ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2025
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. This year, 60,000+ young leaders applied to join the Class of 2025 on 7,000+ campuses across 170 nations. 290+ campuses worldwide (less than 5%) were selected to host the 4,500+ Millennium Fellows.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT EMMANUEL OLUWAJOBA IBITUNDE, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2025.
University of Ibadan | Ibadan, Nigeria | Advancing SDG 4, SDG 3 & UNAI 3
" The Millennium Campus Network is an opportunity to grow and create real change in my immediate environment. I am excited to connect with a network of like-minded individuals in my campus, and to spur young neuroscientists in Nigeria who will change the narrative about neuroscientific discoveries by Nigerians through my project. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: NeuroSpark
Nigeria is one of the countries without a Neuroscience undergraduate degree. This leaves students interested in careers in neuroscience with no option but to pursue other related degrees. However, neuroscience takes up just a little section of these degrees. For example, medical students interested in pursuing a career in Neurology, Neurosurgery or Neuropsychiatry have contact with only neurophysiology and neuroanatomy for some weeks in a semester during their pre-clinical years, and go through neurosurgery and neurology postings for a couple of weeks in clinical school. In the same way, the university curriculum does not adequately cater for students interested in neuropsychology, neuro-law, neuro-arts, etc. Because of the amount of knowledge and skill students have to amass in so little time, many fall out of interest and proceed to pursue other careers. As a result, there is a shortage of professionals specialised in these fields in Nigeria. The effect is more pronounced in medicine, where there are just 126 neurosurgeons (according to a review in 2024). This is further exacerbated by the mass exodus of medical doctors out of the country in recent years. Without a sustainable change in the status quo, Nigeria is bound to experience a future where professional care in neuroscience-related fields is not obtainable. NeuroSpark contributed to solving this problem by spurring interest in the neurosciences among secondary school students, laying a solid foundation of knowledge and suggesting other resources to expand their knowledge, so that they will not be overwhelmed by it's technicality in tertiary education.
About the Millennium Fellow
Emmanuel Ibitunde is a 3rd-year medical student at the University of Ibadan. Emmanuel is passionate about educating the younger generation in neuroscience, stimulating interest and passion for the field. Through various organisations, Emmanuel has demonstrated raw passion and commitment to this course, and he aims to continue this through his Millennium Campus Network project.
