His memories will live with us forever.
OBITUARY
Dr. Nowamagbe Austin Omoigui, pre-eminent interventional cardiologist in Columbia, South Carolina and foremost Nigerian-American civil-military historian, shed his earthly bonds and was called to the Lord on April 18, 2021.
Preceded in passing by his beloved mother, Mrs. Grace Onaiwu Omoigui, Dr. Omoigui is survived by his wife Moira Omoigui, their children (Ikpomwosa Omoigui, Ighiwiyisi Omoigui, Iyegbekosa (Egbe) & Izevbokun (Izzy) Omoigui, Iyare Omoigui and Iriagbonse Omoigui), his father, Surveyor Daniel Aiyanyo Omoigui and his four siblings (Dr. Sota Omoigui, Ifueko M. Omoigui Okauru, Eghosa Omoigui and Nosa Omoigui), their spouses and In-laws, nephews and nieces; aunts, uncles and cousins; friends and colleagues.
Born in the United Kingdom on March 28, 1959 and raised in Nigeria, Dr. Omoigui was a precocious talent who set records everywhere he went. He graduated from high school (with the ordinary level school certificate as it was known at the time) at age 15, from Federal Government College, Warri in Nigeria. He graduated with distinction and set a record as the first in the history of the school (and one of the first in the West Africa) to obtain a Grade A1, the highest available grade, in Fine Arts. In 1975, after a year at King’s College in Lagos, Nigeria (where he had entered for the advanced level, higher school certificate as it was known at the time), he gained admission to study Medicine at Nigeria’s premier medical school, the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. In 1981, he graduated at the top of his medical school class with distinction and delivered the valedictory speech. After the required internship (as a house officer), he spent a mandatory year of service at the Nigeria Army Brigade of Guards where he set new records by coordinating a never-done-before air, sea, and land military disaster drill, and received a National Award in recognition of his contributions from the then President of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, in 1983.
In the U.S., he did his post-graduate medicine residency at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, NY and later served as Chief Resident at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. He obtained a master’s degree in public health with particular interest in Health Resource Management and Policy, from the University of Illinois. Nowa completed a residency in cardiology at Stanford University and in Interventional Cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic (America’s best heart center). After relocating to the U.S., Nowa continued his tradition of collecting awards and setting records. He was awarded the Timothy Beckett (1992) and Hewlett Packard (1993) Awards, and awards for excellence as a post-doctoral fellow in Cardiovascular Disease.
He set the record among clinical fellows at the Cleveland Clinic for the highest number of abstracts submitted and presented (as first author) at a single National meeting (American Heart Association 1994). Dr. Omoigui also published numerous research papers in many of the world’s most prestigious medical journals. Importantly, he set a new record when he became the first Nigerian (and African) immigrant, and perhaps the youngest ever to do so, to be Chief of Cardiology at the University of South Carolina in December 1994 at the age of 35.
In 1996, he was the Chief of Cardiology, the Program Director of Cardiology Fellowship, Director at the VA Medical Center, and the Chairman of the Governing Board of Regents. During the Desert Storm military campaign, Nowa logged into the high-level war-room that was full of military Generals, discussing tactics and strategies of military warfare.
Dr. Omoigui was an academic researcher, a masterful orator, a precociously gifted painter, a world-renowned military historian and was widely recognized for his scholarship on national security, civil-military relations, national and traditional history, and politics. In fact, many would arguably call him a genius.
Prior to the advent of the Web, Nowa would casually give you facts and figures about events. By the time you checked, he would be correct about the date, time, place and everything else. His brain was like a walking encyclopedia. Despite his record-setting achievements and his intellectual prowess, he was always humble, easily approachable, and always ready to help friends, family and his younger colleagues who sought his counsel.Known for his intellectual sagacity, his polymathic breadth and depth of knowledge, expertise and interests, and his charmingly disarming sense of humor coupled with the loudest laugh this side of the Atlantic Ocean, Dr. Omoigui was a force of nature. Ever simple yet beautifully complex, he combined the perspicacious erudition of a sage with the boundless curiosity and passion of a child. He had an encyclopedic brain and a beautiful heart. He was sui generis, one of a kind, and just a genuinely good person.
Nowa was a shooting star traveling high above on its earthly journey, and lighting up the world below, in an incandescent myriad of colors, before flaming out in a blaze of glory. While on this earth, Nowa ensured that his name was engraved in record books for the ages, and as he has shed his garb of mortality and transcended into immortality at the throne of God, we pray that God engraves his name among His greatest servants and grant him glory and eternal life in Heaven.
His life and legacy will stand as an unceasing source of pride, comfort, and joy to all of us. There are truly things Death cannot steal.
