{"id":100357,"date":"2026-09-23T08:19:55","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T08:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=100357"},"modified":"2026-09-23T08:19:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T08:19:55","slug":"the-full-story-of-how-nigeria-made-surgical-history-with-west-africas-first-reported-tele-robotic-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=100357","title":{"rendered":"The Full Story of How Nigeria Made Surgical\u00a0History With West\u00a0Africa\u2019s First Reported\u00a0Tele-Robotic Surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
NISA Premier Hospital, Abuja.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nigeria recorded a major milestone in advanced healthcare technology after surgeons at Redeemer\u2019s Health Village (RHV) in Mowe, Ogun State, remotely performed a complex kidney operation on a patient at Nisa Premier Hospital in Abuja \u2014 about 500 kilometres away.<\/p>\n

The procedure, performed\u00a0on Saturday, September\u00a019, 2026, has\u00a0been described by\u00a0the participating institutions as\u00a0West Africa\u2019s first\u00a0tele-robotic surgery. The operation brought\u00a0together Redeemer\u2019s Health\u00a0Village, RoboMed Global\u00a0and Nisa Premier\u00a0Hospital in a\u00a0demonstration of how\u00a0robotic surgery and\u00a0telecommunications could\u00a0allow specialist surgical\u00a0expertise to cross\u00a0geographical boundaries.<\/p>\n

The operation was\u00a0a\u00a0telesurgery-assisted, robot-assisted right radical\u00a0nephrectomy, a procedure in\u00a0which the affected\u00a0kidney is removed, in this case\u00a0because of a\u00a0cancerous tumour. The\u00a0surgeon controlling the\u00a0operation was physically\u00a0at RHV in\u00a0Ogun State, while\u00a0the patient remained\u00a0in Abuja.<\/p>\n

The operation was\u00a0led by\u00a0Professor Obi Davies-Ekwenna, a professor of\u00a0urology and transplantation\u00a0and co-founder\u00a0of RoboMed Global.<\/p>\n

Using a Toumai robotic surgical console at RHV, Davies-Ekwenna controlled the robotic system positioned at Nisa Premier Hospital. The arrangement allowed the surgeon\u2019s\u00a0 commands to be transmitted electronically to the robotic instruments operating on the patient in Abuja.<\/p>\n

According to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the procedure lasted\u00a0 approximately three hours, with brief pauses during the operation to verify that the equipment, communication link and supporting systems were functioning properly. Davies-Ekwenna said the patient was in good condition after the procedure and was expected to be discharged within 24 hours.<\/p>\n

Davies-Ekwenna described the\u00a0patient as being\u00a0approximately 500 kilometres\u00a0from the surgical\u00a0team and said\u00a0the operation demonstrated\u00a0the potential for\u00a0specialists to provide\u00a0complex surgical care\u00a0across geographical distances.\"\"<\/p>\n

What actually happened inside the operating theatre?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tele-robotic surgery differs from conventional\u00a0 robotic-assisted surgery principally in the location of the surgeon.<\/p>\n

In ordinary robotic\u00a0surgery, the surgeon\u00a0sits at a\u00a0console in or\u00a0immediately beside the\u00a0operating theatre and\u00a0controls instruments attached\u00a0to a robotic\u00a0patient-side system. In telesurgery, the\u00a0surgeon’s console and\u00a0the patient-side robotic system are\u00a0separated by a\u00a0 communications network.<\/p>\n

This was\u00a0central to the\u00a0Nigerian procedure.<\/p>\n

At Nisa Premier\u00a0Hospital, the patient\u00a0and the local\u00a0operating-room team\u00a0were physically present\u00a0with the robotic\u00a0equipment. At RHV, the remote surgeon\u00a0operated the console. The two sites\u00a0were connected through telecommunications infrastructure\u00a0capable of transmitting\u00a0surgical commands and\u00a0high-definition visual\u00a0information in real\u00a0time.<\/p>\n

RHV Chief Executive Officer Dr Adedamola Dada said reliable connectivity had been built into the system because interruptions could pose a major challenge to remote surgery. He noted that weather, equipment quality and the availability of appropriately trained personnel can all affect telesurgical operations.<\/p>\n

