It depends, says Dr. Mary Oluwakemisola Agoyi.
Conventionally, medical doctors. Whatever the sex, were auto-fitted into a straight-jacket stereotype: studious, conservative, dour personality, and quiet people. Then it was not too common coming across radiant bevy in their gatherings. But not now. Medical doctors have combined all the traits that attracts attention with utmost awe, mostly radiating elegance and stunning personalities.
Dr. ‘Kemisola Agoyi
Last week the Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Lagos branch pushed aside the rigors of caring for the infirm and held their Scientific and Annual General Meeting. The main theme of the conference was the prevalence of Gender Based Violence. FEFERITY MAGAZINE was at the conference, and there we were able to pin down youthful, vivacious, dynamic Mary ‘Kemisola Agoyi for a chat.
Dr. Kemi Agoyi was actively involved in the gallant efforts of the Nigeria’s medical personnel in combating the dreaded Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. She served as a frontline health worker in one of the Isolation Centres. FEFERITY MAGAZINE closely monitored her activities during the period and we decided to do a story on her.
‘This work takes too much of our time. I hardly have time for myself, hence my poor response to social calls’, she quips.
The world of the Akoko, Ondo State born Public Health Specialist, is not all about tending to the infirm. She is a caregiver, a humanist and more a teacher of the Word of God. To her medicine is the base, from where one spread to other areas of interests.
This is a long-scheduled interview. We had been chasing her for since the heady days of the Coronavirus pandemic, when we were informed that she was one of the frontline medical personnel combating the infectious disease. She was understandably busy. We also kept our heads up, looking for an opportunity to catch up with her. The opportunity came at the Scientific Conference of MWAN in Ikeja this past week. Getting her to sit down was a tug of war. As her attentions were constantly being drawn from the Conference.
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- Dr. Leke Pitan. Former Lagos State Commissioner for Health
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- MWAN Members
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- The MWAN President
A Public Health Specialist did all her medical trainings at the Lagos University College of Medicine (LUTH). She also worked briefly at LUTH upon graduation. Now she is with the Ports Health Services, at the MMA International Airport. She is still at the forefront of combating the further importation of the dreaded Coronavirus (COVID-19) into the country.
Dr. Agoyi is an archetypal edification of all beauty and brains. This is easily discernible from the brief minutes the FEFERITY MAGAZINE was able to coax from her tight schedule. Very engaging, reeling out data and figures easily.
On the social front, she jokes simply, ‘among my friends, I am still the most playful and active’.
She quips further, ‘I am sociable as I can be. I try to socialize as much as my work can permit’.
However, the tight schedule still allows her to function as the Program Manager for the Safer Hands Health Initiative, a Non-Governmental health interventionist intuitive.
‘The truth is that I work round the clock. This leaves me with little time to do other things. But still, I am a teacher in my local Church and whenever I can, I try to attend social events. Since I need to rest whenever I can find the time.
Like any other well-focused professional, she admitted facing a lot of challenges in the profession. ‘The rot in the healthcare sector, the inadequacies in the sector, and the glaring lack of facilities are parts of the challenges we have to cope with. Yet we trudge on’, she lamented.
Afolayan Adebiyi writes from Lagos, Nigeria
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