Meet Dr Olawale Suleiman, the US-based neurosurgeon giving free healthcare to Nigerians

United States-trained professor of neurosurgery and spinal surgery Dr Olawale Sulaiman is one Nigerian who understands the import of the popular saying that one good turn deserves another, that a favour should be repaid with a corresponding good deed.

As a teenager, Sulaimon’s parents were unable to pay for his university education. However, the Bureau for External Aid, a Nigerian government initiative aimed at enhancing the standard of living for the country’s most marginalised groups, awarded him a scholarship to study medicine in Bulgaria when he was 19 years old.

That scholarship opened numerous opportunities for him, and he now feels compelled to give back through healthcare.

Today, as the Chairman for the Neurosurgery Department and Back and Spine Centre at the Ochsner Neuroscience Institute in New Orleans, Louisiana, Dr Suleiman visits Nigeria to provide healthcare to the less privileged for free.

According to the Louisiana resident who was born on Lagos Island, his upbringing in a comparatively impoverished area serves as his source of motivation.

“I am one of 10 children born into a polygamous family. My siblings and I shared one room where we often found ourselves sleeping on a mat on the floor,” he told CNN.

“Africans who have had the privilege of getting outstanding training and education abroad must mobilise their network of influence to transform our continent,” he said.

Through his company RNZ Global, Suleiman and his wife Patricia, a nurse, have been providing medical services, including neuro and spinal surgery, and health courses like first aid CPR in Nigeria and the US.

“I would use my vacation times for the medical missions, which were also planned with education and training sessions. We donated a lot of medications, equipment and hands-on training on surgical techniques,” he said.

Sulaiman stated that he negotiated a 25% pay cut with his American employer in exchange for extended trips to Nigeria to pursue his passion. RNZ Global has treated over 500 patients and administered preventative medicine to up to 5,000 people in the United States and Nigeria.

RNZ Global also has a not-for-profit arm called RNZ Foundation, focusing on managing patients with neurological diseases for free.

“We offer free services and surgery for those that are less privileged and cannot afford the cost,” said Blessing Holison, patient care coordinator for RNZ Global.

Sulaiman plans to establish at least four neuroscience centres in Nigeria.

“I believe that happiness doesn’t come from what you get, rather, it comes from what you give,” he said.