Nigeria’s first professor of medicine, Theophilus Oladipo Ogunlesi, is dead.
Mr Ogunlesi, also Nigeria’s first Head of Department of Medicine University College Hospital, Ibadan, died Thursday, January 19, at 99.
In a statement Friday, President Muhammadu Buhari praised the accomplishments of the renowned physician as well as his huge contribution to humanity.
“President Muhammadu Buhari shares the pain of loss with Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), family members and friends of Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Theophilus Oladipo Ogunlesi, 99, who made history in 1965 as Nigeria’s first Professor of Medicine,” Femi Adesina, the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, said in a statement.
“President Buhari sends condolences to the academia, and professional colleagues of the medical doctor and scholar, who started on the path of a medical doctor at Yaba College of Medicine in 1947, and advanced his career at the University of London, 1953, where he qualified as a registered Medical Officer in England.
“President Buhari affirms that Prof. Ogunlesi brought pride and honour to Nigeria in scholarship and practice, training many students that have become Ministers of Health, Vice Chancellors of universities, and medical practitioners in different specializations, serving in various parts of the world.
“The President urges approximation of the legacies of the medical doctor, who scored many firsts, including Nigeria’s first Head of Department of Medicine University College Hospital, Ibadan, inaugural Director of the Ibarapa Community Health Programme, and first President of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria.
“President Buhari prays for the repose of the soul of the father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, and God’s comfort for the family.”
