Adetokunbo O. Fabamwo is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Ikeja and is currently the Chief Medical Director of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, LASUTH. In this interview with Funke Cole, the onetime Chairman of the prestigious Yoruba Tennis Club, Lagos, and Fellow of the National Postgraduate Medical College, West African College of Surgeons and the International College of Surgeons takes us through his almost four decades career trajectory, favourite pastime, to mention just a few. Excerpts.
When does your typical day begin?
My day begins at 5 am in the morning. I make tea and take my medications, majorly vitamins, immunity
boosters. At about 6-6:30 am, I embark on one hour walk which I have been doing for the past 20 years. I
walk briskly, except on certain days my legs and feet are acting up; I rest my legs a day or two, and then
return back, brush, take my bath and get to work. On Mondays, we observe family prayer sessions about
8:30-9 am, to commit ourselves to God.
What’s your management style?
My management style is collective management. I don’t hand down directives and instructions that
come from my mind, no. I tend to ask people what they think and we take collective decisions. We run
management meeting once a week to discuss issues that affect our day-to-day activities. I also hold
meeting of Heads of Department, once a month. I tend to allow different people to do the work but I
make sure that I supervise it because you take the blame or the praise at the end of the work.
What are your other areas of interest besides medical responsibility?
I consider myself to be a totally holistic person, because I believe that I have a full professional life and
full academic life. I rose to become a professor in the university. I also have a full spiritual life, I sang in
the church choir for 15 years. I had done that (sang) even as a youth, as a young man. I’m a past
chairman of Yoruba Tennis Club; I belong to the Ikoyi Club of 1938, Golf Club of Ikeja. I also have a full
philanthropic/humanitarian life, I belong to the Rotary Club of Gbagada, where what we do is generally
to make life better for the under privileged. I believe that I’m a well-rounded individual. I also have a
very full family life. In two weeks’ time, I will be forty years in marriage without blemish. I have four
successful children; two of them are married while the other two are still waiting to get married. They
are all doing their various bits. All of them are in Nigeria, I do not believe in losing your children to the
allures of overseas because I do not see any other greater pleasure than seeing your children grow and
develop before your very eyes. As such, I don’t envy my friends who have children abroad and always
miss their company. From time to time, we have a family lunch; a family dinner and we enjoy ourselves.
How do you unwind?
Before Covid-19, I was a very regular face at the Yoruba Tennis Club which is my primary club. I joined in
1989 and I rose to become honorary General Secretary and later Chairman. I’m very committed to the
club, but with Covid-19 and repair works at the Third Mainland Bridge, it had been difficult to go to the
club. Now, I spend more time at Ikeja Golf Club which is nearer for me. Though, I have been threatened
that if I don’t start playing golf soon I’ll be expelled (laughs).
What was the last book you read and when?
The last book I read was about leadership and management and that was about three weeks ago.
Doctors are not duly prepared for leadership positions; you know I’m trained as a doctor in medical
school. Unfortunately, leadership skills are not taught in medical school. But some of us have inbuilt
administrative capability. For example, I was Medical Director of Ayinke House for about 10 years. I was
the pioneer Director of Clinical Services and Training when LASUTH started. Also, I have been Dean of
the Faculty of Clinical Sciences of the College of Medicine. I have held quite a number of administrative
positions, the CMD position is just the icing on the cake.
What’s your choice holiday destination?
See, left to me, I’ll remain in Africa. Because of my membership of the West Africa College of Surgeons, I
tend to go on annual conferences across Africa. I have been to Ghana, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Equatorial
Guinea, The Gambia, Togo, Sierra Leone, and Mauritius. In fact, there is huge vacation potential in
Africa. My choice holiday destination would be The Gambia because it is a lovely place. There is a way
they eat their rice, they cook it with a lot of condiments. The Gambia is a country that thrives just on its
tourism potentials, so you find lots of visitors from Europe and America trooping to The Gambia for
vacation. I will go back to The Gambia any day.
What motivates you?
I’ll tell you primarily, it’s the fear of poverty in old age. I believe I need to do what I have to when there
is strength on my side, by working hard and then having a good retirement.ADVERTISEMENT
What’s your sense of style?
I’m a powerful dresser and do not have any apology for that. Good dressing was a part of our
curriculum in high school. I went to a secondary school called Government College, Ibadan. I
developed the habit of dressing well from there. You cannot see a student from there who doesn’t dress
well. Most times I’m in suit, I have lovely suits. I do not compromise with my shirts and I hate to wear
shirts that have ruffled collars. I love red and wine ties, and sometimes I wear bow ties. I love to wear
suspenders on my trousers too. I love simple and classy attires. I tend to appreciate dark colours. I love
shoes and I tend to look out for good shoes. I’m also a collector of glasses frames, so you can call me a
glass frame fanatic (laughs). I also wear ceremonial rings. My wedding ring got stolen about two years
ago ahead of my wedding anniversary. I remember my wife had said that we should get another one
and bless it, but I’ve not been able to do so.
