By CECILIA OLOGUNAGBA

Apollos Nwauwa, a U.S.-based Nigerian historian and professor of Africana Studies, has received Professor of Service Excellence award for his outstanding achievement and excellence in public service.

Nwauwa received the award at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, U.S.

The Professorship of Service Excellence is conferred upon members of the faculty who hold the rank of professor.

It is also conferred on members of the faculty who have established outstanding national and international recognition for professional service and/or public service through their work at the University.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the award was presented to Nwauwa by the university’s President, Dr. Rodney Rogers, and Dr. Joe Whitehead, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, also of the university at the institutions just concluded 34th Annual Faculty Award Ceremony.

Speaking with NAN in New York on Sunday, Nwauwa thanked the University for the Honour bestowed on him.

“To be recognised and honoured with this prestigious award in a clime other than my country of birth is quite humbling, though I knew that I have been contributing my best within the context of my professional calling and to serving the university community and the public the best ways possible.

“I never expected that my efforts would be considered the best among peers and to be rewarded with the title/award as Professor of Service Excellence.

“The award means a lot to me, giving my humble beginnings in Nigeria and more so, earning it in an American university,’’ he said.

Nwauwa attributed the height attained in his profession to the discipline and support from his parents, saying,” I attribute every stride I make in life to my upbringing in a polygamous home in a Nigerian countryside.

“With a father who was principled and strict but who stressed the importance of hard work and dignity alongside my mother who was so loving and yet spared nothing in putting me aright, I was minted to face the world beyond them.

“With 17 siblings in the family, rivalry and competition was intense, but we either played it safe and healthy or incurred the wrath of our father.

“Our school system in the ‘70s complemented the family discipline.

“I was a product of the boarding house system in high school and the discipline it inculcated in me through the university system prepared me well for my sojourn and success in Canada and the United States.’’

NAN reports that the Nigerian- born professor who hails from Ekwe in Orlu, Imo State, earned his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from the then Bendel State University now Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State Nigeria.

He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in History at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1989 and 1993 respectively and is a member of many learned societies.

He has taught at many universities in Africa and America.

Author and co-editor of more than 10 scholarly books and 40 research articles published in journals worldwide, Nwauwa’s most recent research piece on West African Elites has been published by Oxford University in its reference research encyclopedia on Africa.

Nwauwa is Editor-in-Chief of Ofo Journal of Transatlantic Studies. He serves on the editorial board of several international journals.

He has dedicated much of his professional life to giving back to Nigeria and Africa not only in terms of teaching and research but also by his mentoring presence.

In 2016-2017, he took a one-year leave from his university to teach at the University of Calabar and was honoured with an award by his students for his devotion.

Thereafter, he served as a visiting fellow at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

Nwauwa is committed to turning brain drain into brain gain or brain circulation. (NAN)

•PHOTO: (From Left) Dr Rodney Rogers, President of Bowling Green State University, Ohio, U.S; Prof. Apollos Nwauwa, director of African Studies at the University and Dr Joe Whitehead, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at a director of African Studies at the 34th Annual Faculty Award Ceremony.

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