Dr Nnenna Nkeiruka Ihebuzor (nee Ogwo) was born on Sunday May 16, 1965 at The Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. She was the only daughter of Kalu Uchenyi and Oriaku Chinwe Ogwo and was the first of their 5 children. She married Mr Reginald Ihebuzor in 1992 giving him 3 wonderful sons: Chima, Chizoma and Kelechi. Chima and Chizoma are both lawyers; Kelechi is a student at the Nile University, Abuja. Nnenna was a devoted and loyal wife, and a fiercely protective mother with a clear vision for her children's development. Her family refer to her as their ‘Angel’ who always encouraged them to be the very best they could be.  She is described as highly supportive and dependable and is greatly loved by her immediate and extended family alike.

Nnenna was an excellent and conscientious student and maintained a lifelong interest in learning and academia. Her secondary education was at Lagos Anglican Girls’ Secondary School and then FGC Warri for A levels. Despite being 2 years younger than most of her classmates, she graduated from the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan in 1986 with honours. Dr Ihebuzor was a qualified Paediatrician and a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians. She was awarded a British Chevening Scholarship to enable her to undertake a Masters of Science degree in Mother and Child Health at University College London, UK, graduating with distinction in 2000. She holds a Masters in Public Health from the University of Lagos and a Diploma in Health Systems Management from the Galilee College in Israel. She also attended international management and leadership courses in Kenya and Ethiopia and at The World Bank as well as business schools at both Oxford University, UK and Harvard University, USA.

Dr Ihebuzor was a highly qualified paediatrician with over 30 years of clinical experience, over 20 years of senior management experience and over 16 years of director level experience.

She worked as a Consultant Paediatrician and Head of Paediatrics at the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory Health and Human Services Secretariat in Abuja.  In recognition of her distinctive service and commitment to providing high quality health care delivery, in 2010 the Health Minister for Nigeria appointed her as a Director of Community Health Services in the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA). Highlights of her work included managing the campaign towards the eradication of wild polio virus transmission in Nigeria and the implementation of a USA CDC- funded program for HIV/AIDS service delivery at the Primary Health Healthcare level in Nigeria.

She also worked as The Director of Health for Primary health care systems development where she was responsible for developing and managing health care financing for Nigeria. In this role she provided leadership for the Nigerian State Health Investment project which was funded by the World Bank. Dr Ihebuzor developed innovative and effective health financing policies and programmes for PHC systems aimed at achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). She provided leadership for the NPHDA’s flagship projects in human resources for health, notably the Midwives’ Services Scheme (MSS) which deployed 4000 midwives as skilled birth attendants to 1000 rural, underserved, PHC facilities across Nigeria. She was strategically engaged with PHC training institutions, colleges, universities and NGOs for curriculum development and capacity building. From April 2017 until her demise, Dr Ihebuzor served as the Director for Special Duties in the NPHCDA of the Federal Ministry of Health for Nigeria. There she was responsible for managing agency- wide budgeting while engaging with the Nigerian Federal Parliament.

Dr Ihebuzor was Assistant Secretary of the Nigerian Society for Neonatal Medicine, a member of the Nigerian Medical Association, the Paediatric Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Institute of Directors and the Chevening Alumni Association of Nigeria. She was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board, was an External Reviewer of WHO guidelines and authored several publications in peer-reviewed journals.

For all her academic and career achievements, Dr Nnenna Ihebuzor remained humble and unassuming, quietly devoted to providing the best quality care and being an advocate for children and mothers in Nigeria. She encouraged colleagues, health care practitioners and public health officials to do the same.  She provided pro bono paediatric services to secondary schools in Abuja, Nigeria. Her dedication to the wellbeing of her patients extended to more practical measures such as refurbishing paediatric wards, providing toys and bedsheets to make the wards more child-friendly, improving hand sterilisation amongst staff and making examination equipment look less intimidating.

Nnenna excelled at remaining in close contact with friends, ex-classmates and colleagues. She was so good at staying connected worldwide, that she was designated the ‘Roving Ambassador’ of her medical school graduating class. Today we remember Nnenna with love and gratitude for being our friend, our mother, our wife, our sister, our in-law, our mentor, our confidant and someone we knew would be loyal to the very end. We remember her love of family, of life, of laughter, good conversation and good books. And we admire her for her unfailing courage and cheerfulness as she coped with the challenges of medical treatment. Nnenna we love you! Rest in Perfect Peace.