By Prof. Benedict Binebai

Celebrant: Professor Dimie Ogoina, A Consultant and Professor of Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Director Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri.

Reason for Celebration. He was recently named by the prestigious United States of America-based Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world and one of the Announced Top Ten Scientists globally by the International journal Nature, in 2022 in recognition of his breathtaking research work on Mpox Virus, formerly Monkeypox Virus and his invaluable contributions to the practice of Medicine and Global Advancement of Human health.

Profile of Professor Dimie Ogoina
I stand here as Niger Delta University Orator, in this Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha Banquet Hall, to profile the enchanting personality of a Mega star, Professor Dimie Ogoina. And God said, “Let there be light”. And there was light. Light is expressed in many heavenly bodies. The moon, the stars, the sun, the galaxies and diverse forms of illumination invented by scientific man. Any society that does not connect with the light of God is a dead society. It is the light of God that sustains the world. The light of the star is metaphorical. Literarily, stars are bigger beacons of light that come alive when the sky is darkened. Mythically, in some societies stars are revered as gods, used to mark changes in the seasons and provide navigation to the globe. Infant Jesus was traced by the three wise men with the help of the stars. A legend of the Karanga people believe that stars were the eyes of dead spirits not willing to be born. Tswana people held that they were the souls of long dead who are no longer ancestral spirits. Scientists say they are dense balls of gas that fuse hydrogen to power themselves. Stars in metaphorical linguistic phraseology are symbols of hope,, love, life, positivity, happiness and regeneration. They embody divine guidance and protection. They also refer to human beings, not just human beings, but humans whose ways of life and intellect brighten the environment of their noble birth. In scholarship, we have stars across disciplinary frontiers. There are local stars, national stars, continental stars and universal stars. Today, Odi is gathered, KOLOKUMA Opokuma is gathered, Bayelsa is gathered, izon nation is gathered, The world is gathered physically, psychologically and aesthetically in body and soul wearing festal garments of many colours and fabrics, sounding trumpets of conquest and glory, to celebrate a mega Star, a universal star, an academic Don, a global icon in science and medicine, Prof. Dimie Ogoina, the man of the moment.

Born 2nd February, 1974, he is an indigene of Amakirebiama, Odi, Kolokuma-Opukuma Local government area, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. He attended primary school at Command Children School, Calabar Cross Rivers State, Nigeria, and Secondary Education at Command Secondary School, Ipaja, Lagos, Nigeria. He obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna State and was awarded two Prizes, including the Professor’s Bandipo’s overall best graduating doctor in Community Medicine and the best continuous assessment in Community Medicine.

On completion of his undergraduate medical education, he enrolled into a residency training programme in the field of infectious diseases and immunology. During his training, he won the Ayo Iyun Prize for the overall best Part 1 Candidate in West Africa, in the Faculty of Internal Medicine, West Africa College of Physicians. He completed his residency training with a Fellowship in Infectious Diseases and Immunology in both the West African College of Physicians (FWACP) and the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (FMCP).

Professor Ogoina has held several leadership and administrative positions. He was Head of Department of Internal Medicine, Niger Delta University from June 2012 to June 2013, and Chairman, Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), NDUTH branch from July 2012 to June 2013. He was appointed Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, (CMAC) NDUTH Bayelsa in June 2013 and then served as the Acting Provost of the College of Health Sciences, Niger Delta University from September 2014 to February 2015. He was elevated to the rank of Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases by the Niger Delta University, Bayelsa, in October 2014, and was first appointed Chief Medical Director of NDUTH in 2017. He also serves as member and the Deputy Chairman of the National Health Research Committee, Chair of the Executive Board of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) -supported Oloibiri Health Project, and Chair, Bayelsa Health Summit Committee 2021.

Professor Ogoina has keen interest in medical education, infectious diseases practice and research. He is currently the Head of The Infectious Disease Unit at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri Bayelsa and served as case management lead during the monkey pox and COVID-19 outbreaks in Bayelsa. He is also the Chair of the Subject Matter Experts, Community of Practice of COVID-19 case managers, Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria.
His research interests include HIV/AIDS, healthcare-associated infections, infection prevention and control, antimicrobial resistance, immunology, public health and infectious diseases, health system research clinical trials, geospatial applications in infectious disease epidemiology and control, quality improvement and clinical governance. He has over 90 published scientific articles, 40 conference papers and 45 guest lectures. With 3282 Google citations He was invited to deliver the Late Prof. T.I. Francis Memorial Lecture at the University of Port-Harcourt Rivers State in 2016. The Odi born cardinal voice of science and academic luminary attended several national and international conferences and was a systematic speaker at those conferences.

