MEDICAL DOCTOR BECOMES FIRST NIGERIAN TO GRADUATE FROM 133-RUSSIAN UNIVERSITY

Meet Olewuezi Justin Chukwudi. A Nigerian who just finished studying at Siberian State Medical University Tomsk, Russia with a 5.0 CGPA out of 5.0. He's also the 1st Nigerian to graduate from the University.

Olewuezi revealed that not many Nigerians and Africans for that matter come to that part of Russia, preferring the western part of the country.

THE JOURNEY

Dr Olewuezi's journey to Russia started in Nigeria at the Air Force Comprehensive School in Enugu.

After writing the United Tertiary Matriculation Examination conducted by the Joint Admission Matriculation Board twice and scoring 247 and 260 respectively, without gaining admission into a Nigerian university, he decided to set his sights abroad.

He said with the help of his mother, he was able to achieve his dreams.

Olewuezi said, "I had always wanted to study abroad and obviously make something of myself back in Air Force comprehensive school, Enugu. So after failing to gain admission twice even with JAMB scores 247 and 260 respectively, I decided to study abroad. So after talking with a Russian-trained doctor medical doctor (Dr Okere then a medical student), I decided to go for it.

ARRIVING IN TOMSK

Dr Olewuezi says he has his sister to thank for her wise thinking and decision to buy him a winter jacket as he got into the country at the beginning of Winter, which can be quite extreme in the country.

"My journey in Russia actually started at a polytechnic university, Tomsk polytechnic university, where I studied Russian language and some science subjects also in the Russian language. Then I moved to Siberian state medical university, Tomsk.

MEDICINE CHOSE HIM

In one of his Instagram posts, Dr Olewuezi had revealed that medicine was not his original career path but that the profession chose him.

When asked about that post, he said, "I was in a Technical/science class back in Air Force Comprehensive School, but I later understood that engineering wasn't for me (I wasn't really into mathematics and further maths), so when it came time to fill in my JAMB form, I decided to go for Human Anatomy.

"I sought my mother's advice, and she said why not go for medicine, that I shouldn't be scared of anything. I was scared of the competition though. And ever since then I've been thinking about becoming an oncologist. So in a way medicine choose me."

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Crediting his mother, who is now a pensioner for his success, Dr Olewuezi, who is the last of three children said that his mother understood the importance of education and was willing to go the extra mile to get her kids educated.

He said, "My elder brother's an urban and regional planner with a PhD and my sister is a civil engineer with Masters in education. My family isn't rich, so you can understand how much my mother had to work to put me through med school. My mother is the story of my success. She is now a pensioner."