We are immensely grateful to God for the life he lived, the service he gave to family and country, and most importantly, his love, care for, and devotion to, his wife, children and family and friends. We are also thankful to all those that supported him in health and in sickness.
We will miss him dearly. May his soul rest in peace and our memories comfort us.
Dr. Nowa Omoigui will be laid to rest in Columbia, SC on May 15, 2021.
Tributes
Leave a tributeYour passing came as a shock, but the good lord knows best.
You lived an exemplary life.
Your articles on the history of Nigeria remain undisputable.
Rest in peace uncle!!
Who are we to question Baba God? Our God needed Nowa to bring his leadership to heaven. Nowa now resides with the Saints.
My heart, thoughts and prayers are with his dear wife, Moira, his loving children, granpa Omoigui and his sibblings.
Don't be aftraid Moura, for Nowa is now in spirit, closer to you and the children, advocating on your behalf before God for all your needs. You now have your own angel, Hallelujah.
Now, God's speed my brother, until we meet again on resurrection day. Rest in the bossom of our Lord.
close discussions with each other, on arrears of keen interest. Personally, I saw Uncle Nowa as a man of great intellect, very soft spoken...a complete gentleman. He was very instrumental to the Editing, Printing and first Marketing overseas, of my late fathers book "888 days in Biafra". The news of his demise came to me as a rude shock! But who are we to question God? In ALL THINGS, we are admonished to give thanks...My heart goes to his dear wife, loving children, Grandpa Omoigui, sibblings and all other close relatives left behind. May God grant them the much needed strength and comfort on everyside to bear the loss...though as Christians we believe he sleeps on in peace, till we meet on the resurrection day to part no more .
Nowa was larger-than-life, humble, generous in spirit , vivid in imagination, and with always a warm and friendly smile.
The last cherished memory was his trip to Tokyo with his cute daughters to visit the family. I remember it was difficult to appeal to him to take a break after a long fourteen hours flight from the states . Restless and time conscious , he was back to work on his laptop attending to mails as if he knew his time on earth with us was short.
May God Almighty wrap his arms around the entire family at this trying times. May he give you the strength to bear the painful loss of your dear son, brother, father and friend Nowa...RIP
..didn't meet Nowa physically (unfortunately), but I interacted with him on the yahoogroups site he founded and managed (one of the earliest) till Yahoo!, the company, made it, and others like it, defunct (just like that!).
His brain power, and his exactness for details were a thing of joy.
He lived in the realm of "Historicity"; Not mere story-telling, where embellishment and the storyteller's bias could quickly overwhelm the facts.
He welcomed any and all intellectual debates, but never suffered the lazy-minded and charlatans, gladly.
Condolences go to his family (immediate, and extended) who survive him; and also, to legions of friends and admirers he's leaving behind.
Surely, his Blessed soul is now resident with the cherubic angels Above.
I pray GOD grants him eternal rest, and his loved ones the strength and grace to bear this loss.
I was fortunate to run into him again a few times during my Housemanship in LUTH in the early eighties and only communicated with him on and off over the years, and spoke with him again when his dear mother passed on. I never thought that would be the last time.
Throughout this period of over 5 decades, I followed his remarkable professional career which was spruced with other endeavors not even related to Medicine. Great guy, all-round intellectual, who I know will be sorely missed.
May Nowa’s soul Rest In Peace
May the beautiful soul of Nowamagbe Omoigui, MD rest in peace.
I haven't seen Nowa since we left Medical School. I can still hear his loud voice and very articulate speech, as the President of The SRC, ABH.
A distinction student in Anatomy, and a totally detribalised individual.
My condolences to his family and to us who would miss him equally.
Wow!! So, our journey home is underways for real?
May his wonderful soul rest in perfect peace.
Your encouragement made our father to finally publish the book 888 days in Biafra. A book written in 1970 but made public in 2007.
My sincere condolences and prayers are to the Omoigui family.
May his very gentle soul rest in perfect peace.
For the entire Umweni Osagie family and the children of Engr. Samuel Enadeghe Umweni
Omoruyi Umweni Chf.
Brilliant, cerebral, courageous, outspoken, friendly, handsome.
After I completed my house job in UBTH in 1983, our paths never crossed again but I always treasured the friendship we shared in UCH and carried fond memories of you.
I was sad to hear about your health challenges.
Rest In Peace my friend, from all your struggles and may God comfort your nearest and dearest as they mourn your passing .
He will be sorely missed by all who knew him and many that did not. May God grant his family succour at this time and may he Rest In Peace.
Rest in the bossom of the Lord, Dr. Nowa Omoigui.
