Prof Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, described the passing on of Professor Emeritus Umaru Shehu, 92, as a great loss to Nigeria for his tireless lifetime efforts to improve public health.
This was made known in a press statement on Monday signed by Pate’s Senior Adviser on Media and External Relations, Tashikalmah Hallah.
Describing Prof Shehu as an invaluable asset who dedicated his scholarship and professional life to the advancement of population health outcomes, the Minister said, “Prof Shehu has been an inspiration to many generations of physicians and public health practitioners, whom he taught and mentored over a distinguished lifetime.”
Pate recalled the leadership role late Shehu played in the fight to eradicate smallpox and wild polio virus in the country, adding that the country will always remember his contributions to the health sector.
He added, “Despite his advancing age, Prof Shehu was never tired of giving advice or traveling to engage on important issues of health. We have indeed lost today our elder medical statesman, a great scholar, and a fantastic human being, Emeritus Prof Shehu. May Allah grant his soul Aljannah Firdaus Amin. We extend deepest condolences to his family,” he asserted.
Shehu was born on 8 December, 1930. He died on 2 October, 2023.
He was a distinguished Nigerian Professor of Medicine who has held significant positions in several universities, including the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Ahmadu Bello University, and the University of Maiduguri. He was the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN).
He studied at Kaduna College in Zaria, and then proceeded to University College Ibadan from 1948 to 1953. He also spent time at the University of Liverpool in two separate periods, between 1953 and 1956, and again from 1966 to 196. Shehu obtained his Medical degree from the University of London.
Prof Shehu was the founder of the Kanem Borno Historical and Cultural Foundation and a co-founder of the Brono Elders Forum.
He also received a fellowship from the Institute of Cancer Research and he is the Editor-in-Chief of the British Medical Journal.