Milk of African kindness
Life is not all about politics and winning elections. It is not all about seeking elective or appointive high office. It is not all about ‘We’ versus ‘They’. It could actually be about little and not-solittle acts of kindness whose ripple effects make the world a better place.
Whereas, in our politics, dog is eating dog and cat belling cat, in the outer university of life some shepherds are out there bringing in sheep to pasture and pamper and nurture. With all the bile spewed forth all over the world for reasons both known and indeterminate, ours could still be a beautiful world where angels of succour show up in the lives of the downtrodden in the form of real human beings.
Take Dr. Olawale Sulaiman, a Lagos boy who has made good in America and is using his expertise, time and money to change the African narrative. After completing a combined MD/ MSc degree at Medical University, Varna, Bulgaria, Sulaiman enrolled in the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, where he also completed a PhD in Neurosciences. He has since climbed the professional ladder to become the Medical Director of the multi-disciplinary comprehensive Back and Spine Center at Ochsner, New Orleans. He is the System Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery, Ochsner Health System, which means he oversees all of the clinical and academic neurosurgery activities at all Ochsner-owned and network hospitals. But that is not the news.
What has catapulted Sulaiman to global attention are his incredible acts of kindness and determination to give back to society whether that society is found in the US or Nigeria. He is the very personification of man’s humanity to man. It was people like him that Harold S. Kushner must have had in mind when he counselled, “Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.”
Nine years ago, Dr Sulaiman began a medical mission to Nigeria, coming to the country every few months. Now, he shuttles between his base in the US and Nigeria every month, spending seven to ten days performing free surgery and saving lives. In order to be able to spend enough time giving free medical service to Nigerians, Dr Sulaiman agreed with his employers to give up 15% of his salary so he can have a flexible schedule to travel to Nigeria. In the last five years, Sulaiman and his team have performed surgeries for over 500 patients. The surgical miracle of restoring a comatose woman with a big tumour in her brain back to life and normalcy is currently making the waves on social media.He and his team have also screened and provided preventative medicine to more than 5,000 people.
Impressed by his selflessness, his employers have also bought into the dream: Ochsner supports his efforts
by sending supplies overseas with him. Sulaiman has now developed programmes to train Nigerians back home so they can spread healthcare to those with no access.
Why does he do this? “If I have been given all these opportunities in life, the least I can do is to give back to the society. My philosophy is whether you are Nigerian, Vietnamese, an American, everybody should have access to some degree of good quality healthcare.”
Sulaiman has a soulmate in philanthropy. His name, Chinedu Izuchukwu Okoli, alias Flavour N’abania. The story of how Flavour adopted a blind Liberian Boy, Semah G. Weifur, as his son and made him a music collaborator and continental star is the stuff of which movies are made.
Semah was born blind and into poverty. He had been in the care of a Monrovia-based NGO, Christian Association of the Blind (CAB). The boy’s lifelong dream was to become a singer. He idolised Flavour and learnt to sing his songs. He sand the songs so well that Flavour confessed that the Liberian boy made a better job of giving life to his lyrics than he did himself. The fact that the boy mastered the linguistic intricacies of singing in Igbo language was in itself wondrous.
On how he met Semah, Flavour revealed that he was introduced to the boy through Masterkraft and traditional Queen Ruler, Juli Endee during his trip to Liberia in 2017. “Semah performed at the Liberia Peace Cultural Centre”, said Flavour; “his vocals, intonation and confidence blew me away”.
Why did Flavour go out of his way to adopt the visually impaired Liberian boy and transform his life? “When it comes to music, impairments do not exist; as for me, music is spiritual”, Flavour answered.
And Semah is living up to the billing. His sonorous voice has earned him a new nickname in the country of his birth: Liberian Stevie Wonder! Believe it or not, wishes could be transformed to horses to make erstwhile beggars ride.
However, it hasn’t been a one-way street in terms of influence. Flavour has also learnt a few things about life in his relationship with Semah. “Working with Semah has been incredibly humbling. He is a vibrant young boy, who at a young age is very sure about himself. I admire these qualities about him, which have made it a pleasure to work alongside him on his first EP Album titled “Divine”. And ‘puritans’ who have always criticised Flavour’s super stud image don’t know what to say now that a young Liberian boy has dragged him into active collaboration in a gospel song.
Take a bow, Dr. Olawale Sulaiman. Stand up for recognition, Chinedu Izuchukwu Okoli, a.k.a Flavour. Your acts of kindness commend themselves to the rest of Africa.