REPORT BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY FOR GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY IN NIGERIA (SOGHIN), PROFESSOR JESSE ABIODUN OTEGBAYO AT  THE 15TH SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, HELD IN ENUGU, ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA. SATURDAY, 29TH JULY, 2023

Protocols.

I am extremely delighted to deliver this report of my stewardship in the last one year at the 15th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of our great Society here in Enugu, Enugu State.

Permit me to thank the Local Organizing Committee led by our Emeritus Editor-in-Chief and a hardworking Gastroenterologist; Prof. Sylvester Nwokediuko and all members of his team, for putting together this great conference. The Pre-conference workshop, Opening Ceremony and other aspects of the Conference were excellently implemented. Thank you so much for accepting to host the 15th edition of our Annual Scientific Conference.

The Current Executive Council of SOGHIN in the last two years has focused on the consolidation of the past achievements of our predecessors. We have continued to meet all our international obligations and maintained our excellent collaborations with international bodies such as WGO, AASLD, GASLLID among others. Some of our members during the period under review also participated in some of the international conferences organized by our international collaborators.

We have continued to pay high priority attention to SOGHIN journal and I am glad to announce that the hard copies of the January – June 2023 edition will be distributed at this meeting.  We are soliciting members to submit their manuscripts to this journal for publications. All hands must be on deck to get SOGHIN Journal listed on PUBMED soon. I want to thank the editorial committee, ably led by our Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Fatimah Abdulkareem for all their efforts in improving the ranking of our journal.

The World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO) Centre in Lagos has been doing excellently well and more Gastroenterologists have been trained at the centre, which has attracted international recognitions. Please permit me to specially thank Dr. Ganiyat Oyeleke for her excellent leadership at this centre.  Dr. Ganiyat Oyeleke was recently invited as a speaker at the 2023 World Congress Gastroenterology where she presented some of the success stories of the centre.

I am happy to report to this Annual General Meeting that we have paid for the SOGHIN Secretariat land in Abuja. We thank Dr. Oluwole Olaomi for facilitating this landed property on behalf of the Society.  The excellent coordination of the project by the Building Committee chaired by our Immediate Past President, Prof. Dennis Ndububa is greatly commendable.

The constitution review committee headed by our Vice-President, Prof. Abdul-Fatai Olokoba has presented a draft of the reviewed constitution during the last Executive Council, the draft was modified and adopted by the Executive Council. The modified draft will be presented during this AGM for amendment and final approval. We thank all members of this committee for offering this great service to our Society.

We marked this year’s World Hepatitis Day yesterday, the 28th July, 2023,  I encourage all branches to mark the World Hepatitis Day after this Annual Conference at our various states in line with our tradition and culture.  Please remember to send your various reports to the National PRO of our Society for national compilation.

During the year under review, some of our members delivered their inaugural lectures namely Prof. Akande Oladimeji Ajayi on 20th December, 2022 (our Emeritus Internal Auditor) and   Prof. Abdulfatai Bamidele Olokoba (our amiable Vice-President) on 19th January, 2023. I represented SOGHIN at the Inaugural lecture of Prof Olokoba in Ilorin. He raised many salient points and recommendations for our Society to tinker with. Among the issues he raised are:

• Standardization and regulation of GI Endoscopy Services.
• SOGHIN to play a more robust role in standard setting and GI practice regulation.
• The WGO-LTC should be put to more effective us, and be upgraded to international standard, and that SOGHIN should take full control of the Centre.
• Advocated regular training sessions with didactic lectures and hands-on.
• Resource persons for the WGO-LTC should be drawn from both local and international faculties, and prompt repair and maintenance of the equipment.
• Establishment of GI Endoscopy repair and maintenance centres across the country.

Adequate equipping, staffing and funding of all GIE centres.

Establishment of Centres of Excellence in GIE for services, research and training, among others.

The National PRO; Dr. Omonisi Abidemi represented the Society at Prof. Ajayi’s lecture. Furthermore, three of our members were promoted to the status of Professor, namely Prof. Uche Ijeoma, Prof. Uchenna Okonkwo and Prof. Emeka Ray-Offor. I congratulate them for attaining the peak of their careers, and wish them all the very best.

I must specially thank the Chairman of our Education committee, Prof. Alhaji Adamu Samaila for ensuring that our quarterly webinars held as at when due. The last in the series titled Inflammatory Bowel Disease, finding the missing few and optimising care in Nigeria, was held on the 22nd of July, 2023.

We also received a report that several of our members celebrated their birthdays, I congratulate and wish them all many more fruitful years ahead. Please permit me to specifically congratulate Prof. Charles Onyekwere for marking his 60th birthday on the 22nd April, 2022. I also congratulate Dr. Nimzing Ladep and Dr. Evaritus Chukwudike for a high honour from the Royal College of Physicians to deliver the 2023 “The Lady Estelle Wolfson Lecture” and for the 2023 ASGE Endoscopic Training Award respectively. Please continue to be our good ambassadors. Permit me to congratulate the SOGHIN President; Prof. Jesse Abiodun Otegbayo on his reappointment for another term as the Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital ( UCH) Ibadan, Oyo State. We wish him a very fruitful tenure.

One of our very resourceful and active members of SOGENON; Mrs Ayedebinu Olusola Abiodun retired from public service on the 26th December, 2023. I wish her a very peaceful retirement. I congratulate Prof. Akande Oladimeji Ajayi on his recent election as the 6th Provost of Ekiti State University College of Medicine. Kindly accept my best wishes. I wish to Congratulate our very dynamic National PRO; Dr. Omonisi Abidemi on his election as the Global President of the Medi-Class 2000 Alumni Association of Unilorin. I wish him a very successful tenure.

On a very sad note, I wish to report that during the year under review, we received the sad news of the death of one of our very resourceful members of our Board of Trustees; Emeritus Professor Nimi Dimkpa Briggs OON, on 10th April, 2023. He has been buried according to the Christian rites and our Society was represented at the burial. Please let us rise up for a minute silent to show a mark of respect to the departed. May his soul rest in perfect peace, Amen.

May I seize this opportunity to remind our members of the existence of the AFRICAN HELICOBACTER AND MICROBIOTA STUDY GROUP (AHMSG). Dr Rose Ugiagbe will be telling us a little more about it in the course of this AGM. We encourage members to join via the website: https://ahmsg-africa.org

The climax of this Annual and Scientific Conference will be the election of new Officers for the Executive Council of the 2023- 2025 Executive Period during this meeting. All Officers with the exception of the Secretary-General will be completing their first tenure during this Conference. Although, we are all eligible to re-contest for the second term, a democratic process to elect the next set of Executive Council has been activated in line with our constitution. I wish on behalf of the outgoing Executive Council for the 2021- 2023 Executive Year, to thank all members of our Society for the uncommon privilege to serve the Society in various capacities during this concluding Executive Year.

Finally, permit me to also thank all our past Presidents and members of the Executive Council members for their huge support to my administration.

Thanks, and God bless you all, Amen.