Prof. Osator Ona Frank Giwa-Osagie is a big name in Medicine in Nigeria. He has been a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology since 1987 at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos. He has been a distinguished Professor since 2011 and a Honourary Consultant since 1980. He was 70 on 24th March 2017, and City People Publisher SEYE KEHINDE went to spend some time with at his Onikan Clinic in Lagos. He is blessed with a pretty wife who is also a doctor and has 4 lovely kids aged 38, 36, 33 and 28.
He went to elementary school in the 3 regions of Nigeria before Nigeria’s Independence. He passed the entrance examination to Kings College, Lagos from where he passed the entrance examination to Cambridge University. He trained at Clare College, Cambridge University 1966-1969, Kings College Hospital Medical School, 1969-1972. He specialised in Obsterics and Gynaecology at Kings College Hospital, London and obtained further training in Endocrinology and Infertility at Leeds University, Leeds, Harvard University, Boston, USA and Monarch University, Melbourne, Australia.
He attended Management courses at Harvard School of Public Health, Boston USA in Health Programme Management, Decentralisation, Health Insurance & Managed Care between 1998 and 2004. He started his Elementary School between 1952-1958. He started at Mrs. Kuti’s Preparatory School, Kemta, Abeokuta, St. Michael’s School, Kaduna, Banham Memorial School, Port-Harcourt, Government School, Warri, St. James School, Benin and Christ Church Cathedral School, Lagos.
His Secondary School was between 1959-1965 at Kings College, Lagos. As for his University education, it was from 1966. He attended Cambridge University, Cambridge 1966-1969, King College Hospital Medical School, London 1969-1972, Leeds University, Leeds, MSc., Steroid Endocrinology, 1975-1976, Harvard University, Boston (September, 1980 Course on Gynaecologic Endocrinology and Infertility, Monarch University, Melbourne, (November 1983-Workshop on Human In-Vitro Fertilisation and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA; Courses on Health Programs Management, Decentralisation, Health Insurance 1998-2009.
Why did he study Medicine? He told City People how his romance with Medicine started.
You come from a very illustrious family, the Osagie family. How has the name helped or not help you in life?
As an individual I have not found my name as an obstacle. But it is a problem for some people. When they hear that you are an Osagie they develop an attitude.
One, they think all Osagies are rich because they hear of Hakeem Belo-Osagie and they think every Osagie is a multi-millionaire.
We are just another big family from Edo State. We are well educated. Yes. We tend not to like political powr although Rasak Belo Osagie was in the House of Representative. We have not produced a governor, Vice President or President. But when they hear Osagie they just say haa! This guy has money so they don’t want to help you.
I have a cousin in the Insurance business, first class Insurance man. He happens to be a Belo-Osagie. He trained in England. Thank God he is still very much alive and well. He is about 81 now. In the last 30 years the name Osagie has been a burden for him. Everywhere he goes to look for Insurance business they ask him what are you here for again. You people own UBA. You people own Etisalat and because of that they don’t give him any business and at the same time he does not get any contract from UBA or Etislat.
They thing was a big problem for him. That is a clear example of how a big family name can be a big problem.
I went the Academic way, the medical way. The only medical person ahead of me was Prof. T. Belo-Osagie, (thats Keem Belo-Osagie’s father). He was a Gynaecologist as well. So I didn’t have that problem in the medical field. In the University, I didn’t have that problem. I was treated on my merit. And in University it is publish, publish, publish. And I managed to do that and I rose very fast. I went from Lecturer 1 to full Professor in the University of Lagos in 7 years.
By the time I was 40, I was a full Professor of Obstetric, and Gynaecology. So, my name did not hamper me at all in academia and the medical profession. But for those who go around looking for business the Osagie name can be a problem, because people think that your family is just swimming in money. They don’t see why they should help you at all.
What attraction did medicine have for you? Why medicine at that time?
I was in the elementary school in the 50s and secondary school at Kings College in the mid 50’s to the 60s. Anybody that wanted to choose a profession then kept choosing Medicine, Law and Engineering. Those are the 3 top professions.
Later Accountancy and Architectural Drawing came in. I went for Medicine because there were people who were close to my father who are doctors. I mentioned Prof. T. Belo-Osagie. He later became a Professor of Gynaecology and Obstetrics to several heads of state. There were others like Dr. George Garrick who was my father’s classmate at Kings College, Lagos. Dr. Chief B.J. Ikpeme of Calabar, also a classmate of my dad at Kings College.
These were names I grew to know and I was seeing them. They will come to our house and hold their Stethoscopes and I wanted to be like that one day. Their cars were always smelling of medicine. I like that smell. And the fact that as a doctor somebody will come, cry and cry and so on, and 2 days later the person is smiling and chatting with you because the doctor has given him the right medicine. Those things appealed to me, being able to make the difference to some people.
That is how I got into medicine. By the time I got into Kings College, I wanted to be a doctor, I went to Cambridge University to read medicine, that is it.
How did you decide on the area of medicine to specialise in?
It was through the influence of Prof. Belo-Osagie when you see them perform. I saw a nephew of mine. Initially I wanted to do Cardio-respiratory Medicine, that is Heart Diseases and Lung Diseases. I went to Cargill University which was where Prof. Belo Osagie graduated. It is a top Canadian University. I took an elective in their Respiratory Unit there. That was in the summer of 1971. I was there for 6 weeks. Then, I came to Nigeria for an elective in Obstetrics and I was supposed to deliver 25 babies, during the period I was in Nigeria. I went to Island Maternity Hospital and I delivered 25 babies in 3 days. Having completed that I spent time teaching women who had tears. The midwives were very happy that they had this medical student who was helping them stitch these woman. That was my introduction to midwifrey. My Uncle said if I specialised in the other area which is respiratory all I will be treating will be Tuberculosis. When I got back to England, I had made up my mind that I was going to do Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
My hospital was very strong in Obstetrics and Gynae. We had produced more Presidents of the Royal College of O&G than any other hospital in Britain at that time.
So I started my training. And I started doing research with the World Health Organisation. I started the Research on Family Planning and Infertility.
They had a Research Centre at Kings College Hospital where I was. I became a lecturer at that hospital in London before I came back to Nigeria. I had my training in England. Later on I went to Harvard School of Public Health where I did courses on Managing Health in Developing Countries, Health Insurance, Quality of Healthcare. All had more to do with Management.
I came back home because of the Nigerian urge to come back home. My mother used to write me a letter to say she cries every night when she sees that her son has not only become a doctor and a specialist and he is still in a foreign land. My wife, who is not a Nigerian has the same mentality. She said we have got what we came here for.
We have finished as students so lets go back. I was tempted to go to Geneva to work for WHO. My wife said if we are leaving England, we either go to Nigeria or Jamaica.
At that time, many doctors resigned from government service at LUTH because of the policy of the military government on private practice.
At some point the department of Gynae at LUTH had only 4 consultants and they had about 9 or 10 before. So, there were vacancies. I was interviewed in England. LUTH offered me an appointment. LUTH gave me a ticket. It also gave my wife and 2 children tickets. That is how we got back to Nigeria in 1978. I got back on October 6th, by Xmas that year I was already in a 3 bedroom flat in LUTH. They made things easy for us. That was how my journey at LUTH started in 1978. Two years later I became a Lecturer at the University of Lagos in Gynaecology and I started getting promoted. In 7 years I became a full Professor. That was it.
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