 |
| Prof. Oladapo Ashiru |
 |
| Prof. O.Giwa-Osagie |
Our
IVF programme in College of Medicine University of Lagos/LUTH was verified and
confirmed by two separate ministerial panels constituted by the Federal
Government. The health ministers were Dr. Emmanuel Nsan and Prof. Olikoye
Ransome-Kuti. The two panels were headed by Prof. T. Adesanya Ige Grillo and
Prof. Adeleye from UCH.
The
mother of the baby was monitored during her antenatal in LUTH; and she brought
the baby to LUTH after delivery, and granted interview to two independent
journalists, Mr. Onajomo Ohrere of The Guardian newspaper and Ms. Luisa
Aguyi-Ironsi of Tell magazine, both of whom did extensive reporting of our
success in 1989. LUTH also published a special edition of its magazine to
celebrate the success.
Our
work and success have been published in scientific journals and presented at
different local and international conferences.
In
1992, Bob Edwards endorsed our membership to the International Federation of
Fertility Societies, based on this success.
The
fact that Dr. Ibrahim Wada might be in medical school at this time does not
excuse this great omission of history that had been recognized and accepted
world wide.
In
1989, there was no Ministry of Science and Technology in Nigeria; so, we could
not have asked them to verify our success.
Besides,
the acceptable practice for announcing success of IVF globally is through the
scientific forum and then the health ministry of the country. This we had done.
Several other babies have been born in Nigeria and worldwide through IVF, but
the land of delivery is not necessarily the land of conception – as was our
case.
I
advise Dr. Ibrahim Wada to claim his rightful position as the one who produced
the first IVF baby in Northern Nigeria if he so desires the use of the word
‘first.’
