Growing up to earn an accolade of ‘professor’ can be described not to be a waste with a myriad-worth of academic excellence achieved by this young boy of Nigeria descent. Ikechukwu Nwachukwu Dikko is a Nigerian-American teenager who has meritoriously climbed the ladder of success to clinch awards both in his elite high school, Notre Dame High School in Connecticut and the White House.
The latest laurels won by the epitome of brain and brawn, who was one of the best footballers and basketball players in high school, are The Presidential Award For Elite Scholarship In America and the Connecticut Seal of Biliteracy.
The presidential award is given to outstanding individuals who distinguish themselves in scholarly endeavors, while the Seal is awarded to students of Notre Dame who are proficient in at least eight foreign languages.
Ikechukwu whose father once aspired to become the governor of Connecticut on the platform React Party, speaks ten (10) languages, including Igbo, English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Dutch, Korean, and Chinese.
The glitz and buzz that hitherto were the icing on the achievements were lost this year to the Coronavirus pandemic. But the White House and Notre Dame were not ready to let the virus have an upper hand. They sent delegations on different dates to deliver the awards in the homes of the awardees.
White House, in a letter personally signed by President Donald Trump, and sent to the awardees, described Ikechukwu as a high academic flyer destined to achieve greatness in life.
Notre Dame, from where Ikechukwu would be furthering to the college this fall, said it was it was not surprised by the ability of Ikechukwu and other awardees in attaining the great academic feat.
Ikechukwu, whose ambition is to become the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), said the awards have motivated him to “keep striving for greater success’’ in his academic pursuits.