Nowamagbe Austin Omoigui
1959-2021
On behalf of ICOMAA-NA and the Class of 1981, it is with deep sorrow that we receive the news of the passing, on April 18, 2021, of our dear friend, Nowamagbe Austin Omoigui.
Nowa was loved, admired and respected by all. An outstanding academic achiever, he also had a deep and thoughtful intellect, a warm, generous, and gregarious personality, sharp wit, good humor, and a constantly cheerful demeanor.
From our first days at Ibadan, he quickly became one of the brightest shining stars of our class. He always had deep and profound thoughts on everything and shared them generously with everybody. Many pleasant evenings were spent on those memorable after-dinner discussions that we had as we gathered around his table in the ABH cafeteria. And whether the topic was fetal embryology, apartheid South Africa, Nigerian military coups or the latest Gaddafi-Reagan aerial skirmish over the Mediterranean Sea, his analyses and presentations were always thoroughly illuminating and entertaining. And always done with great humor and intellectual prowess.
And he was our champion! Whenever we needed anybody to speak for us, he was the clear and unanimous choice. He always spoke for us! With confidence and clarity and eloquence and bravery.
We are blessed to have known him as classmate, colleague and friend.
As we mourn his passing, we are comforted by many warm memories and we give thanks to God for his wonderful life.
We give thanks to God for the blessing to have been among his many friends.
May his soul Rest In Peace.
May God console and strengthen his family and friends.
Amen.
Dolamu Sokunbi, MBBS ‘81
President, ICOMAA-NA
He alone understands
The whys and hows of an event like this
A giant in all sense
Nowamagbe gone!
Just like that!!
Papa took him!!!
He is Kabiyesi
We cannot question HIM
Nowamagbe will Rest In Peace
Nowamagbe will Rest in Power.
Nowamagbe made heaven
Without being repetitive, he was an asset wherever he found himself. With a sense of humor that always demonstrated his creativity and brilliance, I know he will be sorely missed by all that know him. Moira, take heart in the knowledge that your husband blessed the world with his many diverse capacities and skills. On behalf of the entire Akinbola family, I wish to express our heartfelt condolence on this tremendous loss to the Omoigui family. May God almighty give you all the strength and fortitude to bear this loss.
It’s hard to imagine that a force of nature, such as yourself, could be gone. Your care and concern for all those that were less fortunate than you was truly inspiring and your support of your parents was a great example for all of us.
I’m not sure if I am more impressed with your intellect or your audacious sense of humor but eating pounded yam with the Omoigui boys and laughing until I had tears in my eyes, are some of my favorite memories!
Your beautiful family is in my thoughts and prayers, this sad day.
I love you Nowa and I'm grateful to have known you …. until we meet again
Cherece
He asked me to stop by during my visit to which I obliged and the phone dropped. He called back to leave a message which is still on my voicemail. I had planned to call him yesterday to inquire about the CoVid vaccine, instead I got a call about his passing late afternoon. My family and I will miss him greatly and his sense of humor. We will still honor his invitation to stop by when we visit the area although not in the manner we were expecting but God knows best.
Dr. Nowa Omoigui, may your soul Rest In Peace. May God bless the family you left behind so untimely.
Elder Franklin and Florence Omoruna
Comrade/friend/classmate
From: Lashman ‘81
MD, MPH, FACC.
THE TRAILBLAZER.
By Abraham Ariyo, M.D.
Nowa Omoigui shattered the glass ceiling in Cardiology by being the first Nigerian immigrant to serve as Chief of Cardiology of a major University Medical School in the United States – The University of South Carolina, Columbia. His achievements ushered in a new era of possibilities. He inspired new generations of young Africans and African Americans in Cardiology worldwide. He chartered a new course, allowing us to redefine our future. By his example, we know that there are no limits in pursuing our dreams in the field of Cardiology. We celebrate his life this week.
Nowamagbe Omoigui was born on March 28, 1959 and passed on April 18th, 2021. He was a precocious talent who set records everywhere he went. He graduated from high school at age 15, from Federal Government College, Warri in Nigeria. He graduated with distinction and set a record as the first in the history of the school (and one of the first in West African History) to obtain a Grade A1 in Fine Arts. In 1975, after a year of pre-Med at King’s College in Lagos, he gained admission to study Medicine at the Nigeria’s premier Medical School, The College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. In 1981, he graduated at the top of his Medical School Class with distinction and delivered the valedictory speech. After Internship, he spent a mandatory year of service at the Brigade of Guards where he set new records by coordinating an air, sea and land Military disaster drill, and received a National Award from the Nigerian President Shehu Shagari in 1983.
