Fact-Check: Is Award-Winning Medical Graduate At Ghanaian University, Nathaniel Kudu A Nigerian?

Claim: A video of a medical graduate is trending on social media platforms largely on Whatsapp claiming that a Nasarawa-born Nathaniel Kudu from Nigeria has swept 16 awards out of the 22 medical college awards at the Second Session of the University of Cape Coast’s 55th congregation in Ghana.

Full-Text: The post wherein the claim was made reads: “And the young man Nathaniel Kudu from Nasarawa state has won all the awards in Ghana University.”

Commenting, Uupu Moses said, “CONGRATULATIONS in capital letters to him, Eggon Nation, Nasarawa State, and Nigeria at Large. We are proud and Proudly Nasarawites.”

Disagreeably, another user—Theophilus Ekianza said, “He isn’t a Nigerian but a Ghanaian. However, I love his ingenious academic prowess.”

Verification: Using google search engine, PRNigeria entered the keyword, “Nathaniel Kudu” and the first result by mayortunes revealed that “he is a young Ghanaian academic and medical professional who has already made a name for himself in the field of medicine. Born and raised in Ghana, he is identified as Nathaniel Cudjoe and has always been a dedicated student with a passion for learning and a drive to succeed.”

A combination of the search keyword, “Nathaniel Kudu University of Cape Coast,” reveals a result from Ghanaweb which reported that, “the long standing battle between Nigerians and Ghanians over various issues was reignited following attempt by some Nigerians on social media to claim Dr Nathaniel Cuddjoe…”

A tweep, “Durotimi Dawodu of Lagos” has tweeted stating that Nathaniel Cudjoe (wrongly spelt Nathaniel Kudu) was a Nigerian from Nasarawa State who had traveled to Ghana to shatter records at one of Ghana’s most prestigious universities. His twee triggered an army of tweets and retweets from Nigerians including celebrated musician Don Jazzy.

However, armed with videos and news publications that detailed the background of the celebrated graduate, Ghanians retaliated.

Findings also reveal that the name “Kudu” attached to his name is a fabrication and corruption of his name “Cudjoe” to make it look Nigerian as his real name is also written “Nathaniel Nii Codjoe.”

The record-setter was reported to have met with Ghana’s Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia at Jubilee House, Accra, after dominating and appearing on the country’s media ecosystems.

Codjoe became the toast of the audience at the University of Cape Coast’s graduation ceremony held in March 2023, emerging as the best-graduating student.

In  recognition of his outstanding academic achievements, he was awarded an impressive 16 out of 22 awards at the 2nd session of the 55th Congregation of the University of Cape Coast.

Meanwhile, another investigation revealed that the celebrated Dr. Codjoe used to be an old student of St. Peter’s Secondary School in Kwaitia-Kwaku.

Conclusion: Facts gathered by PRNigeria revealed that the trending outstanding medical graduate Nathaniel Kudu is a Ghanaian, and his real name is Nathaniel Nii Codjoe.

Therefore, PRNigeria concludes that the claim that he is a Nasarawa-born Nigerian is FALSE.