Lagos: The Redeemer’s Health Village (RHV) has performed its first robotic-assisted surgery, marking a significant step toward advancing access to modern healthcare services in Nigeria. The Chief Executive Officer of RHV, Dr. Adedamola Dada, who disclosed the development to newsmen on Thursday, said the initiative was driven by the vision of making RHV a premier destination for healthcare delivery.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the feat was achieved through RHV’s partnership with RoboMed Global Inc., a registered U.S.-based organization. The surgery, performed within RHV, was led by Prof. Obi Ekwenna-Davies, the Co-Founder of RoboMed. Six robot-assisted surgeries are planned to be carried out in the hospital.
Dada emphasized that the partnership with RoboMed is aimed at bringing critical medical skills back to Nigeria, enabling citizens to access modern healthcare without needing to travel abroad. He stressed that the initiative is not primarily profit-driven but aims to demonstrate what appropriate and modern healthcare should look like for Nigerians.
“We are happy about this feat for obvious reasons; the objective is to bring the best possible healthcare services to the country and make them accessible to patients who require advanced procedures. Many Nigerians still travel abroad to access specialized medical procedures, incurring additional costs beyond treatment. Having this service here will help reduce such difficulties by providing modern healthcare services locally, with patients paying significantly less than they would ordinarily spend abroad,” he said.
The RHV CEO added that another objective of the partnership is aimed at developing manpower, particularly because robotics is a new area of medicine requiring specialized training and certification. Dada announced that the partnership with RoboMed would also include establishing a robotic surgery training academy to equip Nigerian professionals with the skills to perform and support advanced procedures.
He added that they would also partner with Redeemers University and the National Postgraduate College to develop a robust training program and curriculum. “The robotic academy, when launched, will create a pipeline of robotics professionals, forming part of efforts to develop the skills and expertise required to support robotic surgery services. This initiative will provide opportunities for training and help build a sustainable pipeline of professionals capable of supporting robotic surgery operations. The overall objective is to make robotic services available to Nigerians while building the manpower required to sustain them,” he said.
Also, the Co-founder of RoboMed, Ekwenna-Davies, said the partnership was an opportunity to further the interests of Nigerian-American surgeons and other highly skilled professionals involved in developing robotic surgery. Ekwenna, also a Professor of Urology, stated that the sustainable development of the technology required strong partners, and RHV was selected because of its people, institutional capacity, and reputation.
He noted that, notwithstanding the introduction of robotic surgery over 20 years ago, the country had its first robotic surgery in 2025, describing the situation as unfortunate. “To do this kind of job in a sustainable fashion, we need reputable people because this race is a long marathon. Dr. Dada is well known in Nigeria; RHV is a reputable institution capable of supporting the long-term development of robotic surgery, and the Redeemer’s institution as a whole is world-renowned,” he said.
On the surgery, the surgeon explained that robotic surgery was used to remove a localized prostate cancer that was within the prostate. He explained that robotic surgery is useful for patients with localized prostate cancer, describing it as cancer that has not spread to other parts of the body. The co-founder added that kidney cancer surgery and others would be among the robotic surgeries to be carried out in the hospital.
The robotic surgeon highlighted the benefit of robotic surgery, stating it involves small incisions, enabling patients to experience less pain and reducing the risk of wound infection. “Every human surgeon has some degree of hand tremor, which can reduce precision, unlike robotic surgery which gives room for more precise tissue manipulation. Patients can go home on time without much pain, return to work and continue to be useful to society, and the risk of having wound infection that is common to open surgery is reduced,” he said.