The safety architecture is particularly important because remote surgery cannot depend solely on an internet connection. Technical literature on telesurgery emphasises the importance of low latency, network\u00a0 redundancy, a trained bedside team and\u00a0 predefined procedures for responding to connectivity or equipment failure.<\/p>\n

The operation was performed using the\u00a0 Toumai robotic surgical system, developed by Shanghai-based MicroPort MedBot.<\/p>\n

The platform is designed as a master-slave robotic system consisting of a surgeon console, patient-side robotic equipment and a vision system. Published research describes its high-definition three-dimensional imaging, articulated instruments and ability to support remote operation over different communication networks.<\/p>\n

MicroPort MedBot announced in May 2025 that its Toumai Tele-Robotic Surgical\u00a0 System had received regulatory approval for commercial clinical use in China, describing it as the first tele-operated surgical robotic system approved for commercial clinical use globally.<\/p>\n

The system’s remote\u00a0capability is significant\u00a0 because telesurgery places\u00a0unusually demanding requirements\u00a0on communications.
\nA surgeon must receive a sufficiently clear\u00a0 visual representation of the operative field while movements at the console must\u00a0 reach the robotic instruments with minimal delay.<\/p>\n

Research published in 2026 has demonstrated\u00a0 remote Toumai procedures at distances ranging from tens of kilometres to thousands\u00a0 of kilometres in controlled clinical settings. One study involving 21 patients reported successful remote procedures over approximately 3,700\u00a0 kilometres using redundant 5G connectivity, although such results come primarily from Chinese clinical programmes and cannot automatically be assumed to predict outcomes in Nigeria.\"\"<\/p>\n

A second robotic milestone at RHV<\/strong><\/p>\n

The September 19 tele-robotic operation was not the only significant procedure performed at RHV that day.<\/p>\n

The hospital reportedly also\u00a0carried out a\u00a0robotic-assisted pyeloplasty\u00a0on a 28-year-old patient. Pyeloplasty is a\u00a0reconstructive procedure used\u00a0 to correct an\u00a0obstruction affecting the\u00a0 drainage of urine\u00a0from the kidney. The reported objective\u00a0 was to remove\u00a0the obstruction and\u00a0restore normal urine\u00a0flow.<\/p>\n

The two procedures illustrate two different\u00a0 applications of the technology: robotic surgery\u00a0 performed with the surgical team physically present at the hospital, and the more technically demanding model in which the principal surgeon operates remotely.<\/p>\n

The development follows\u00a0the formal introduction\u00a0of robotic surgery\u00a0at Redeemer’s Health\u00a0Village earlier in\u00a02026.<\/p>\n

RHV is a 300-bed faith-based multispecialty hospital established by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). The hospital has been developing robotic surgery as part of efforts to expand access to advanced\u00a0 surgical services in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

At the launch\u00a0of its robotic\u00a0surgery programme in\u00a0August, RHV said\u00a0the initiative was\u00a0being developed in\u00a0partnership with RoboMed\u00a0Global and would\u00a0combine clinical services\u00a0with professional training.<\/p>\n

Dada said that RHV had invested about $4 million in robotic surgical services and training\u00a0 infrastructure. The hospital also announced plans for a robotic academy designed to train Nigerian surgeons and other healthcare professionals, including nurses and biomedical engineers.<\/p>\n

NAN reported after\u00a0the tele-robotic\u00a0procedure that the\u00a0planned academy aims\u00a0to train\u00a0at least 150\u00a0surgeons within two\u00a0years, while the programme is intended\u00a0to train doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers\u00a0and other personnel\u00a0 required to operate\u00a0and maintain robotic\u00a0 systems.<\/p>\n

The emphasis on\u00a0training could prove\u00a0as important as\u00a0the robotic hardware\u00a0itself. Dada said that manpower, rather than simply\u00a0 purchasing robotic equipment, had become one\u00a0of the central\u00a0challenges facing Nigeria’s\u00a0 emerging robotic-surgery\u00a0sector.<\/p>\n

Nigeria’s robotic-surgery journey began before the tele-operation<\/strong><\/p>\n

The September breakthrough\u00a0did not occur\u00a0in isolation.<\/p>\n

Nisa Premier Hospital\u00a0in Abuja began\u00a0 developing its robotic-surgery programme in\u00a02025. In November\u00a0that year, the\u00a0hospital commissioned what\u00a0was reported as\u00a0Nigeria’s first Toumai\u00a0Pro robotic surgery\u00a0platform.<\/p>\n

