women-physicians-from-nigeria

"“It was easier to feed 500 people for me than it was for me to say to someone, ‘God loves you’. So I had to devise ways and means to show people the love I knew they desperately needed.”"

"“The work we do is all about the journey, not just the rescue.”"

"“Every child deserves a safe space to grow and thrive.”"

""Life has not been a bed of roses for me... To some people, when they are at their lowest moment they buy dresses for themselves, but for me, I look for people to help. I had 18 miscarriages before I eventually took in”"

"I’m a merchant of hope, that’s what I sell. I sell hope; that’s why you see people coming. There is a difference between charity, where you dehumanize the receiver. Everybody that came here has the choice of what they wanted."

"There is no day we don’t get up to one, two three rescues; we have ‘Okadas’ that go pick people that have been sexually abused, of course, there should be ambulances, but I tell my ambulances to make bikes to do all of that. The work is endless."

"I have double certification; I am a gynecologist and a neurosurgeon, a marine, and with our training comes the fact that once you are a soldier, you are able to know what is important and what is not important."

"“Rescue is just the beginning. Safety gives survivors breathing space, but rehabilitation through counselling, empowerment, and skills training gives them back their future.”"

"“Because the head of the femur needs the acetabulum in the pelvic bone to articulate to form the hip joint; surround yourself with people who will hold you up when you feel like giving up.”"

"At the same time, medical training had only recently become accessible to women in the UK, and was non-existent within Ghana, or the Gold Coast as it was known until independence."

"So it is remarkable that under these circumstances three West African women qualified as doctors and showed by their example the crucial role of women in advancing maternal and child health."

"No African medical professional could reach a position of authority over white colleagues."

"Yes, hearing impairment is associated with superstitions in many communities, which feed into both. However, the major reason for the issue’s neglect and, so to speak, ‘invisibility’ is the fact that it is not associated with significant mortality."

"Children living with disabilities need the support of a wide range of specialists, including paediatricians, psychologists, neurologists, audiologist and otorhinolaryngologists – to name just a few."

"One key finding was the contribution of severe neonatal jaundice to the incidence of hearing loss."

"Nigeria, like most developing countries, is greatly influenced by global health priorities and funding programmes, which tend to prioritise reducing mortality or ensuring survival rather than supporting or promoting well-being."

"That’s right, I was born with mid-frequency hearing loss and struggled with inter-personal communication as a child without knowing what was wrong. In fact, I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 33 years old."

"The plan involves a continuous immunization campaign, which has been highly active, with dedicated teams working diligently. They go door to door, ensuring that children in the target age groups receive immunization against the six major killer diseases, including polio. This ongoing effort has led to positive results for Nigeria. Polio is a viral disease that spreads in unsanitary environments, but thanks to the effective polio immunization programs in place, we are confident that there will be no recurrence of polio cases."

"I have witnessed a situation where a patient approach a healthcare centre and the doctor is not there. Anything can happen so I advised them to take their work serious and to be there when they need to be there. Healthcare delivery is like playing football. If I pass the ball to you and you refuse to pass it where it is supposed to be passed, the person can die and you know death is irreversible."

"Simple measures like digging pit toilets will go a long way to control cholera. But you see them defecating in the bush and when rain fall, all the feases will be washed into their water source and they will still fetch it to cook and drink. So why won’t there be cholera. So if there is adequate provision of portable water in the state and simple health education to communities that some habits are injurious to their health, it will curb cholera."

"This issue is not peculiar to Benue state alone. They have an act that enable them to market their traditional medicine. So, I am not going to tell you that we are going to close down their businesses but we are going to monitor and control their activities. Like in the conventional medicine, the doctors, we are not allowed to advertise our practices. It is against our ethics. So we need to bring these people to the knowledge that advertisement is not allowed in health matters. Your results should attract more patients to you and not you singing your praises."

"Polio is a viral disease and it multiplies where you have a dirty environment. But with the effective polio immunization programmes on ground, we will not have reoccurrence of cases of polio again. This goes for the other childhood diseases as well, If government can sustain the expanded programme on immunization, we will definitely get rid of polio and all other child killer diseases. And I want to assure that my office will ensure it is sustained in Benue here."

"The immunization programme has been very active and the people that are engaged are equally active. They have been going from house to house ensuring that children of those ages are immunized against the six killer diseases which polio is one of them. So the sustained action has given Nigeria the positive result."

"Benue is a hyper endemic area for the river blindness and if you take it because I also take it, worms will not blind your eyes. The other causes of blindness like glaucoma, glaucoma is our worst enemy. You may be carrying it and may not know until a specialist tells you that you have glaucoma and then you start early treatment. If glaucoma blinds you it’s irreversible but if diseases like cataract blinds you, it’s good news because it is reversible. So people should access the metizan drugs, use it to help themselves."

"In Benue, almost a whole community of Ikyor in Kwande local government Area of the state was rendered blind because of the Onchocerchiasis. The damage has been done before the Metizan drugs was made available. And for the healthy people in that community, the drugs were supplied to them."

