Reproduced interview with Dr Nnenna Ihebuzor:
This week’s guest: Dr. Nnenna Ihebuzor, Consultant paediatrician, Chevening scholar, public health sector administrator, researcher, avid reader.
Dr Nnenna N. Ihebuzor attended the Lagos Anglican Girls Grammar School and Federal Government College, Warri. She qualified as a doctor with the MBBS from the University of Ibadan; obtained an MPH from University of Lagos; an MSc from University College London, UCL; a Diploma in Health Systems Management (Galilee) and is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians (in pediatrics). A pediatrician and public health physician with extensive training and practice in clinical pediatrics, public health policy and administration, she is a chevening Scholar and best graduating student at UCL (MSc with distinction, Mother and Child Health. Her research focused on mental development of malnourished children. As Assistant Director, National Programme on Immunization in 2002, she developed the National Immunization Training Manual. As Consultant to the Federal Ministry of Health, she developed the Child Health Policy. Her practice and research interests include neonatal survival, mother and child health and prevention of communicable diseases. Before joining the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NHPCDA (as Director, Community Health Services) she was the Consultant Pediatrician and Head of Department of Pediatrics, Maitama District Hospital, Abuja. Dr Ihebuzor, who has 25 years post qualification experience, is married with three children Introduction:
I had met Dr Nnenna Ihebuzor severally before I invited her to make an appearance on this page. There was something about her which I could not put my finger on that nudged me to ask her to be part of this reading revolution. Was it her scholarly mien or her business like walk? Was it in our discussions or in her authorial presence? There was something… which was at once spiritual and a kinship. It took weeks to finally get the interview. As soon as I visited her home, it became clearer. Nenna has a study full of books and in every nook and cranny of her house are rows and rows of bookshelves. She is a reader as is her entire family. I was in her house when news of the Dana crash came through. Last week we had books for the grieving soul with no inkling of this national tragedy. As we mourn, let us learn from Dr Ihebuzor’s five favourite books on how to be efficient at whatever we do. These tips would help us run a better nation.
Nudge. It’s a book on health, wealth and happiness. It’s about behavioural economics. It nudges people to do the right things in the right way without them feeling as if they are being coerced. It’s all about making the right choices.
What makes you buy a book in a bookshop? The title, blurbs, content and presentation. Once I like an author, I will always buy his/her books. Also I find that most of the books I buy have interesting linkages. The authors usually have Steve as their first names. The kind of books I read these days are recommended by authors of other books I have read. It’s intriguing.
Book you wish you had written: The Checklist Manifesto written by Atul Gawande, a surgeon. He says a checklist prevents failure at delivering on tasks. He uses examples from architecture and flying and applies them to medicine. He gives the example that despite the many skyscrapers in America, they hardly collapse. He says that successful tasks cannot rely on memory alone as man is wired to forget. Teambuilding and checklists are the keys. “If you miss one key thing, you might as well not have made the effort at all”
What book did you not finish? I buy books a lot. In fact when I travel, my hand luggage is made up of books. Sometimes I buy books in response to a certain situation at the time. I bought Egonomics because I was dealing with an ego issue around me and I read the chapter that dealt with the issues. I have lots of biographies which I did not finish but I finished Winston Churchill and King Hussein.