By ENITAN ABEL JOHNGOLD ORHERUATA, mnipr
When Professor Idia N. Ize-Iyamu walked into the Chief Medical Director’s office at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) just 100 days ago, she carried more than a new title—she carried expectations, history, and the hopes of thousands who depend on the institution for survival, training, and care.
Today, those hopes are beginning to look like reality.
In Benin City, admiration is pouring in from professional circles, but none more heartfelt than from the Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Edo State chapter. For its president, Dr. Irene Irenosen Akhideno—a Consultant Anaesthetist and Intensivist at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital—the first 100 days have not just been impressive; they have been defining.
“It has been 100 days of breaking new grounds,” she said warmly. “Innovations, problem-solving, facility upgrades, improved work ethic and motivation, and an open-door policy that is already setting new standards.”
Inside UBTH, staff speak of a refreshing atmosphere—one where accountability is balanced with encouragement, and where the phrase ‘UBTH Cares’ is evolving from a slogan into lived experience.
From strengthened multicentre and inter-governmental collaborations to renewed attention on monitoring and sustaining progress, the hospital is undergoing what many describe as quiet but profound reform.
For MWAN, these early steps tell a bigger story—the emergence of a leader whose style blends firmness with empathy.
“With a visionary, focused, pragmatic, and dogged leader such as Prof. Ize-Iyamu, UBTH is now positioned to deliver affordable, accessible, and quality healthcare to Edo State, the South-South, and Nigeria,” Dr. Akhideno affirmed.
To many of her mentees—especially young female doctors—Prof. Ize-Iyamu represents possibility. Her rise to the apex office is not just a career milestone; it has become a symbol.
“May the oil of the Almighty continue to rest on your head and shoulders, Ma,” Dr. Akhideno said in her message. “We are extremely proud of you. Keep the flag flying.”
Though the journey has only begun, expectations are high. Stakeholders across the health sector are watching closely as UBTH deepens reforms, strengthens patient-centred care, and repositions itself as a teaching hospital driven by excellence rather than routine.
If the first 100 days are a sign of what is to come, then UBTH may be entering one of its most transformative eras yet—led by a woman determined not just to manage a system, but to reshape it.
And for the thousands who walk through its gates every day, that transformation may well mean something priceless: hope.