How do you maintain your looks?
I have already told you about my workouts. I look after myself and I love to be clean shaven. I do not use
cream for my body, God has blessed me with a fairly good skin, and I love perfumes. I like to smell good.
I have a beard. But, the story of my beards date back to the gruesome murder of Bola Ige. I said to
myself that I was going to keep beards until his killers were found. Unfortunately, his killers have not
been found. Bola Ige was a family friend; we attended the same church in Ibadan, St Anne’s Church,
Molete, in Ibadan. The gruesome murder really hit me hard. I have been keeping the beards and nurturing it for many years ever since.
How do you motivate your staff?
Luckily, the staff sees me as a role model and a successful leader, so they look up to me and listen to me.
Most of them who have worked with me testified that they gained a lot from my wealth of knowledge.
I’m a stickler for thoroughness; I tend to teach all the time, the university teacher part of me comes out
from time to time. Of course, I look out for their personal interests. Don’t forget that the consciousness
about mental health is increasing, and the advocacy now is that a lot of us should be more aware of the
people around us. This is because a lot of people around us could be having personal agonies that they
could be grappling with.
What’s your view on the stick and carrot approach to management?
I think it’s a good approach, because there are many ways to get the work going. You must drive them.
But in doing so, you must show empathy and at the same time let them know that you care. If it’s
possible to reward them like giving them awards to appreciate hard work, do so.
What’s the best decision you have taken thus far?
I think the first best decision was to have married the woman that I got married to and the second is to
have decided to become a medical specialist. I recall when I served in Kaduna many years back, there
was a temptation to remain in Kaduna and start a private practice. In fact, there were two offers for me
to continue as a general practitioner in Kaduna. But, I thank God for a family friend, Dr. Onuola
Adewunmi, who’s an obstetrician and gynaecologist. He encouraged me to specialise, that the future of
medicine is in specialisation. I listened to him and came back to Ibadan and did my postgraduate
residency in training and became a specialist. After that, I decided to go into academics and became a
professor.
Can you tell us the worst decision you have taken in your career?
With the benefit of hindsight, I would probably say that this was a worst decision, though I took it for
very good reason. But, the little regret about that decision was when I traveled to Dublin Ireland to do
my residency in training. I had an opportunity to write a foreign exam and become a licensed
gynaecologist in the UK. But I believed that those of us in the early generations of specialists who
undertook local programme should craft an identity for ourselves, so that they can see that we are good
despite being trained locally. But now that the country has degenerated to this level, I could have emigrated to the UK. It would have been a good time to run away, not that I’m regretting that I’m not
living well.
How did your background and growing up influenced who you’re today?
My parents were teachers and thorough disciplinarians, we were brought up in that kind of
background. Even some parents brought their children to have tutelage under them, and they used to
run a private boarding house (laughs). We had a regimented life, and we did house chores, prayers and
so on. Then, every Sunday, we had detoxification with some medications they gave us to drink. You are
not allowed to be rude to your seniors and that helped our academics and our personalities. Eventually,
I found myself bringing up my children in an almost similar way even though the circumstance was
different.
Do you cook and what’s your favourite Nigerian dishes?
I don’t cook o. But I cooked when I was a Youth Corps member in Kaduna, and when I was in Medical
School. I partied a lot, we would come back late in the night and still made ẹba. But since I got married, I
stopped cooking. I love white rice and fresh fish, Tilapia, Obokun, Salmon. I don’t do croaker or fried fish.
I love amala and Ewedu, without Gbegiri.
What lessons have life taught you?
You have to keep moving. Even if you fall, you must get up and keep moving. I could recall a period in
my life when I had some superiors who tried to pull me down, I think they had a perception that I was
flying too high. I was removed as the Director of Ayinke House, and sent to Island Maternity Hospital not
as Medical Director. But three years after, somebody else returned me to the same Ayinke House as
Medical Director for the second time. The other one was my full professional award that was delayed by
about five years for a reason I do not know. But I thank God I got it. Life has taught me to keep moving,
if you fall, you should get up and keep moving.
What are your hobbies?
I love to watch movies and I’m a Netflix fan. I love to eat out. I love to go to concerts. I don’t really drink
and I don’t smoke. I love to listen to hymns and chants. I love the MUSON Choir led by Sir Emeka
Nwokedi.
What’s your definition of success?
Well, my own definition of success is not just in how much money you have in your bank, it’s about the
kind of life you have led. Success is defined in amalgamation of different fulfilments, spiritual, family,
professional and perhaps, social. That’s my perception of success.
