The winner of our 2007-08 The Best Women are from Africa Textbook Scholarship is Adeola Sonaike, Rutgers University, who received an overwhelming majority of the votes. We congratulate Adeola and Damilola for being our top two finalists and congratulate all of this year's participants.

WINNER: Adeola Sonaike [Rutgers University]

RUNNER-UP: Damilola Coker [Univ. of Georgia]





Winner
Adeola Sonaike
Rutgers University

 Essay 1: Do you agree with the statement, "The Best Women are from Africa?" If yes, why do you think the best women are from Africa? If no, explain.
I wholeheartedly agree with the statement, "The Best Women are from Africa," as not only do I believe that all men originated from Africa, but also that the African woman maintains a level of intellect and class unique to her specific upbringing. With a rich sense in cultural traditions and such a drive for success, the African woman is no regular. We, as African women are not the ones to be found sitting on the sidelines, watching others succeed. Rather we are the forerunners of the race. There is no specific type of African woman; rather we are an eclectic selection ranging from artistic to scientific, and throughout this managing to maintain an inner beauty that shows compassion, heart and knowledge. The African woman is not raised like any other woman, rather we are raised with the insight that one day success above all others shall come. For many little girls they are told they are princesses, and that they will grow into their kingdom in which they shall be queen. For the African woman however she is born a queen with a kingdom waiting – a kingdom with all pillars, religion, family, friendship, charity and work. These pillars are the basis upon which all values stem. For in order to appreciate oneself, one must appreciate others. This compassion that the African Woman has for others is what sets her apart. Rather than clothing only herself she will find the means to cloth others thus exposing new ideas that lead to nothing but success. This intuition that is so heavily routed deep into our souls is what makes the African woman so special. Which is why no man can deny biased or unbiased that, "The Best Women are from Africa."

Essay 2: How do you intend to use your specialization to make a positive impact in Africa?
 It is no lie that the medical system in Africa is in need of aid. However we as Africans cannot continue to rely on the aid of outsiders who do not always have our health in mind, but rather see the medical field as a foreground for undiscovered financial benefits. It should not be the goal at this point to minimize expenditure and maximize profit, but rather the goal should be to minimize pain and suffering and maximize the health and quality of life of the people. With the vast majority of black students in the medical field being African the current medical issues our continent is currently facing should no longer be relevant within the next couple of years. As a current student in the medical realm my motivation stems mainly from the fact that I understand the cry for help from our healthcare systems. The children of Africa today should not be suffering because their parents cannot afford medical bills. I feel that the mindset of the medical system needs to be altered and I fully intend on being a part of such a movement. The medical system needs to be carefully edited from the inside in order to benefit care centers and their patients, as nobody knows the patients and the hospitals better than the doctors and nurses that take care of and run them. By working on our healthcare systems we are in effect making moves to better ourselves as a people rather than as a business empire, thus slowly altering the state of mind in which we are currently being exploited for, as money and power continue to lead us astray. With my goals of becoming a pediatrician, I intend to be fully hands on with working with the families of my patients so as to ensure that nobody other than the patient are fully considered in decisions regarding hospital stability and insurance policies. With the amount of success that we as Africans are achieving across the world, it should be no challenge to use such achievements to take ourselves out of the endless cycle in which we are controlled by the greed of others.




Runner-Up
Damilola Coker
University of Georgia

Essay 1: Do you agree with the statement, "The Best Women are from Africa?" If yes, why do you think the best women are from Africa? If no, explain.
The American society has been conditioned in thinking that anything African except its wild life and landscape is inferior, including the women. In the ancient world, African women with their typical African physiognomy were believed to be the standard of beauty. Although the ancient world ceases to exist, I still hold this notion to be true. The best women are from Africa! For me to say that African women are not the best is like saying mama mi ko se nnkan fun mi (my mother is nothing to me). My mother, Omolabake Oluwatoyin Fakiyesi, is a precious jewel not only in God’s sight but also mine. Transitioning from Nigeria to America is a difficult task to accomplish for any African, but my mother has conquered this challenge head on. By the grace of God, she pulled our family through. My mother, father, and I came to America when I was 5 years old. We had NOTHING! No money, no food, no clothes, and no shelter. We stayed with family until we were able to live on our own. But when times became even harder and nothing was seeming to go right, my father left us. By this time my mother had given birth to my little sister and brother. My father had forsaken us! My mother however did not give up. She always said that God will never put more on [her] than [she] can bear. This scripture was what encouraged my mother to keep going. Around this time, she was laid off from her job but decided to go to school and get a nursing degree. Two years later, my mother received a degree as a surgical technician, and currently she works at Spaulding Regional Medical Center as a Surgical Technician. This journey was tedious, and many times I knew that she wanted to give up. But, fortunately, she did not. Through it all, she demonstrated power and beauty. NO ONE can ever tell me that the best women are not from Africa. My mother’s life is evidence that the best women do indeed come from Africa.

Essay 2: How do you intend to use your specialization to make a positive impact in Africa?
 I believe in impacting the next generation, and paving a way for my children and grandchildren. I am also a firm believer in giving my own people the same opportunities that were given to me. With this being said, after receiving my degree and having worked in an agency in the Public Relations department, I plan on starting my own non-profit organization called The Nigerian Children Choir. I have seen other African Children Choirs, but none from my own country. My team and I will train children on how to dance and sing. I plan on taking them on a tour in different parts of the US. While they are touring these various parts, I want to raise money to build a school or sponsor the children in anyway. I also want to be heavily involved in the Nigerian music industry. Nowadays, Nigerian music is westernized. No one wants to play traditional music anymore. But, prayerfully, I want to bring back the importance of tradition in Nigerian music. I understand that life is like a baton race. In the race, you have team members. When you finish your portion of the race, you pass the baton on to the next person. If you do not pass the baton on, then your team will be disqualified and EVERYONE loses. But if you pass the baton and cheer your team members on then EVERYONE wins. I am that team player, and I want to pass the baton when my portion of the race is over. This is the only way that any of us can accomplish the task of restoring what was once ours... This is just a blueprint for what I desire to do with my career. There is so much more that I would like to accomplish.