Name: Okenwa R. Nwosu, M.D.
Age: 60
Marital Status: Married
When did you leave Nigeria: 1995

What was your first thought when you realized you will be on Green Passport?

I was not quite sure what to make of it initially. I hope that the services offered by this novel outfit shall assist to better inform our people about the US Diaspora community.

How will your family at home react to you being on the show?

I think that most would react favorably.

What are your personal goals in life?

The sum total of my personal goals is to be able to play a major role in bringing about socioeconomic transformation in lives of fellow countrymen and women in the coming years and decades ahead.

What job would your friends in Nigeria be surprised you’ve done in America?

Some of them would be amazed that I worked as a dishwasher, construction site laborer, painter and security guard during my student years.

What do you love most about Nigeria?

Nigeria is a country of many contradictions which has enormous potential with which to provide good livelihood for its teeming population while playing big brother to fellow Black people worldwide.

What Nigerian languages do you speak?

Igbo, English and a little French.

Do you have plans to move back to Nigeria? When?

I have a residential home in Igboukwu, Aguata LG, Anambra state, Nigeria and I look forward to spending as much time at home as I spend elsewhere, including the US.

Which do you prefer? Hollywood or Nollywood?

I like both equally well. Nollywood has great potential for positive portrayal of the African worldview far beyond our country’s borders, but more effort must continue to be invested to bring up the production and direction of Nigerian movies to approximate international standards.

What is your most embarrassing moment in life so far?

In 1994, the US Embassy in Lagos denied me a visa to enter the country to update my surgical board specialty certification. I first obtained the American green card in 1980 but voluntarily returned it in 1983, one year after my family and I resolved to settle for good in Nigeria. To be denied entry to US, where I lived for almost 12 years and had all my higher education, was indeed highly embarrassing.

What has been your proudest moment in life so far?

The day my daughter, Adora, graduated from Emory School of Medicine with two degrees must be my proudest moment thus far.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

In my high school years, I used to mock my classmates who dissected toads, lizards and insects in their Biology class because such a creepy pastime appeared uncanny to a budding chemical engineer like me who preferred Math, Physics and Chemistry. Less than five years later, I found myself dissecting human cadavers as a first-year medical student. As a surgeon, I have subsequently made a career out of cutting and stitching up living humans.

How will Green Passport change your life?

It is hard to say. Green Passport is in the process of making its mark in the Nigerian Diaspora’s communications network. We shall all hope to grow with it as it evolves.

Who are your heroes in life?

I have a long list of great heroes and they comprise Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther-King, Jr., Mohamed Ali, Stevie Wonder, Robert Nester Marley, Malcolm X and a host of others.

What’s been your toughest obstacle in life?

Getting adequate financial resources to implement my many ideas for realizing socioeconomic advancement of my people still remains the toughest hurdle to scale up till this very moment.

Why do you think you were selected to be on Green Passport?

My path and those spearheading the Green Passport project had crossed somehow in the recent past. Perhaps, I was perceived to be a valuable contributor by the initiators of the Green Passport project.

If you become famous after this, what will your next move be?

I shall use my newfound fame to obtain what it would take to acquire Green Passport from its founding owners and proceed to utilize its platform to create yet more famous Nigerians wherever they are domiciled.