Prof Ogoina’s critical engagement in medicine and scholarship is as functional as a spider’s web. His intellectual filaments are penetrating. His fire burns bright and blue while he leads intellectually, he does not possess the heroic complex as he leads others to prosperity and contentment. He is an African Scientist, no doubt, a sentinel of frontrunners and their societies with nationalistic steam and overshadowing fidelity. He has published and served as reviewer for various revered journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Lancet HIV/Infectious Diseases, Clinical Infectious Diseases and Plos One, West African Journal of Medicine, among many others. Professor Ogoina is a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) International health regulation (IHR) Roster of Experts. He was a member of the WHO IHR Emergency Committee regarding the multi-country outbreak of Mpox and served as member WHO working group on the development of global core protocol for evaluation of monkey pox therapeutics, and member, WHO working group on development of Target Product Profile for monkeypox therapeutics.
Since 2020, he has served as a member in the following committees at the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria: National AWaRe Categorization/ Antimicrobial Stewardship committee, National Expert Committee on Review of the Nigeria Standard Treatment Guidelines and Nigeria National Drug Formulary Committee. He is also a member of various learned societies including the Infectious Diseases Society of America, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious diseases, the International Federation of Infection Control, and the Nigerian Infectious Diseases Society, among many others. He is a foundation member of the Nigerian Infectious Diseases Society and current President of the society. He is also a member of the Sigma Xi (The scientific research honor society) and a recipient of the Nigerian National Productivity Order of Merit Award (2020). Professor Ogoina is an external examiner for undergraduate MBBS and PhD programme at the University of Port Harcourt, an examiner for the Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases Part 1 and 2 Postgraduate examinations for the West African College of Physicians and served as external examiner for Masters in Immunology programme at the Ahmadu Bello University. He has served as abstract reviewer, for the American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Abstract Competition from 2017 to date. He obtained a certificate in Management and Leadership in Health from the University of Washington USA in March 2015 and a certificate in Clinical leadership from the National Health Service, United Kingdom in May 2016. He was elected as Fellow of the American College of Physicians in September 2015 and a Fellow Infectious Diseases Society of America (FIDSA) in September 2022.

Prof Ogoina was listed in the top 2% of the most cited scientists in the world in 2021. In 2022, he made the list of Nature’s top 10 scientists in the world and in 2023, for his groundbreaking contributions to the field of Mpox and infectious disease research and health equity. He was recognised as one of Time 100 most influential persons in the world. He is passionate about applications of innovative technology in advancing healthcare. Consequently, he has developed above average expertise in geographical information system technology, software programming, mobile app, and website development, 2D and 3D game development and creation of computer animations, including animated films. He is a certified Google App Developer having published several apps on Google Play Store. . Professor Dimie Ogoina is a man driven by three passions. A passion for pedagogy and research in medical science; a passion for using technology to drive change and a passion for development and human salvation. He cherishes hard work, integrity, and creativity. Professor Ogoina is married to Mrs Hembafan Ogoina who is a Heritage Tourism professional.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, On behalf of his Excellency, the political principal, that is the principality of all political principalities and powers in the glory of all land, THE magnificent occupant of Creek Haven, the conqueror of forests and seas through roads in the glory of all lands, the man who knows the way, a futuristic visionary, A practical agent of restoration, a man of profound honesty and integrity, A leader who would not hesitate to pay Hazards Allowance to medical Doctors in Bayelsa State, a template of confidence, an embodiment of inspiration, a man who believes that a bad weather does not break the wings of a flying bird. A creative and innovative maharishi, the grand commander of the enduring prosperity agenda and ideology, the Governor- General of Izon nation, the Executive Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, and the crème dela cream here present, I most warmly present to you, a man massive in epistemology of medicine and science, an academic juggernaut who hears the voice of God in science and medicine, the newest king of science, a University don who professes the most powerful creation against the scourge of Mpox, an eminent scholar of Medical science, a scholar of diseases and infections who has given judgments and wheels to medicine and who has given medical science feathers to fly, a universal scholar and a universally studied scholar, a protector of human civilsation, a man with a tall mind, a wide heart and a deep soul, a crowned academic monarch who disburses the light of God through the agency of medical science.
a scholar whose passion for excellence through crystal global scientific discoveries and philosophical contemplation in Disease and Infection Studies privileges a frontal involvement in the practice of human salvation, a medical philosopher who has perfected the methodological and theoretical aspects of medicine and has applied it to tackle significant epidemiological issues. A man who has intellectually compelled the world to Odi and Bayelsa state in the world’s medical cartography. Are you wondering why he is a scientist? He is a scholar who discovers with celestial confirmation and who patronises positive energies and vibrations from high heavens to build society. He is one mortal who believes that when night falls in your dream, you dream the dream that will force darkness to break into dawn to secure visibility and direction. A man whose sky is full of stars, whose waves carried him beyond the limits of light, an academic who navigate the portion of the world where the sky touches the sea. Where the abstract is invoked into physicality, a man who loves humanity because he has become a god of the art of medicine. A simple man with infectious curiosity, a true and bold sanctuary of medical science. A man who did not mistake magic for medicine but who took medicine as magic, a man whose thoughts are higher than the mountain and longer than river Mississippi, and His intellectual structure and carriage as a philosopher and professor of medicine is a searing confirmation of his groundbreaking contributions to humanity. A multiple Award winner, a recipient of the Nigerian National Productivity Order of Merit Award (2020). Nature’s Top scientist 2022 and Time’s 100 most influential persons in the world 2023. A scholar with Trans- discursive and patent knowledge, a man who represents an academic and scientific age and force in the practice and theory of science and medicine, a man who has made an epic journey in medicine and science across the cosmos. A man who has a face and a name that institutionalises him as an ultimate scientist, who commands an imagistic power that defines the power of science and medicine. A great child of Hippocrates of KOS- the father of modern medicine. A Consultant and Professor of Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Director Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri. Professor Dimie Ogoina.