Thank you everyone ☺️. I am physically incapable to respond to every comment but I am grateful and honored to be a Nigerian🇳🇬 and wear my identity proudly 😇.
Here’s a video of me giving my valedictorian speech in Russian ✨
One of the most remarkable things about healthcare workers is their commitment to duty, even while dealing with their own personal challenges.
Imagine a woman arriving at a hospital in labor, anxious and preparing to bring new life into the world, only to discover that the nurse assigned to care for her is also expecting a baby and experiencing labor herself. It sounds unbelievable, but it is a powerful reminder of the dedication, resilience, and humanity of healthcare professionals.
Beyond the surprise and humor of the situation, it highlights something important: nurses and medical workers often put the needs of others before their own comfort. Every day, they work long hours, handle emergencies, provide emotional support, and help families through some of the most significant moments of their lives.
This story is also a reminder that behind every uniform is a human being with dreams, families, challenges, and experiences just like the people they serve. Moments like these show the extraordinary side of ordinary people and deserve appreciation.
I am Nigerian, and right now my dream is bigger than me.
Only about 4.5% of medical literature globally are represented on Black skin.
That means millions of Black patients are learning from systems that barely look like them. Medical students study diseases on skin tones that are not their own. Doctors are trained with visual references that often fail Black bodies.
That gap has consequences.
So I am deciding to build towards changing it.
I’m starting with a book.
But the larger vision is far beyond that. I want to help build software and medical visualization tools that make Black medical representation impossible to ignore.
This is not just about diversity aesthetics, this is about accuracy, education, visibility and better healthcare outcomes.
One day, I want a Black child studying medicine anywhere on earth to see themselves fully represented in what they learn.
And I believe we can build that future.
Teargas in a Hospital, a Thoughtless Act.
I have just read the recent troubling reports of how the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) allegedly stormed the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital in a bid to arrest Professor Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery and deputy chairman of the hospital’s medical advisory committee.
While I understand and respect the fact that the EFCC, and indeed, all other government agencies have their constitutional rights to do their jobs without interference, the manner in which some of these jobs are carried out is often deeply troubling.
Reportedly, the EFCC operatives who stormed the hospital shot some teargas canisters within the hospital premises which sent medical staff and patients running for safety. This thoughtless act greatly compromised the general safety in the hospital environment and further jeopardised the health of the medical personnel and the sick people in the hospital.
I have always said that the most fundamental intangible asset upon which any nation functions effectively is the rule of law and order. The disorderliness allegedly demonstrated by the EFCC operatives at the hospital must not be encouraged. Nothing justifies the use of teargas canisters in a fragile hospital environment. Do we not realise that our hospitals are part of our most critical contributors to development?
We must also learn to respect the lives and dignity of our citizens. If a Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery is arrested in such a demeaning manner in a hospital environment, what signals are we sending to other medical professionals working hard to keep our health sector afloat? It is reported that Nigeria has only 80 cardiothoracic surgeons serving its 230 million people, and the Prof Eyo Ekpe is the only one in Akwa Ibom State.
Let us learn to do better. Let us condemn and eschew the rascality and disorderliness that have continued to characterise some of our public offices and bring in civility in the discharge of our duties.
A New Nigeria is POssible. -PO