group had been receiving disturbing videos showing the brutalisation of Nigerians in several parts of India, and called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene.
A video clip played by the tv station showed some suspected Indians attacking and stoning an individual, said to be a Nigerian, on the floor.
In an interview with Saturday PUNCH, the Education Coordinator of the Association of African Students in India, Rajasthan chapter, Abisola Williams, said Nigerians were going through tough times in India.
Williams also admitted that Nigerian students were seriously affected by regularisation challenges.
The third-year physiotherapy student explained that India does not grant permanent residency to international students.
“It’s either you’re a student or a professional with a work visa. As for Nigerians, we have to renew our visas every year, as students or professionals,” she said.
Williams noted that Indian authorities reserved the right to deny visa extensions to students who failed to meet academic or financial obligations.
Another Nigerian student in Delhi, who spoke on condition of anonymity, alleged that Nigerians were required to pay 10,000 rupees (about N146,000) every three months to renew their visas, a fee she claimed is lower for students from other African countries.
“Other students from other African countries do not pay for it. We were told it was an agreement between the Indian and Nigerian governments for students to pay every three months. I know Zimbabweans who are not paying to renew visas, while Ghanaians pay a maximum of 500 rupees, which is about N8,000. This is just unfair. That’s the cross Nigerians bear to regularise their stay in India. They don’t give us enough time to raise the money. But for other nationals like Zimbabweans, they get about eight months before their next visa expires,” the student said.
She added that the fee was not disclosed during visa processing in Nigeria and that many students only became aware of it after arriving in India.
The student further alleged that Indian police actively track Nigerians, whose visas had expired, leading to arrests, intimidation and deportation.
“When my visa was about to expire, I went to renew it, but was surprised to learn it was 10,000 rupees. After that, the police came looking for me because I had not renewed my visa.
“I have seen male students who were bullied and harassed because of this. They don’t believe we live by the rules. Anything that goes wrong is attributed to Nigerians, and it’s unfair.
“There are people who have faced serious injustice in the hands of these officers. Some were taken to deportation camps. I knew someone who was deported to Nigeria for this,” she said.
Drug crimes in India
No fewer than 50,000 Nigerians are believed to be resident in India.
Analysts believe that the Nigerian community is being targeted due to increased arrests of some people from the country for alleged drug trafficking.
In 2024, Indian agencies arrested 660 foreign nationals for drug-related crimes.
No fewer than 106 of the suspects were reported to be Nigerians, the second highest. Nepal was first on the list with 203 nationals.
Also, 2,356 Nigerians were deported by India between 2019 and 2024, with removals quadrupling from 339 in 2021 to 1,470 in the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
Nigerians are police informants – Diplomat
But a diplomat in India said some Nigerians were being used as informants by the Indian police.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, alleged that such people were usually induced with money.
“Fellow Nigerians report one another to the police when they have disputes. They become informants because the authorities give them a share. When Nigerians are arrested, the police extort money from them, and the informants take a cut. These practices put the country in a bad light,” the source said.
The source also urged Nigerians to comply with local laws.
The official added, “People should ask why Nigerians are being maltreated. What offence did they commit? You are in another country and must obey their laws. Some individuals have overstayed for years without valid visas. Once caught, there may be consequences.”
On the quarterly visa renewal, the official said the issue also affects Nigerian diplomats and called for reciprocal measures.
“As diplomats, our families renew visas yearly. It is an issue we have raised at the highest level, but nothing has been done. The best approach is reciprocity. We should ensure their families get similar terms, while we consider shorter durations for their students.”
PUNCH
The UK Home Office has announced increases in fees for a wide range of visas, residency applications, and citizenship processes, effective April 8, 2026.
The revised fee schedule shows hikes across nearly all categories of applications made both within and outside the United Kingdom. The changes will impact Nigerians and other foreign nationals seeking to visit, study, work, or settle in the UK.
Nigeria remains one of the largest sources of visa applicants to the UK, with hundreds of thousands applying annually for visit, student, and work visas.
Under the new structure, the short-term visit visa (up to six months) will increase from £127 to £135, while student visa fees will rise from £524 to £558. Applicants seeking indefinite leave to remain will now pay £3,226, up from £3,029. Similarly, the cost of naturalising as a British citizen will increase from £1,605 to £1,709.
