Bitrus Gani-Ikilama

Butrus Gani-Ikilama (25 February 1944 – 20 February 2011) He became visually impaired as a child. At the apex of his career, he was made the head of the Physiotherapy Department, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria.

Early life and career Gani-Ikilama was born on 25 February 1944, in Donga, Northern Region (now in Taraba State), Nigeria. After contracting measles, he lost his eyesight at the age of five.

In 1955, young Gani-Ikilama became Nigeria's first blind child to be enrolled at primary school level in the School for Blind Children, Gindiri (now in Plateau State), where he graduated in 1957. In 1958, he also became the first blind teenager to be admitted into the Boys' Secondary School, Gindiri.

At ABUTH, he rose to become the chief physiotherapist and head of the department and retired in 2009.

Personal life In 1973, Gani-Ikilama married Omoze Aigbe, a doctor, who died a few years later. He then married Taiwo Olufunto (née Akinluyi), also a doctor, on 9 April 1983. Together, they had six children, of whom only three survived. As of 2017, his son, Andrew Gani-Ikilama, was the executive director of Knowledge for the Blind Initiative (KBI), a non-governmental organisation working to alleviate the suffering of blind people.

Awards Gani-Ikilama was a recipient of many awards like Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Physiotherapists (NSP), and the Nigerian Government Icon of Hope (2002).

Publications During his lifetime, Gani-Ikilama made over 10 publications,