Sunday 1 February 2015

40th anniversary of first open heart-surgery in Igboland/southwestcentral Africa

(1 February 1974, operation performed, Nsukka University Teaching Hospital, Enuugwu, Igboland)
First open heart-surgery in this part of west Africa was performed at the Nsukka University Teaching Hospital, Enuugwu, Igboland, on 1 February 1974 – four years and just over a month to the day after the formal end of phase-III of the 44-month long Igbo genocide, perpetrated by Nigeria. The surgeons who worked on this operation included CH Anyanwu, DC Nwafor, FA Udekwu and M Yacoub. In the subsequent 26 years, i.e., by 2000, a total of 102 (one hundred and two) open heart-surgeries were carried out in this Enuugwu centre. Currently, Professor Martin Aghaji of the centre is one of Africa’s leading cardiologists. It should be added that Professor Aghaji is brother to Professor Alloysius Aghaji, also a leading surgeon himself, in urology, who most sadly died in an accident at his home (in Enuugwu) in August 2009.

(Wynton Marsalis Quintet, “LC on the cut” [personnel: Marsalis, trumpet; Joe Henderson, tenor saxophone; Marcus Roberts, piano; Bob Hurst, bass; Elvin Jones, drums; recorded: BMG Studios, New York, US, {? ?} 1991])
Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

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