In the U.S., he did Medicine Residency at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, NY and served as Chief Resident at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. He obtained a Masters degree in Public Health from the University of Illinois. He trained in Cardiology at Stanford University and in Interventional Cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic (America’s best heart center). Nowa continued his tradition of collecting awards and setting records in the U.S. He was awarded the Timothy Beckett (1992) and Hewlett Packard (1993) Awards, and Awards for excellence as a post-doctoral fellow in Cardiovascular Disease. He set the all-time record among clinical fellows at the Cleveland Clinic for the highest number of abstracts submitted and presented (as first author) at a single National meeting (American Heart Association 1994). Importantly, he set a new record when he became the first Nigerian (African) immigrant to be Chief of Cardiology at a US University Medical School in December 1994 at the age of 35. Perhaps the youngest to do so.
At the 1995 American College of Cardiology Conference, while I was presenting as a young Cardiology Fellow from Boston and my compatriot, Dr. Akinboboye was presenting as a young Instructor from Columbia University, we were both delighted to see Nowa on the podium as a Guest Faculty of the American College of Cardiology. It definitely opened our horizons. If Nowa could be up there, we too could. This trend has continued till today with young immigrants and young African Americans in leadership positions in every aspect of Cardiology in the United States.
In 1996, when I visited him at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, he was the Chief of Cardiology, the Program Director of Cardiology Fellowship, Director at the VAMC, and the Chairman of the Governing Board of Regents. The night of my visit, during the war of the Desert Storm, Nowa logged into the high-level, War-Room that was full of Military Generals, discussing Tactics and Strategies of military warfare. On Saturdays, he would email me his weekly political write-up for me to proofread, which I would send back to him on Sundays. That opinion would be published in his weekly column in the popular Nigerian newspaper, The Guardian.
Before the advent of internet, Nowa would give you facts and figures about events. By the time you checked, he would be correct about the date, time, place and everything else. His brain was like a walking encyclopedia. He was a preeminent cardiologist, an academic researcher, a prolific writer, a masterful orator, a Military and Nigerian historian, and a genius. Despite his record-setting achievements and his intellectual prowess, he was always humble, easily approachable, always ready to help the younger physicians. When he got comfortable with you, he would crack jokes upon jokes, and you would think he was a comedian. I miss his laugh.
While on this earth, Nowa ensured that his name was engraved in record books for the ages, we pray that God engraves his name among His greatest servants and grant him glory and eternal life in Heaven.
Nowa, we celebrate you today. Rest in Peace.
Abraham A. Ariyo, MD, MPH, FACC.
Director, HeartMasters Cardiology
Interventional Cardiologist,
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center, Texas.
Leave a Tribute
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Blessed to have known and worked with him
Nowa's enormous breath of knowledge, ability to lead with humor, dedication, kindness, and deep concern for his patients, always served as an example to me of what a physician was meant to me. He was able to see the larger picture and analyze complex situations to determine how to best help patients when resources were limited; he was always respectful of those he supervised, tried to teach us some of his skills and was always generous with his knowledge and time. He would have tea in the evening with myself and other residents in the cafeteria, providing an uplifting break, always making us laugh, before we returned to a long night of calls and patient rounds though-out the hospital.
I am grateful to have known him, may he rest in peace and his family receive some comfort from the memories and experiences they will always retain.
Rest in peace Nowa,
Dr. Cocchiarella
MD, MPH, FACC.
THE TRAILBLAZER.
By Abraham Ariyo, M.D.
Nowa Omoigui shattered the glass ceiling in Cardiology by being the first Nigerian immigrant to serve as Chief of Cardiology of a major University Medical School in the United States – The University of South Carolina, Columbia. His achievements ushered in a new era of possibilities. He inspired new generations of young Africans and African Americans in Cardiology worldwide. He chartered a new course, allowing us to redefine our future. By his example, we know that there are no limits in pursuing our dreams in the field of Cardiology. We celebrate his life this week.
Nowamagbe Omoigui was born on March 28, 1959 and passed on April 18th, 2021. He was a precocious talent who set records everywhere he went. He graduated from high school at age 15, from Federal Government College, Warri in Nigeria. He graduated with distinction and set a record as the first in the history of the school (and one of the first in West African History) to obtain a Grade A1 in Fine Arts. In 1975, after a year of pre-Med at King’s College in Lagos, he gained admission to study Medicine at the Nigeria’s premier Medical School, The College of Medicine, University of Ibadan. In 1981, he graduated at the top of his Medical School Class with distinction and delivered the valedictory speech. After Internship, he spent a mandatory year of service at the Brigade of Guards where he set new records by coordinating an air, sea and land Military disaster drill, and received a National Award from the Nigerian President Shehu Shagari in 1983.
