A professor of paediatric surgery, Mrs Nene Elsie Nwada Agugua-Obinyo, was recently awarded the Most Distinguished Alumna of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association (UIAA). She was one of the two indigenous doctors that separated two different conjoined twins successfully in Nigeria. She lets Taiwo Olanrewaju into her world.BACKGROUND: I was born a couple of decades ago to the family of late Chief and Chief (Mrs) B.C.U. Agugua of Nkwerre in Imo State. I am the second of 12 children, eight males and four females and the first daughter of the family. I am from a monogamous home.Growing up: I am a product of a cherished, protected and disciplined upbringing. My parents were very disciplined. They did not make any mistake; they caned me although we do not cane children any more. But I thank them for that. They moulded me and made me what I am today.Education: I attended St. Michael's Primary School, Aba at a tender age and to the glory of God, my brilliance earned me the Orlu Divisional Scholarship Award in 1957 and that enabled me to attend St. Catherine's Girls' Secondary School, Nkwerre, where I put in my best. I was a house prefect and also in charge of the school dispensary for four years; what was normally a monthly rotation. I attended Queen's School Enugu for my Higher School Education and was school prefect in 1964. In 1965, I was admitted to the University of Ibadan to study Medicine but the Nigerian Civil War of 1966 interrupted my studies. I was close to the British Missionaries, especially to Jane Sulton; with their assistance, I was able to transfer to the University of Birmingham, England, where I obtained the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree (MBChB) in 1970. In 1974, I passed the Higher Surgical Training in United Kingdom (FRCS England) examination at the first attempt and qualified as a specialist general surgeon. I also got the Commonwealth Scholarship Award between 1982 and 1983 and had further specialist training in Paediatric Surgery at the Children's Hospital, Birmingham, England.Professional Qualifications: I am registered professionally with the General Medical Council of Britain and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. I have a MBChB of Birmingham, a FRCS of England, a FWACS of West Africa, a FMCS of Nigeria and a FICS of Chicago. I became a professor of Paediatric Surgery in 1992, performing operations on children between the ages of 0 and 15 years.Positions of Leadership held: I was the National President, Association of Paediatric Surgeons of Nigeria (APSON), 2001-2006; the National President of Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), 1993-1995; the National President of the International College of Surgeons (ICS), 2008-2010; a council member of the West African College of Surgeons (WACS), 2003 till date and a Nigerian delegate to the World Federation of Associations of Paediatric Surgeons (WOFAPS), 2001 till date.Career: I worked for a year in Ibadan and then at the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu campus as head, Department of Surgery, head, Paediatric Surgery, College Dean and Deputy Provost. At the new College of Medicine, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, I was the Provost for six years, from 2005 to 2011. I am over 30 years old in my profession.Fulfilment: Yes, I am satisfied. I have job satisfaction which is very difficult to get in Nigeria. Something special about me is that I love teaching. I teach medical students and I teach postgraduate medical doctors. I teach my children. I love teaching and I am always teaching. I think my students know this and they always come to me to teach them. I feel satisfied and people appreciate my work. That gives me much fulfilment.Success: It is fulfilment. If you have a goal in life and you go through the hard life and you become somebody. Success is fulfilment. Fulfilment of work, fulfilment of life, fulfilment of everything.Are you successful' I thank God, I think I am. My friends think I am. Most people think I am. If they don't, they wouldn't give me this award.Passion: I love teaching. I love training doctors and when they do well I feel happy. I also like doing operations and they succeed. Like the operation of the conjoined Siamese twins. We were the first indigenous surgeons to do such operation and we were successful. Others were either flown abroad or white people came to do the operation. That type of success gives me happiness and when I do difficult surgery and I go through it, I always feel happy.Conjoined twins operation: The twins were brought to us at the University of Nigeria, Enugu campus in 1989; I had never seen such before. I must give credence to Professor F.A. Nwakor, the senior surgeon who led the team. The twins were joined at the buttocks and we did the operation and it was successful. The twins are now 23 years old and they live in Adazi Ani in Anambra State. But in 1993, a more difficult case of conjoined twins arrived; they had joint liver, it was a new experience for us and we thought that the operation would not be successful, alas! It was. And the twins are now 19 years and they live in Aba, Abia State. These two operations make me feel successful and feel fulfilled.Fashion sense: I really like fashion. I like trinkets. I like jewellery. I like perfume. I really like fashion I won't tell you a lie. But I must say that I don't like this body revealing thing. It is a wrong trend. I think we can be fashionable without revealing our breasts and parts of our body. You can be very fashionable with the use of trinkets and ornaments without revealing your body.Hobbies: I like working on the computer. I don't know whether to call it a stressor or a hobby but when I want to rest I go on the computer. I like surfing the net. I love playing the piano. When I was younger, I loved playing long tennis and throwing the javelin but now age has caught up with me. I came first in javelin in 1964 in the National Athletics Championship and first in the piano contest at the Eastern Nigeria School Festival of Arts and Music in 1962.Best food: I run away from starchy and fatty foods. I like a lot of fish. I like a lot of fruits.Best colour: Purple.Advice: For youths, I will advise them to wait for their time. There is time for everything; time to marry, time to pleasure and time to work. But today youths want to buy a jeep at 16 and build a house at 18, how can that be' That is why they go into drug pushing, armed robbery or kidnapping; all these are unnecessary.Women should dress well because God has really made us to look nice. Let us keep being fashionable but not revealing our bodies. They say we are spending too much on fashion, why not' Even in the Bible, they used expensive perfume. I think we should remain fashionableaccording to our means but not revealing our body.The medical profession should keep a straight hand. I am against the idea of making money at the expense of the patient. We shouldencourage government and the Ministry of Health to give us our due when we work but not to extort money from patients at all cost. Don't put money first; lives of patients should be first.To UIAA, I love UIAA. I think I don't deserve this award but the whole of Enugu selected me and the national executive accepted me. I am very grateful to them. I pray that they will continue to do well. I promise to do my best for the uplift of UIAA.
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