Ogadinma Mgbajah Is The First Female Cardiothoracic Surgeon In West Africa

Dr Ogadinma Mgbajah is the first woman to become a Cardiothoracic Surgeon In West Africa

With no clue that that there had not been a female in the field before her in West Africa, Ogadinma only wanted a platform to help people who have heart problems, however, she has emerged West Africa’s first female open-heart surgeon .

Practicing at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ogadinma Mgbajah said lecturers and examiners during the course of her training pointed it out to her that she was the first female in that field and that had encouraged her to continue.

In an interview with Punch in May, Ogadinma asserted there were competitions although very subtle from her male colleagues.

“I think the society has a way of conditioning women to think that there are some areas that do not belong to them. You cannot take away culture from us as Nigerians. We think that there is a limit to what a woman is supposed to do.  When you speak to medical students about what they want to do, they start by saying, “well, I’m a woman…” The fact that she is a woman clouds her judgement. She is her own biggest challenge. A woman needs to know that all you need to do is identify a problem and ask yourself if you have the capacity to solve this problem. If you don’t, can you build the capacity? If yes, then you go for it.” she said

Ogadinma also explained that her training took seven years and she had all her children within that period.

Speaking about the challenges of open-heart surgery in Nigeria, Ogadinma explained that providing for the care is expensive.

“Basically, the challenge with this specialty is because it is very precise. To provide cardiothoracic care is very costly. I am hoping we will get a lot of government support and health insurance to be able to help people who have this problem.”

“Nigeria has very few cardiothoracic surgeons because after the training, people ask themselves if they would actually be able to practise because most of the patients you see don’t have the finance to support themselves. A lot of patients are not even aware because a lot of cardiac problems are seen as spiritual attack. A lot of people have taken it as a death sentence when they walk into a hospital and they are told their hearts have failed. But there are so much that can be done to give such people a good quality of life.”

SOURCE: Womanng

Nigeria: Meltdown in Nigeria Affecting Neighbouring Countries, Says Benin President

The economic meltdown in Nigeria is affecting neighbouring countries, the President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon, has said.

Talon who is in Nigeria on a one-day visit spoke at a joint press briefing between him and his host, President Muhammadu Buhari.

He lamented that the economic downturn in Nigeria was gradually affecting his country and other nations in the West African sub region.

Describing Nigeria as the engine room of West Africa, Talon challenged Nigeria to begin to explore its non-oil potentials to boost the country's revenue profile and its standing as a big brother in Africa.

Talon said he was looking forward to reactivating the existing bilateral relationship between Benin and Nigeria especially in the areas of trade relations, economy, energy development and education.

He pledged to partner Nigeria in dealing with the problem of illicit trade affecting both countries.

Earlier, Buhari has said his administration was considering the possibility of using modern technology to transform gas into liquid form for easy export, especially to the West- African sub-region.

The president also said Nigeria is making efforts to ensure that the West African Gas Pipeline project becomes more efficient to stabilise the energy sectors across the West African sub-region.

Buhari said the government was doing everything possible to stabilise the gas pipelines to enhance electricity supply in Benin and other West African sub-region.

"The economy part of (our discussion) it is mainly energy, making sure that the West African Gas pipeline is made much more efficient. This government is making all the efforts it can to stabilise the situation because the resources are there.

"The world knows that Nigeria has plenty of gas, what we need to do is to stabilise the environment so that this gas can be regularly pumped to the sub-region through the infrastructure already in place.

"Also, the Nigerian energy mixed is not doing too badly as gas can now be converted into liquid form gas, the technology is now available, to transfers to Benin Republic to run their power stations.

"The sad and long standing problem is the question of using Benin as a transit camp to bring a lot of goods into Nigeria.

"Under ECOWAS agreement, all we have to do is to remind ourselves about our respective national commitments that other than reall ECOWAS-originated commodities, we should not allow it. If we get strict on that, I think Nigerian industries would benefit from ECOWAS agreements," he said.

SOURCE: Allafrica