After being shortlisted among the top three young global leaders in a space contest, Freeman Osonuga could be the first black African in space.
The young Nigerian doctor, Freeman Osonuga has been named among top three young global leaders who could win a trip to space worth $100,000.
Freeman Osonuga, a Nigerian doctor, recognized for his work as an Ebola volunteer, has been shortlisted as one of three young leaders to win an all-expense paid trip to space organized by London-based talent agency Kruger Cowne in partnership with One Young World and Xcor Space Expeditions. The plan is to send the selected leader to space putting this person in the global spotlight to help lead and promote issues of global importance..
“If selected, I will be making Africa proud as the first black African to go to space thereby making history in the process,”
The winner will undergo G-Force training in the Netherlands to prepare them for their experience outside Earth.
“Going to space is not the overall objective of the project. It is to be able to raise global conversations on issues that affect us all as inhabitants of planet earth such as climate change, global peace and poverty,” Osonuga told Quartz.
As an undergraduate and without significant financial support, Osonuga started his Heal the World Foundation which now provides free medical care to orphans and children with disabilities.
The race to be the first black African to space is heating up as South African DJ Mandla Maseko could still beat Osonuga to the record. Maseko, who won a different contest but he is still waiting for the confirmation date for his space mission, provisionally set for 2016.
