Dr Salamat Ahuoiza Aliu-Ibrahim, widely recognised as West Africa’s first female certified neurosurgeon and Nigeria’s first female neurosurgeon trained in the country, has been appointed Medical Director of Freeman Children’s Clinic in Joplin, Missouri, United States.
Aliu-Ibrahim was appointed to the position on July 21, 2026, marking another milestone in the career of a Nigerian doctor whose achievements have broken barriers in a medical speciality historically dominated by men.
Early life and education
Born in Ilorin, Kwara State, in 1980, Aliu-Ibrahim is a native of Okene in Kogi State.
She studied medicine at the University of Ilorin, where she obtained her first degree in medicine. She later specialised in neurosurgery, receiving training in Nigeria and becoming a pioneer in the field.