In the U.S., he did Medicine Residency at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, NY and served as Chief Resident at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. He obtained a Masters degree in Public Health from the University of Illinois. He trained in Cardiology at Stanford University and in Interventional Cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic (America’s best heart center). Nowa continued his tradition of collecting awards and setting records in the U.S. He was awarded the Timothy Beckett (1992) and Hewlett Packard (1993) Awards, and Awards for excellence as a post-doctoral fellow in Cardiovascular Disease. He set the all-time record among clinical fellows at the Cleveland Clinic for the highest number of abstracts submitted and presented (as first author) at a single National meeting (American Heart Association 1994). Importantly, he set a new record when he became the first Nigerian (African) immigrant to be Chief of Cardiology at a US University Medical School in December 1994 at the age of 35. Perhaps the youngest to do so.
At the 1995 American College of Cardiology Conference, while I was presenting as a young Cardiology Fellow from Boston and my compatriot, Dr. Akinboboye was presenting as a young Instructor from Columbia University, we were both delighted to see Nowa on the podium as a Guest Faculty of the American College of Cardiology. It definitely opened our horizons. If Nowa could be up there, we too could. This trend has continued till today with young immigrants and young African Americans in leadership positions in every aspect of Cardiology in the United States.
In 1996, when I visited him at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, he was the Chief of Cardiology, the Program Director of Cardiology Fellowship, Director at the VAMC, and the Chairman of the Governing Board of Regents. The night of my visit, during the war of the Desert Storm, Nowa logged into the high-level, War-Room that was full of Military Generals, discussing Tactics and Strategies of military warfare. On Saturdays, he would email me his weekly political write-up for me to proofread, which I would send back to him on Sundays. That opinion would be published in his weekly column in the popular Nigerian newspaper, The Guardian.
Before the advent of internet, Nowa would give you facts and figures about events. By the time you checked, he would be correct about the date, time, place and everything else. His brain was like a walking encyclopedia. He was a preeminent cardiologist, an academic researcher, a prolific writer, a masterful orator, a Military and Nigerian historian, and a genius. Despite his record-setting achievements and his intellectual prowess, he was always humble, easily approachable, always ready to help the younger physicians. When he got comfortable with you, he would crack jokes upon jokes, and you would think he was a comedian. I miss his laugh.
While on this earth, Nowa ensured that his name was engraved in record books for the ages, we pray that God engraves his name among His greatest servants and grant him glory and eternal life in Heaven.
Nowa, we celebrate you today. Rest in Peace.
Abraham A. Ariyo, MD, MPH, FACC.
Director, HeartMasters Cardiology
Interventional Cardiologist,
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center, Texas.
Tribute to my brother Dr Nowa Omoigui
As the next sibling to you, separated by just fifteen months, you led the way for me. I was part of your journey as we grew up together. From inauspicious beginnings, your talents and gifts were revealed every passing year as you progressed through our nursery school, Corona Cretch, Ikoyi, primary school of St Saviour’s, Ikoyi and then St Mary’s School, Lagos and then your secondary school, Federal Government College, Warri as I went to Kings, College Lagos. You came to join me in Kings College for your lower six and then got admission to the University of Ibadan. I later came to join you there and then years later followed you to Cook County Hospital, Chicago, where our paths diverged from there.
Your encyclopedic memory was the foundation of your accomplishments in Medicine, Interventional Cardiology, Political and Military History and Strategy, including Nigerian, African and European history. Your genius is the stuff of legends and will be heralded to the end of time.
Nowa, people like you come once in a million years. I am glad that we shared the earth for most of your journey here. Earth’s loss is indeed heaven’s gain.
As we mourn your loss here on earth, I am comforted by the fact that you are receiving a hero’s welcome by our late mother Grace Onaiwu Omoigui, our aunts Iye-Ogbe and Iye-Nohuwa, our uncles Egbon and Tommy Asemota, our grandfather, Pa Aiyanyo Omoigui and Pa Elekhuoba Asemota, our grandmothers, Sarah Aiyowieren Omoigui and Izevbokun Asemota, and our great grandmother Iyeye Ogbewe Asemota on the other side. Your good friends in the Nigerian Army who passed before you including Lt. Col Mike Iyorshe, Major Alaiyemola, General Azazi among many others are welcoming and prayerfully worshipping with you at the throne of God.
Nowa, you now belong to the ages. You were a good and generous man to your friends, family and strangers. You were your brother’s keeper. Go forth to your heavenly father and exchange your cross for a crown.
Dr Sota Omoigui