Why I nearly relocated to London, by psychotherapist Moses Ilo

I came back in the late sixties during the civil war and as you know, that interrupted a lot of people’s progress. After the civil war, I went back to London and proceeded to getting a consultant position from where I came back to Nigeria in 1974 and established the department of Psychological Medicine at […]

I came back in the late sixties during the civil war and as you know, that interrupted a lot of people’s progress. After the civil war, I went back to London and proceeded to getting a consultant position from where I came back to Nigeria in 1974 and established the department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Nigeria, Enugu which had its base at Enugu Teaching Hospital. But at a point, I nearly went back to London because we were faced with the lack of the infrastructure compactable with normal teaching and progress of research when the then Military Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed suggested that they needed me in the Nigerian Air Force because he wanted to establish an aerospace medical center. That was indeed a privilege. I joined the Air Force and after obtaining military orientation in Kaduna, I was posted to Kano to serve at the aerospace medical centre. A few years after Murtala’s death, the idea almost filtered out, so I left the Air Force. Having found Kano amicable and progressive, I settled there where I established my hospital, the Udumma Center.

Does that mean that you have been practising in Nigeria since then?

I practised since that time up to 1997 when I had to leave for London again for social and family reasons. The main thing that took me back to London was to make sure that my daughter, who was so happy to study medicine, got into the profession.  God, made it possible and we got the school for her and stayed back in London while she studied and I continued with my practice as a consultant neuropsychiatrist over there. When that dream was fulfilled, I decided to come back to Nigeria and specifically to Kano with a new focus. Before I left for London in 1997, my practice was strictly neuropsychiatric, which included active medical practice, but now that I am no longer agile as I was, I am restricting my practice to stress management and a particular attention to contributing my quarter in addressing the menace of drug abuse.

Why have you chosen to deal with stress management and drug abuse?

From experience, the management of stress should be a priority because it involves a range of issues such as sleep problems, headaches, difficulty in concentration and relaxation and many other worries that make people feel life is passing them by leading to depression and restlessness. This may lead to a lot of serious health problems like hypertension and other cardiac issues and in instances of such, people need to seek prompt medical attention. Also, the rate at which people fall victims of hypertension is on the rise therefore this needs be addressed.

Now on the issue of tackling drug abuse, Kano has recently been rated the highest in drugs abuse. How do you intend to handle the issue?

Honestly, I am just hearing the unfortunate news for the first time. Anyway by the grace of God, we will achieve our goal. First of all, I got the latest technique for the therapy of drug abuse for this group. I have also obtained equipment that detects if a person is into drug abuse even if he tries to hide it. We have other facilities, both for group and individual therapy, which is called psychotherapy. It is an improved package that once used on a person, will reveal if the person takes drugs.  Much of our services will do with psychotherapy instead of using drugs as we did in the past, it is the best therapy for drug abuse. Also, I am already making plans to see that I work together with the agency in-charge of addressing drugs abuse in the country, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency( NDLEA), I have made some visits to hospitals in order to work in collaboration with them and  I also intend to use schools as well as parents associations.

Considering the type of service you offer, people will expect to only benefit when they bring themselves or are brought to your centre by someone. How do you think you can impact on the society?

First of all, it is important that these young people and their parents know that there is a place they can get help and this is why I intend to embark on massive campaign. I also intend to occasionally give out flyers to schools, clubs, etc. Also, our doors will be open to offer such talks and lectures to any school and hospitals interested. For instance, I have visited the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, met the Chief Medical Director  and discussed with him my intention where I disclosed that I would want to occasionally partake in the hospital’s psychiatric ward round in order to offer the little I can. This I also hope to do in many other hospitals across the state and it is in that view that I visited the state’s Commissioner for Health and discussed my plans with her.

It is always not easy for people to see consultants like you. How easy do you intend to make it for people interested in your services?

I am always there as far as doing things in my specialty is concerned. Therefore with regards to stress management and drugs abuse, people should be rest assured that they will not have to make any appointment to see me. I am and will always be there to serve the good people of Kano and to contribute my quarter in addressing drug abuse.

Why have you decided to settle in Kano?

I decided to settle in Kano because this is where I know best. The people have been very hospitable and nice to be with, therefore here I am back to Kano and with the enthusiasm to serve them in the best way I can.