Dear Mansagians,
Community Spirit
Daddy, when are we going to have the next one?
This summer has been marked with repeated heatwaves, one of the warmest temperatures on record and the once in a generation solar eclipse. Not surprisingly the clear blue skies have drawn many of us to the seaside beaches to relax with our families and other holidaymakers. Me included!
It was lovely to see that Mansagians were not left out from the seaside visits. Dr. Tosin Ajao the new Chair of MANSAG South West led her community to the beach for a summer special gathering. It was a world’s first! I wish I was there in late July with them. Other chapters have also ignited that unique MANSAG community spirit with summer events taking place in East Midlands, London, East of England, Yorkshire and North East.
In Newport, Wales where I enjoyed Jollof rice with protein washed down with Naija Malt, I played a team game of filling an empty bottle with water from a dripping wet sponge. Try that and imagine the fun! It was exciting to meet Dr Modupe Obinalade MBE a stalwart of the Nigerian community in South Wales, young children, teenagers, medical students, residents, allied health care workers, nurses, public health officers, consultants and everything in between. It is inspiring to be part of this awesome community of Mansagians in Wales led by Dr Lanre Boyede and Mr. Uche Umeadi and all our other chapters across the country.
We are continuing to build our unique community of health care professionals in the UK with the GMC. Earlier this summer, we held a workshop with their Director of Outreach. We agreed to be set up specialist induction program for Nigerian doctors to support their transition to the UK health care system. This is an exciting project and I’m grateful to our Welfare Secretary Dr. Ilozue for her hard work in developing it. A small working group to implement and scale this Welcome to UK induction offer by MANSAG and GMC will soon be inaugurated. Please contact me at info@mansag.org if you would like to be part of this groundbreaking initiative.
As your executive we continue to use various instruments available to us to learn from and respond to the needs of our community. On behalf of the Executive Committee I would like to thank all our members that responded to a recent survey sent out by Mr. Andrew Alalade our General Secretary. We were very encouraged by your feedback on things that are going well but also challenged by your observations on areas we should do more. We have also received suggestions of simple improvements that could be impactful from many members of our community. It makes me very proud to be a Mansagian just seeing how much we as a community all care about MANSAG. We are building on your feedback and will soon be sharing a proposal with the wider MANSAG Council on how we intend to respond to your feedback Please stay tuned…
As the long hot summer shudders to a rainy end, the conference season begins. Mr. Mudah Salami the Chair of MANSAG Scotland has been hard at work designing and planning for the best ever MANSAG conference themed; ‘Bridging Borders Transforming Healthcare’ He spoke at our last Town Hall stressing that he is looking forward to a truly inclusive and community focused Annual General Conference in Glasgow. It is also our first time ever hosting our conference in Scotland. It is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of Nigerians to health systems in Scotland and to promote our presence there as well. Please look out for publicity and register your attendance as soon as possible
Many of us would have been saddened to learn of the death of Mr. Nwachukwu James Nwabineli FRCOG a doyen of women’s health in the UK, Nigeria and across Africa. He was a wonderful clinician, mentor and teacher to many medical students, residents and consultants. Thank you to all Mansagians who knew him, shared memories of him and were inspired by him. I deeply appreciate the prominent roles Prof Dilly Anumba 4th President and Dr. Udoka Onyechere Chair MANSAG North East played during his funeral ceremonies. In his tribute to Mr. Nwabineli on behalf of MANSAG, Mr. Ibrahim Bolaji 7th President, described him as, ’a man of strong character and deep faith, whose influence extended beyond medicine. He was principled, disciplined, dependable, and
forthright. He believed in keeping his word and doing things the right way. His generosity was both practical and often quiet; he helped others not for recognition, but because he genuinely believed it was the right thing to do’. We will miss an immense bulwark of our community but will remember him fondly in our hearts. May his gentle soul Rest in Perfect Peace
Dates for your diary:
- Saturday, 29 August 2026: Summer Gathering Manchester MANSAG Manchester. Contact Mr. Theo Asumu. manchester@mansag.org
- Saturday 29 August 2026: Summer Gathering Sheffield MANSAG Yorkshire and Humberside. Contact Dr. Ambrose Nwachukwu YorkshireandHumberside@mansag.org
- Saturday 5 September 2026: Summer Gathering of MANSAG London. Contact Ms. Bola Odufuwa Bolger London@mansag.org
- Saturday 5 September 2026: Summer Gathering at Eaton Park for MANSAG East of England. Contact Dr. Muyiwa Omoniyi EastofEngland@mansag.org
- Friday 23 – Sunday 25 October 2026: MANSAG 29th Annual General Conference and Meeting. Venue is Marriott Hotel Glasgow. Contact Mr. Mudah Salami Scotland@mansag.org
And finally,
After our successful outreach mission to Nigeria for the National Diaspora Week, I was invited to give a television interview to explore models for strengthening health systems in Nigeria. https://youtu.be/cCcW9Sgmu6c?si=okbK0TT7hQIulimR. I was asked by the TV anchorman, When are you coming back? and I replied, Tomorrow! As I reflect on the question that Dr Isaac Ogundele’s (Secretary Wales Chapter) son asked him after enjoying a wonderful afternoon with other children from the Nigerian community in Wales, during this summer, I hope that your answer just like mine will also be, Tomorrow!!
Until next time, Remain blessed
Jide
#MANSAG is MINE
Mentoring
Inclusive
Networked
Excellence