Professor Olawale Sulaiman, MD.,PhD., FRCS(C), ''CON'' is a Canadian and American-trained neurosurgeon, academician and physician Executive of Nigerian heritage. He is the CEO and Chief Medical Director of RNZ Global Ltd, a healthcare development, operations and management company he started in 2010. He is also the chief medical officer of RNZ Clinic where he oversees one of the best neurosurgery and spine practice i
Sub -Sahara Africa
In 2019, He was appointed as Special Adviser to the Governor of

Kwara State Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internation ...

on Health Matters.

Education

At age 19, the brilliant Olawale Sulaiman was fortunate to receive a scholarship to study medicine at the Medical University, Varna, Bulgaria 3through the Bureau for External Aid, a Nigerian government program that offers scholarships to exceptional Nigerian students to study abroad. The Scholarship was a cornerstone in his career journey. He completed his medical degree at Medical University, Varna, Bulgaria during which he also completed an MSc. degree. His brilliance and academic excellence took him to Canada where he also won Canadian government scholarships for his post-graduate PhD. degree in Neurosciences at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

, Edmonton, Canada and a training scholarships for his Neurosurgery residency which he completed with a board-certification by the

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (french: Collège royal des médecins et chirurgiens du Canada) is a regulatory college which acts as a national, nonprofit organization established in 1929 by a special Act of Parliament to o ...

. He then secured 2 additional Fellowship awards for sub-specialty trainings in the USA in complex spine surgery and nerve reconstruction surgery at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

and at the

Medical College of Wisconsin The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) is a private medical school, pharmacy school, and graduate school of sciences headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The school was established in 1893 and is the largest research center in eastern Wisconsin ...

in Milwaukee, USA respectively.

Career

He was system chairman of neurosurgery and co-medical director at the Ochsner Neuroscience Institute until January 2019 and then serves as the medical director, international medicine, African Region,

Ochsner Health system Ochsner Health System is a not-for-profit health system based in the New Orleans metropolitan area of southeast Louisiana, United States. it is the largest non-profit, academic healthcare system operating in Louisiana, with 40 medical faciliti ...

. He was a professor of neurosurgery at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

. Currently, a visiting professor at th
University of Ilorin
Kwara State, and adjunct professor to

University of Abuja The University of Abuja is a tertiary institution in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. It was established in January 1988 (under Decree No. 110 of 1992 as amended) as a dual-mode university with the mandate to run conventional and distance learning ...

. He is the CEO and chief medical director of RNZ Global Ltd, a healthcare development, operations and management company he started in 2010. He is co-founder and chief medical officer of Hippo Technologies, a virtual healthcare technology company he helped found in 2020. On May 17, 2023, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, appointed him as the
Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council
of th
Federal University of Health Science, Ila-Orangun, Osun State

Charity

Prof. Sulaiman is fully committed to giving back to his home country, Nigeria. While working as the Chairman of Neurosurgery at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans, USA, he negotiated a reduction in his annual salary by 25% to free up time for him to travel to Nigeria every month to participate in education, training, and provision of medical care to Nigerians including free neurosurgery and spine care. Through his position in the USA, he has trained hundreds of medical students, resident Doctors and Fellows as well as facilitated the training of Nigerian Doctors at his hospital by providing scholarships. Furthermore, he has facilitated the involvement of prominent American healthcare companies in Nigeria by providing hands-on training and education to Neurosurgeons, Orthopedic Surgeons, and Resident Doctors. He has also been involved in countless medical missions where thousands of Nigerians benefited from free medical and surgical care. He also co-founded RNZ Foundation with his wife, Mrs. Patricia Sulaiman to provide free medical services for Nigerian patients and training for healthcare professionals.

Personal life

He is married to Patricia, a nurse practitioner, and they are blessed with 3 marvelous children Rahim, Zaynab, and Najeeb.

Award

He was shortlisted as one of the Sixty (60) most influential Nigerians, at “Your Views” Nigeria at 60th Diamond Jubilee series (Morayo,2020), in recognition of his selfless humanitarian services and career achievements home and abroad. Nigerians in Diaspora Commissio
(NIDCOM)
also shortlisted him as one of the top +600 most prominent Nigerians at the 60th Independent anniversary. He was conferred the Distinguished Citizen Award in (2019) by the Nigerian Canadian Association of Calgary (NCAC) presented by H.E Amb. Adeyinka Olatokunbo Asekun, the Nigerian Ambassador to Canada. Recently, he was also conferred one of the highest National Honor in the rank of the

Commander of the Order of the Niger Nigeria became an independent country on 1 October 1960 and in 1963 became the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The republic instituted two orders of merit: the Order of the Niger and the Order of the Federal Republic. Award The two highest honour ...

(CON) by President Muhammed Buhari, GCFR for his patriotism and humanitarian services home and abroad. In recognition of his humanitarian services in his homeland, he was given various traditional titles namely, the Asiwaju Ewe of Ajase-Ipo, Jangunmolu of Esie kingdom, Bobagunwa of Oro Kingdom, Aare Tayese of Isanlu Isin, and Aare Madekun of Obbo-Ile by His Royal Highnesses. Prominent recognition and awards for his exemplary leadership, philanthropic and humanitarian activities includes, the Lions Clubs Metropolitan award of excellence (2022), patriotic personality award by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS, 2022), Ewa Igbomina Icon Award and personality of the year (Ewa Igbomina Cultural fiesta,2022), Youth and Community Development Award by Igbomina Youth Assembly (IYA, 2021), Legends Award (FIBAN Kwara State, 2021), Humanitarian and Philanthropic award by Unity and progressive forum Aran-orin (2021), Icon of Hope Award by Ekiti State University (Ekiti Uni, COED 2021), Outstanding Youth Ambassador and Philanthropist of our time by Kwara South Youth movement (2021) amongst others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sulaiman, Olawale Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Nigerian Muslims Nigerian academics Nigerian expatriates in the United States Nigerian nonprofit businesspeople Nigerian neuroscientists Nigerian neurosurgeons Tulane University faculty University of Alberta alumni University of Manitoba alumni