UNMASKING PROF. DILLI DOGO, NEW VC OF NILE UNIVERSITY.

UNMASKING PROF. DILLI DOGO, NEW VC OF NILE UNIVERSITY.

By: Inuwa Bwala

He is a man with a tall CV; as tall as his person and as tall as his name implies. Time and space may not permit a full rundown on the story of Professor Dilli Dogo, who many might have heard about but never crossed his path.

It may no longer be news that Professor Dilli Dogo has been appointed the Vice Chancellor of NILE University, Africa’s foremost Private University: south of the Sahara. 

It is not in doubt either that it is deserving, just as it is not  surprising.Owners of NILE University seem to know their onions so well, and went for the proverbial rejected stone to be their own cornerstone. 

It may seem to have taken a long time to come, but I suppose it is better late than never. This truism is reflected in my brief chat with Professor Dilli Dogo, when I called to congratulate him and to tell him that his appointment is long overdue, and he told me; it is God’s time and it is the best.

Professor Dilli Dogo could pass by and everybody will think he is just another man, because of his humility and  frugal nature, but everytime I see him, I picture a great scholar and surgeon, who left his mark at every scene.

He traversed the scholarly and medical space with candour and everywhere he worked, he left behind a nostalgic yearning amongst people who crossed his path in one way or the other.

His landmarks in the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital remain indelible and the open yearnings for Dogo’s presence could be seen and felt.

Although a mite older than me, which denies me the privilege of witnessing him play in the sand with his peers, those who grew up with him told me that Dilli Dogo exhibited traits of excellence since his youthful days, as he was never pushed to the second position in class from his primary school days. 

He came out as the best  graduating student from the GSS Maiduguri, with a distinction in all subjects and so, when he graduated with another distinction in Medicine from the University of Maiduguri, those who knew him felt it was a confirmation of his dodged approach to scholarship.

Professor Dogo took up appointment with the University of Maiduguri immediately after his graduation,  and his rapid but meritorical rise to the rank of a Professor of surgery: one of the most delicate areas of medical practice was further testimony to his intellectual endowment.

A summary of his academic and professional attainments indicate that Professor Dogo graduated with a distinction in Bachelor of Medicine/ Bachelor of Surgery, MBBS in 1984.

By 1991 he was already a Fellow of the Medical College of Surgeons, FMCS, and in 1992 Dogo had gone International when  he was made Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons, FWACS. He was awarded Fellow of the International College of Surgeons 

FICS in 1996 and Fellow of the International Society of Surgeons FISS by 1998. 

Apparently conscious that growth in academics and medical practice is based on studies and research,  Professor Dogo strived to add to his general Surgery qualification, in 2008 when he sat and obtained a Diploma in Laparoscopic Surgery: a rare field of study even amongst Medical Doctors and later capped it with a certificate in Endoscopic Urology in 2011.

Dogo had earlier sat other examinations and passed in flying colours, leading to yet another recognition in 2018 with the  American College of Surgeons conferring on him the Fellow of the College.

Many people were already thinking Professor Dogo was a potential material for the Vice Chancellorship of the University of Maiduguri where he taught and practiced. He held diverse positions at the sub Saharan Center of Excellence and beyond, which prepared him for even greater tasks.

Professor Dilli Dogo held the position of member Governing Board of Management of the University of Maiduguri since 2018 to date.

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He was Provost College of Medical Sciences of the University and Chairman National Association of Colleges of  Medicine, NACOM, now APCOM.

Professor Dogo also served as Chairman and member of Council,  Faculty of Surgery, National Medical Postgraduate College of Nigeria, in 2015, where he presided over the day to day running of the faculty. 

It is also on record that, while performing his academic and professional duties, Professor Dilli Dogo has been serving as honorary Special Adviser to the Borno State Governor on Health.

I stand to challenge anybody who can match Professor Dogo’s service to the Marama Community. I recall being his foot soldier in rendering some of the services to our community, which includes lobbying to have projects executed in Marama to wit roads, water, hospital and school. He organized the first ever merit award to deserving sons and daughters, without prejudice and he brought onboard willing indigenes to unite in community services.

Every year, Professor Dogo  doles out food, money and clothing to widows, the aged and the weak and sick.

Today, he is a patron of the Marama Community Development Association, a position he uses to rally support for community based projects and for the staging of the annual Bura Culture Day celebrations.

A Professor of Surgery, and academics, a humble intellectual, go-getter, Knight of the Catholic Church, a socio-political mobilizer, and leader par excellence, Professor Dilli Dogo is today the Vice Chancellor of NILE University.

UNMASKING PROF. DILLI DOGO, NEW VC OF NILE UNIVERSITY.