Journey of Campbell graduate will lead him back to Nigeria

     As Dr. Norman Ajiboye prepares to begin his residency in neurosurgery at Wake Forest University Medical Center this fall, he is already thinking of ways to help his countrymen.
      Ajiboye is the son of neurosurgeon Ayodele Ajiboye, an African tribal prince from Yoruba, of Takie, in Western Nigeria, who came to this country with nothing but an inquisitive mind and a fervent desire to help his people. With the aid of North Carolina Baptists, primarily First Baptist Church of Ahoskie, Prince Ayodele Ajiboye was able to graduate from Campbell University in 1974, receive a medical degree from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine and become a physician to the Nigerian people. His son, Norman, who entered Campbell at the young age of 16 and recently graduated from Rush Medical College in Chicago, would like to follow in his father’s footsteps.
     “I know that volunteering will be a big part of my career,” Norman said. “I want to be able to provide free surgeries to the indigent population of Nigeria who do not have access to health care.”
     Nigeria’s population of approximately 129,000,000 is 50 percent muslim, 40 percent Christian and 10 percent hold indigenous beliefs. Following 16 years of military rule, a new constitution was adopted in 1999 and a peaceful transition to civilian government was completed. However, the new president faces the daunting task of rebuilding a petroleum-based economy whose revenues were squandered through corruption and mismanagement and defusing longstanding ethnic and religious tensions in order to accomplish economic growth and political stability.
     Ajiboye, who has already volunteered at a community health clinic run by medical students and performed public school health screenings through programs associated with Rush Medical College, would like to return to Nigeria frequently to minister to the Nigerian people by performing free neurosurgeries. “I thank the Lord for rewarding me in so many ways,” he said. “Now I want to give something back to my people.”
     An outstanding student, Norman graduated from Campbell in 2001, receiving the university’s highest honor, the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for academic performance and community involvement. During his educational career, he worked with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for the less fortunate and organized campus blood drives. He served as vice president of the sophomore class and received the Award for Excellence in Biology from Campbell’s Department of Biology and Chemistry. Norman also held memberships in several honor societies and served as vice president of the student arm of the American Chemical Society, as well as the Walker Biology Club.
     His performance as a student at Rush Medical College also received high honors and in 2005, he was presented the Maynard Cohen Award for Outstanding Achievement in Neurology and the Neurosciences and the Nephrology Award for Academic Excellence from the Muehrcke Family Foundation. In addition, he received the Rush University Medical Center’s Master Scholarship and the A. Watson Armour Presidential Scholarship. In 2002, he was awarded a research fellowship from the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch and recognized for academic excellence in basic laparoscopic surgical skills.
     Currently, Norman looks forward to returning home. “I think it will be a good for me to visit Nigeria often,” he said. “Nigeria is a beautiful place. I will enjoy being close to my family and having the opportunity to help the Nigerian people.”

Bulletin 0011-6/14/05