In December 2025, Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) approved the Toumai robotic surgical system for clinical use. The approval was reported as the first regulatory clearance of a robotic surgical platform in West Africa. The regulatory decision followed robotic procedures performed at Nisa Premier Hospital in November 2025.\"\"<\/p>\n

Since then, the\u00a0Nigerian programme has\u00a0expanded rapidly.<\/p>\n

In August 2026, Nisa Premier Hospital and RoboMed Global reported performing what they described as Africa’s first robotic Whipple procedure, a highly complex\u00a0 operation used in the treatment of diseases including pancreatic cancer. The procedure was performed using the Toumai platform.<\/p>\n

The sequence – regulatory approval, conventional robotic procedures, expansion to more complex operations and now remote telesurgery – shows how quickly robotic\u00a0 surgery has moved from demonstration to clinical deployment in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

The importance of\u00a0the September\u00a0operation lies less\u00a0in the distance\u00a0itself than in\u00a0what the distance\u00a0represents.<\/p>\n

Nigeria’s specialist medical\u00a0expertise is unevenly\u00a0distributed, and patients\u00a0sometimes travel considerable\u00a0distances to obtain\u00a0highly specialised treatment. Remote surgery potentially\u00a0offers another model: instead of moving\u00a0the patient to\u00a0the specialist, the\u00a0 specialist could, under\u00a0appropriate clinical and\u00a0regulatory conditions,\u00a0operate remotely on\u00a0the patient.<\/p>\n

Dada described RHV\u00a0as a potential\u00a0gateway through which\u00a0specialist skills could\u00a0be transferred to\u00a0patients in different\u00a0parts of Nigeria. He said the goal was\u00a0to reduce the\u00a0need for Nigerians\u00a0to travel abroad\u00a0for sophisticated surgical\u00a0procedures.<\/p>\n

Davies-Ekwenna similarly\u00a0said telesurgery could\u00a0eventually allow specialists\u00a0within Nigeria and\u00a0the Nigerian diaspora\u00a0to provide expertise\u00a0 remotely.<\/p>\n

This could have implications beyond surgery. Remote robotic platforms could potentially support specialist consultations, surgical mentoring, training and collaboration between\u00a0 tertiary hospitals and facilities with fewer\u00a0 specialist resources.<\/p>\n

But tele-robotic surgery is not simply \u201csurgery over the internet\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The technology comes\u00a0with substantial technical\u00a0and clinical requirements.
\nA remote surgical system must maintain\u00a0 extremely reliable communications because delays or interruptions can affect the relationship between a surgeon’s hand\u00a0 movements and the robotic instruments. Published technical guidelines emphasise low latency, network reliability, cybersecurity, redundancy and the presence of appropriately\u00a0 trained personnel at the patient’s location.<\/p>\n

The bedside team\u00a0remains essential. Even\u00a0when a specialist\u00a0is operating from\u00a0hundreds or thousands\u00a0of kilometres away,\u00a0medical personnel at\u00a0the patient’s hospital\u00a0must be capable\u00a0of managing anaesthesia, monitoring vital signs, assisting with the\u00a0robotic system and\u00a0responding if a\u00a0technical problem requires\u00a0the procedure to\u00a0be modified or\u00a0converted to another\u00a0surgical approach.<\/p>\n

There are also questions surrounding credentialing, professional liability, patient consent, cybersecurity, data protection and responsibility for complications when the surgeon and patient are in different locations. These issues become even more complex\u00a0 when telesurgery crosses international borders.<\/p>\n

For Nigeria, therefore, the long-term\u00a0test will not\u00a0simply be whether\u00a0one 500-kilometre\u00a0 procedure can be\u00a0completed successfully.\u00a0It will be\u00a0whether the technology\u00a0can be incorporated\u00a0 safely, consistently and\u00a0affordably into routine clinical practice.<\/p>\n

A technology with a long history<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although the Nigerian\u00a0procedure is new\u00a0to West Africa, remote robotic surgery\u00a0itself is not\u00a0new.<\/p>\n

The landmark Lindbergh Operation in September 2001 demonstrated the possibility of transcontinental telesurgery when French surgeon Professor Jacques Marescaux operated from New York on a patient in Strasbourg, France. The operation was a laparoscopic gallbladder removal and was successfully completed using a robotic system and high-speed telecommunications\u00a0 connection.<\/p>\n

