Chapter V · People · Hero H140
Chief (Mrs.) Kofoworola Abeni Pratt
First Black Nurse in the British NHS; Builder of Nigerian Nursing
Summary
Trained at the Nightingale School, St Thomas' Hospital, qualifying 1950 — the first Black nurse in the NHS. Returned in 1954 to lead the “Nigerianisation” of nursing: first Nigerian ward sister, matron of UCH Ibadan (1964), founder of the University of Ibadan school of nursing (1965), first Nigerian Chief Nursing Officer of the Federation, and later Lagos State Commissioner for Health — among the first female commissioners. A St Paul's Cathedral plaque honours her in Britain; her own country's record is here.
Record
Lifespan
Documented contributions
- 01NHS first (1950) — King's College London and Nightingale Society documentation
- 02Founded university nursing education in Nigeria (1965)
- 03Vice-President, International Council of Nurses
Sources
King's College London alumni record; Nightingale Society papers; UCH Ibadan records
Tier 1 · primary
Courts. Gazettes. National archives.
Tier 2 · corroborating
OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.
Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged
Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.