"For instance, the Hausa community said because government does not want their population to grow, they have brought these drugs. They are alienating themselves from taking it and it is free. It has cost American government money to make these drugs available but because of the belief and lack of understanding they are not accepting the use of those drugs."

"This issue is not unique to Benue State. There is an Act that allows the marketing of traditional medicine. I’m not suggesting we shut down their businesses, but we will monitor and regulate their activities. Just like in conventional medicine, doctors are prohibited from advertising their practices due to ethical guidelines. We need to educate these producers that advertising is not permitted in health-related matters. It is the quality of their results that should attract patients, not self-promotion."

"In recent years, the health sector has not been functioning as it should. A well-functioning healthcare system operates on three levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary care. Unfortunately, primary healthcare has not played the crucial role it was intended to. As we know, about 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas, while only 20 percent resides in urban centers. However, healthcare services are concentrated in urban areas, with 80 percent of healthcare facilities located there, leaving just 20 percent in rural areas. This creates a disparity between the distribution of the population and healthcare services. Our goal is to ensure that healthcare delivery is strengthened where the majority of the population resides. To achieve this, we have established a board at the state level for primary healthcare, aimed at ensuring effective connections and a strong referral system to make healthcare delivery more sustainable."

"But right now, I have trained over probably getting to 20 female consultants, gynaecologists and obstetricians who are working in Kano and in different states across Nigeria, as well as many, many male gynaecologists."

"We’re looking at how we can prevent women from dying from postpartum haemorrhage. We’re also looking at how we can treat women with anaemia in pregnancy, both in pregnancy and after delivery. We’re also looking at how our women in low-middle-income countries can access treatment for severe preeclampsia."

"So hard work, discipline, good team player, honesty and dedication to whatever you’re doing. Then the sky is your limit. You don’t have any glass ceiling. I’ve said over and over, I don’t have any glass ceiling. Wherever I want to go, I can get there with God’s blessing."

"So as a female, you have to prove yourself beyond reasonable doubt that you can do it. You do extra because you are a female to prove that you can do it compared to your male colleagues who probably don’t need to prove themselves."

"I keep on telling young women that if you really have the support of these two men, your dad and your husband or your partner, then the sky is your limit. You really don’t have a glass ceiling once you have the support of these people."

"As a woman, I think it’s always important you have support. I don’t think you can achieve a lot without support. And of course, your support can be from whoever you feel can support you."

"Just follow your dreams. Get the knowledge, have the motivation, and then you can get anywhere you set your mind to."

"I love to share whatever I know, passing it on to others. If I keep it to myself, it is useless. I know they can utilize it to save more lives and subsequently train others."

"You need to get the support, you need to do it of course and ultimately God will support you and give you all the blessings you need and you can achieve your dreams and goals."

"There’s always time for everything. When I’m in the office, I’m in the office. When I get home, I dedicate myself to my family"

"So right now, the centre where I head, the African Center of Excellence for Population Health and Policy, one of the main things that we’re doing is training our students to translate their research findings to policy. And we also conduct capacity-building for researchers across Nigeria and Africa."

"Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh was the Lead Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist at a private hospital in Lagos, Nigeria where she worked for 21 years. She had never seen Ebola before but was able to diagnose and contain Nigeria’s first-ever Ebola patient in July 2014. When threatened by Liberian officials who wanted the patient to be discharged to attend a conference, she resisted the pressure and said, “for the greater public good” she would not release him."

"We need to differentiate between religion and our health. We cannot go to Church or Mosque for our pastors and imams to treat us for cancer. Yes, we can pray because it is only God that can cure us, but God has given us the tools that we need to use to get that cure."

"We have the rich culture of the Nupe people, we have our beautiful dancers and when you see the way they make their cultural clothes, very beautiful to behold. We have a rich history."

"Then you are always advised not to decide what you want to do as a profession until you have done your house job, and ‘house job’ means you have to go through all the different departments in medicine. You do surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology. I enjoyed it and it occurred to me that this is where my calling was. And that was how I decided to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology. The rest is history"

"Growing up, I knew education was important and from an early age, I knew I had to do a profession, so that shaped how I ended up choosing what I chose."

"Women who shouldn’t die because of childbirth are dying simply because they have not had the care that they desire"

"Dr. Elizabeth Abimbola Awoliyi was a pacesetter and a pioneer. She was someone who proved time and again that women can do it too."

"Today, hundreds of mothers in Lagos and the improved birth rate which places Lagos ahead of the rest of the country owe much to Dr Abimbola Awoliyi."

"“I hope women will say, this was the moment we became visible. This office wasn’t just symbolic; it was systemic.”"

"“We see media not just as a platform, but a catalyst for social impact. We’re shifting mindsets, elevating community solutions, and putting women’s health squarely in the public consciousness.”"

"“We are laying the foundation for a future where no woman is left behind, no matter her income or location.”"