Help Orekoya Abiola attend Tulane!
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Abiola Orekoya is a Lagosian lawyer and University of Lagos grad who has been admitted to a prestigious LLM program in maritime law at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tulane offered Abiola a merit scholarship that will cover US $35,000 of the program's tuition, and he received another competitive scholarship from the school's Maritime Law Center in the amount of $7,500.
Because of the high cost of law school tuition, Abiola still needs to raise $13,500 to cover his tuition, despite receiving Tulane's maximum merit scholarship for this program. He also needs living expenses for the one-year program and airfare from Lagos to New Orleans.
I'm a professor of political science at American University who does research in Lagos. I met Abiola through one of his UNILAG professors, who spoke very highly of him and emphasized his commitment to maritime law. This commitment is reflected in Abiola's founding of the Maritime Forum at UNILAG and the founding of a student-run journal on maritime law. In addition to Abiola's academic qualifications, I have been impressed by his passion for his subject and his energetic personality. I hope we can find a way to send him to New Orleans!
Abiola lost both of his parents by age 9, and he was raised by his elder sister, a trader. He worked his way through both UNILAG and the Nigerian Law School, Lagos campus. He was admitted to the bar in 2016. His family obviously cannot raise any funds to assist his study.
Abiola is a brilliant young lawyer who deserves this opportunity to study at Tulane, one of the top-ranked programs in maritime law. But this is also an investment in Nigerian human capital. There are currently no programs in maritime law in Nigeria, and the current law curriculum barely touches on maritime law.
Nigeria is facing many challenges -- ranging from piracy to off-shore oil and gas exploration to sea-level rise -- that will require expertise in maritime law. In order for face these challenges, it is important to have trained Nigerian lawyers from all backgrounds to assist with these challenges. Supporting Abiola's study at Tulane is an investment in this.
Because of the high cost of law school tuition, Abiola still needs to raise $13,500 to cover his tuition, despite receiving Tulane's maximum merit scholarship for this program. He also needs living expenses for the one-year program and airfare from Lagos to New Orleans.
I'm a professor of political science at American University who does research in Lagos. I met Abiola through one of his UNILAG professors, who spoke very highly of him and emphasized his commitment to maritime law. This commitment is reflected in Abiola's founding of the Maritime Forum at UNILAG and the founding of a student-run journal on maritime law. In addition to Abiola's academic qualifications, I have been impressed by his passion for his subject and his energetic personality. I hope we can find a way to send him to New Orleans!
Abiola lost both of his parents by age 9, and he was raised by his elder sister, a trader. He worked his way through both UNILAG and the Nigerian Law School, Lagos campus. He was admitted to the bar in 2016. His family obviously cannot raise any funds to assist his study.
Abiola is a brilliant young lawyer who deserves this opportunity to study at Tulane, one of the top-ranked programs in maritime law. But this is also an investment in Nigerian human capital. There are currently no programs in maritime law in Nigeria, and the current law curriculum barely touches on maritime law.
Nigeria is facing many challenges -- ranging from piracy to off-shore oil and gas exploration to sea-level rise -- that will require expertise in maritime law. In order for face these challenges, it is important to have trained Nigerian lawyers from all backgrounds to assist with these challenges. Supporting Abiola's study at Tulane is an investment in this.
Organizer
Adrienne LeBas
Organizer
Washington D.C., DC