More than two decades later, advances in broadband networks, fibre, 5G, satellite\u00a0 communications, robotic instruments and image processing have made remote surgery increasingly practical in selected\u00a0 circumstances.<\/p>\n

Recent research has reported successful remote robotic procedures over distances of hundreds and thousands of kilometres, although researchers continue to emphasise the need for controlled infrastructure, backup systems and careful patient selection.<\/p>\n

Nigeria’s September procedure\u00a0therefore represents a\u00a0regional milestone within\u00a0a much longer\u00a0global evolution\u00a0of telesurgery.<\/p>\n

The participating institutions\u00a0have indicated that\u00a0the next phase\u00a0will involve expanding\u00a0 clinical capacity rather\u00a0than treating the\u00a0 operation as a\u00a0one-off demonstration.<\/p>\n

RHV and RoboMed\u00a0Global are planning\u00a0 structured training for\u00a0surgeons, nurses and\u00a0biomedical engineers, while\u00a0Nisa Premier Hospital\u00a0continues to expand\u00a0its robotic programme. NAN reported that\u00a0the proposed RHV\u00a0academy aims to\u00a0train at least\u00a0150 surgeons over\u00a0two years.<\/p>\n

The success of\u00a0that strategy will\u00a0depend on several\u00a0factors: reliable telecommunications, electricity and hospital\u00a0infrastructure; access\u00a0to trained surgical\u00a0and technical personnel; regulatory oversight;\u00a0equipment maintenance; financing; patient safety systems; and the ability\u00a0to collect and\u00a0publish clinical outcomes.<\/p>\n

There is also\u00a0the\u00a0question of affordability. RHV has presented\u00a0robotic surgery as\u00a0part of an\u00a0effort to make\u00a0advanced treatment available\u00a0 within Nigeria and\u00a0reduce medical tourism, while government officials\u00a0have called for\u00a0a stronger healthcare\u00a0ecosystem to support\u00a0the technology.<\/p>\n

For patients, the\u00a0potential attraction is\u00a0 straightforward: access\u00a0to specialist expertise\u00a0 without necessarily having\u00a0to travel hundreds\u00a0or thousands of\u00a0kilometres.<\/p>\n

For surgeons, the\u00a0technology could create\u00a0new opportunities for\u00a0collaboration, training\u00a0and remote specialist\u00a0support.<\/p>\n

For Nigeria’s healthcare system, the larger challenge is converting individual technological breakthroughs into a sustainable national capability.<\/p>\n

The new chapter in Nigerian healthcare is not does not eliminate the need for specialist hospitals, operating-room teams or conventional medical infrastructure. Instead, it points toward a healthcare model in which physical distance may become less restrictive for certain forms of specialist care.<\/p>\n

For Nigeria, the significance of the procedure extends beyond the robot itself. It represents\u00a0 the convergence of surgery, telecommunications, engineering, specialist training and hospital infrastructure \u2014 and an attempt to use those technologies to address one of the country’s persistent healthcare challenges:\u00a0 connecting patients with highly specialised expertise.<\/p>\n

The surgeon was in Ogun State. The patient\u00a0 was in Abuja. The operating system connected them in real time.<\/p>\n

For West Africa, that may prove\u00a0to be the\u00a0most important part\u00a0of the story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nigeria recorded a major milestone in advanced healthcare technology after surgeons at Redeemer\u2019s Health Village (RHV) in Mowe, Ogun State, remotely performed a complex kidney operation on a patient at Nisa Premier Hospital in Abuja \u2014 about 500 kilometres away. The procedure, performed\u00a0on Saturday, September\u00a019, 2026, has\u00a0been described by\u00a0the participating institutions as\u00a0West Africa\u2019s first\u00a0tele-robotic surgery. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":100355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5772,5777,5773,5808],"tags":[913,5194,1618,8722,4990,8721,8720,8723,8724],"class_list":["post-100357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faith","category-features","category-health","category-telecom","tag-abuja","tag-cancer","tag-kidney","tag-mowe","tag-nan","tag-nisa","tag-rhv","tag-tele-robotic","tag-toumai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=100357"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100363,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100357\/revisions\/100363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/100355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=100357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=100357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=100357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}