Prof. Obi (Obinna) Ekwenna

Summary

Nigerian-American urologist, abdominal-transplant surgeon and Professor of Urology and Transplantation at the University of Toledo, also publicly styled Obi Davies-Ekwenna. In November 2025, Ekwenna was part of the team that performed the first documented robotic nephrectomy in Nigeria and West Africa, alongside Abuja’s first robotic prostatectomy, using the Toumai system at Nisa Premier Hospital. In September 2026, he led a robot-assisted pyeloplasty at Redeemer’s Health Village in Ogun State and then led West Africa’s first reported tele-robotic operation: a right radical nephrectomy performed from a console in Ogun State on a patient approximately 500 kilometres away at Nisa Premier Hospital in Abuja. He co-founded RoboMed Global to expand robotic-surgery capacity and training in underserved health systems. On the “first Nigerian to carry out robotic surgery in Nigeria” claim: available evidence does not establish that broad personal first. The defensible record is that Ekwenna was among the pioneering surgeons who introduced and performed Nigeria’s earliest well-documented robot-assisted procedures. The robot assists a surgeon who remains in control; it does not operate autonomously. He was also part of the team behind Africa’s first reported robotic Whipple procedure in August 2026, but Dr Lee S. Cummings was its lead surgeon.

Documented contributions

• 01Part of the surgical team that performed Nigeria and West Africa’s first documented robotic nephrectomy at Nisa Premier Hospital, Abuja (November 2025)
• 02Helped perform Abuja’s first robotic prostatectomy during the same November 2025 programme
• 03Led Redeemer’s Health Village’s first robot-assisted operation — a pyeloplasty — in Ogun State (September 2026)
• 04Led West Africa’s first reported tele-robotic surgery: a right radical nephrectomy conducted across approximately 500 kilometres between Ogun State and Abuja (September 2026)
• 05Tenured Professor of Urology and Transplantation at the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences
• 06Board-certified urologist, abdominal-transplant surgeon and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons
• 07Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of RoboMed Global, building robotic-surgery services and training capacity in Nigeria