In a rare exception, the fee for registering a child as a British citizen has been reduced from £1,214 to £1,000—a decrease of £214. Most other fees have either increased or remained unchanged. Notably, fees for the Tier 1 (Investor) visa and the High Potential Individual visa remain unchanged at £2,000 and £880 respectively.
Breakdown of Key Changes
Visit Visas:
Short-term (up to 6 months): £127 → £135
Long-term (2 years): £475 → £506
Long-term (5 years): £848 → £903
Long-term (10 years): £1,059 → £1,128
Visiting academic (over 6 months up to 12 months): £220 → £234
Private medical treatment (over 6 months up to 11 months): £220 → £234
Direct airside transit visa: £39 → £41.50
Landside transit visa: £70 → £74.50
Student Visas:
Student (main applicant and dependants): £524 → £558
Child Student: £524 → £558
Short-term student (English language): £214 → £228
Work Visas:
Skilled Worker (up to 3 years): £769 → £819
Skilled Worker (over 3 years): £1,519 → £1,618
Health and Care Visa (up to 3 years): £304 → £324
Health and Care Visa (over 3 years): £590 → £628
Innovator Founder: £1,274 → £1,357
Start-up: £465 → £495
Scale-up: £880 → £937
High Potential Individual: unchanged at £880
Graduate Route: £880 → £378.72
Settlement and Indefinite Leave:
Route to settlement: £1,938 → £2,064
Indefinite leave to remain: £3,029 → £3,226
Visitor extension (in-country): £1,100 → £1,172
Leave to remain – other: £1,321 → £1,407
Travel Documents:
Certificate of travel (adult): £300 → £320
Certificate of travel (child): £151 → £161
Convention travel document (adult): £94.50 → £102
Convention travel document (child): £61.50 → £66.50
Nationality and Citizenship:
Naturalisation (British citizenship): £1,605 → £1,709
Registration as British citizen (adult): £1,446 → £1,540
Registration as British citizen (child): £1,214 → £1,000 (reduced)
Renunciation of nationality: £482 → £513
Nationality review: £482 → £513
Status letter: £459 → £489
Non-acquisition letter: £459 → £489
The updated fees underscore the rising cost of migration to the UK, sparking concerns among prospective applicants, particularly from high-demand countries like Nigeria.
A 23-year-old Nigerian graduate based in the United States, Oluwalayomi “Layo” Fadero, has been killed after a wrong-way driver fleeing from police crashed into her vehicle in Nashville, Tennessee.
According to WSMV Nashville on Tuesday, the incident occurred last Friday when the suspect, identified as Ray Eugene Padgett, allegedly drove into oncoming traffic while attempting to evade arrest.
Fadero, a recent graduate of Fisk University, was reportedly heading into her neighbourhood along Murfreesboro Pike when the suspect’s vehicle struck her car on the driver’s side, killing her on the spot.
Metro Nashville Police confirmed the crash followed a series of incidents earlier in the day, beginning with the theft of a Ford F-250 truck from a car lot in North Nashville. Investigators said the suspect rammed the vehicle owner’s car while fleeing the scene before later crashing into an unmarked police SUV, triggering a pursuit that lasted about five minutes and reached speeds of approximately 80 miles per hour.
“At about 2:30 p.m., the suspect drove into oncoming traffic and struck the victim’s vehicle,” police authorities were quoted as saying.
The impact reportedly forced Fadero’s car about 100 yards into a ditch, with emergency responders confirming her dead at the scene. Authorities described her as an uninvolved motorist who had no connection to the chase.
Padgett, 52, was later arrested and taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries before being taken into custody.
Police said he is facing multiple felony charges, including criminally negligent homicide, vehicular homicide by recklessness, attempted criminal homicide, and reckless endangerment. Authorities also disclosed that the suspect was on parole at the time of the incident and had at least 20 prior convictions across five counties in Tennessee.
Fadero was said to have recently completed her degree and was pursuing an accelerated nursing programme at another institution before her death.
“She was one of the most compassionate and kindest of people that you would’ve ever met,” her former professor, Janet Walsh, said.
Another alumna, Jessica Williams, described her death as “heartbreaking,” noting that she was killed close to her residence.
A makeshift memorial has since been created at the crash site, while counselling support has been made available to students and members of the university community.
Meanwhile, a fundraiser organised by supporters has raised over $13,000 to assist with funeral expenses, as family and friends continue to mourn her sudden death.
Police said investigations into the crash and the events leading up to it are ongoing.
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