…Hospital to perform 6–7 procedures in one week, plans academy to train surgeons, nurses, biomedical engineers
Redeemer’s Health Village (RHV), Redemption City, Ogun State, has begun robotic-assisted surgery, with the hospital targeting shorter hospital stays and greater access to complex surgical procedures in Nigeria.
The hospital said its first robotic surgery was successfully performed on Thursday, with the patient expected to leave the facility within 24 hours.
The development is part of a partnership between RHV and RoboMed Global to expand access to minimally invasive surgery and build local expertise in robotic-assisted procedures, according to the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Adedamola Dada.
Dada said the hospital would perform between six and seven robotic surgeries over the next week, covering conditions including prostate, kidney, uterine and colorectal cancers, as well as other conditions requiring complex surgical intervention.
He said the initiative was expected to contribute to reducing the need for Nigerians to travel abroad for advanced surgical care.
One of the cases scheduled for treatment is a 28-year-old doctor born with a congenital kidney deformity that has begun damaging the organ.
According to Dada, robotic surgery will be used to correct the abnormality and prevent further damage to the kidney.
He said robotic-assisted procedures could offer greater surgical precision and faster recovery, allowing patients to spend less time in hospital.
“The patient goes home almost the same day or the next day, so there is less trauma,” Dada said.
The hospital also plans to make robotic surgery more affordable, although the procedures remain expensive by Nigerian standards.
Dada said a prostate cancer operation that could cost between N29 million and N30 million in some facilities would cost about N20 million at RHV.
He said the hospital hoped to reduce the cost further as more patients undergo the procedures because the fixed cost of operating the robotic system would be spread across a larger number of cases.
Beyond providing the equipment and conducting surgeries, RHV plans to establish a robotic surgery academy aimed at addressing the shortage of trained personnel required to operate and maintain the technology.
Dada said the academy, being developed in partnership with Redeemer’s University and the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, would train between 100 and 150 professionals annually.
The programme will target surgeons, nurses, biomedical engineers, product specialists and other healthcare professionals involved in robotic surgery.
Training will include classroom teaching, practical sessions with robotic equipment, dry laboratory exercises and wet laboratory training before participants progress to clinical practice.
Dada said developing local expertise was necessary to ensure that the availability of robotic surgical equipment in Nigeria was matched by professionals capable of using and maintaining the technology.
The surgeon who performed the procedure, Prof. Ekwenna Davies, said the partnership represented an effort to move robotic surgery beyond isolated demonstrations and establish a sustainable programme in Nigeria.
Davies, a professor of urology and Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of RoboMed Global, said robotic surgery could be particularly useful in treating localised prostate cancer.
He explained that the technology allows surgeons to remove the prostate through smaller incisions while providing greater precision and visualisation.
According to him, the surgeon remains in control of the robotic system throughout the operation, while the technology enables movements and tissue manipulation that may be difficult to achieve with the human hand alone.
Davies said the smaller incisions associated with robotic surgery could result in less pain, a lower risk of wound infection and shorter hospital stays, potentially enabling patients to resume normal activities sooner.
He noted that robotic surgery remains relatively new in Nigeria compared with countries such as the United States and some European nations, where the technology has been used for more than two decades.
Nigeria recorded its first reported robotic-assisted prostate cancer surgery in 2025, he said, adding that access to the technology remains limited in the country.
Davies said this gap informed the partnership between RoboMed Global and RHV.
He said the objective was not merely to introduce a robotic surgical machine into Nigeria but to develop the human capacity required to sustain the technology.
“For us, it is not about bringing a machine in and demonstrating a surgery and getting a clap of a hand, and then that is it. We really wanted to come in and do something that will outlast all of us,” Davies said.
He added that RoboMed Global was established by Nigerian medical professionals based in the United States who sought to bring their expertise back to the country.
The partnership, he said, would therefore combine robotic surgical services with training for Nigerian surgeons, nurses, biomedical engineers and other professionals.
The development comes amid efforts by Nigerian healthcare institutions to expand access to advanced medical technology locally and reduce dependence on overseas treatment.
However, the cost of robotic procedures remains a significant consideration for patients, with RHV’s stated N20 million cost for prostate cancer surgery still beyond the reach of many Nigerians.
The hospital’s planned expansion of training and increase in the number of procedures could determine whether the technology becomes more widely accessible beyond a relatively small group of patients who can afford advanced surgical care.