By some strange destiny, while I was camping at the foot of Mt Fuji in 1972, amongst the thousands of Scout troops from all over the world, Japan was hit by a typhoon. Consequently, all the scouts were evacuated to safe quarters. I ended up in a Shinto shrine with a number of scouts from all over the world including the Nigerian scouts. This is where I first met Prosper who was a Boy Scout from the East Central State of Nigeria( the former Biafran Republic). Prosper and I became immediate friends and he shared his dreams to come to the US and become a medical doctor. He desperately wanted to become a physician so he could return to Nigeria and open a hospital dedicated to his parents Margaret and Moses. His father, Moses was a general in the Biafran revolution and he fought for independence from Nigeria. When the war was lost, his father was executed which profoundly affected Prosper and something I know motivates him every day.

As a consequence of much hard work and generosity from my family, Utica College, the Utica Kiwanis club and so many others, Prosper was admitted to Utica College. Prosper immediately became a member of my family and his influences remain important. First his courage and tenacity to work tirelessly was beyond my comprehension at the time and was evident in everything he did. He graduated from Utica College in less than 2 years and did so as the Salutatorian of his class. He worked at a local hospital studying genetics related to fingerprints and was accepted into the Yale Medical School where he also excelled. For the sake of space and time, I will jump to the current state of this extraordinary story to share that Prosper did indeed open the M&M hospital in Aba, Nigeria and has become an infertility expert there. He was recently named director of Nigeria's medical association. His dedication and passion to achieve goals demonstated to me at any early stage of my career that there were no obstacles that could not be overcome.

Dr Prosper Igboeli, M. D.
director, M & M Hospital
Fertility & IVF Center
10 Ngozi Ave/ 127 Faulks Road
ABA, Nigeria
telephone +234-82-227-798
FAX +234-82-441-111
visit the M&M Hospital Page