They were guardians of Standards and Ethics. In every generation, the survival of a profession depends on those who are willing to uphold its standards. These men were not only innovators, they were custodians that upheld professional integrity, Ethical conduct and Discipline in practice and scholarship. At a time when shortcuts could have been tempting, they insisted on doing things the right way, and because of that, the profession became stronger and more respected.
Left to right. Professor Joel Akinosi, AIG Dr Nkechi Eze, Prof Frank Okoisor, Professor Gbemisola Oke (Regent), Mr Egie Akpata, Professor Eyitope OGUNBODEDE, Chief Kayode Aderinokun at the ICD Deliberating the Legends event at Twin Waters Lekki.
By Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede
Opening
The Chair of this occasion, our respected Mr. Fola Alade; Our revered Legends and Honorees of today; The Regent of the International College of Dentists, West African Region, Professor Gbemisola Oke; the Registrar Professor Bamidele Kolude; AIG Nkechi Eze, Other distinguished Fellows of the College; eminent colleagues; members of the press; families of our honorees; distinguished Ladies and gentlemen.
Let me begin with a historian’s confession: in the chronicle of Nigerian dentistry, there are many stars of the first magnitude. But this afternoon, we are not merely looking at stars. We are looking at constellations. We are looking at four men who did not just practice dentistry; they invented the pathways upon which the rest of us now walk.
It is my distinct honour, as the self-acclaimed custodian of our professional memory, to present to you the argument that Professors Joel Oyekunle Akinosi, Frank Etumiwe Okoisor, Enosakhare Samuel Akpata, and Hezekiah Adeyemi Mosadomi (who is now late) are not just legends, but four towering figures in the annals of Nigerian dentistry. They are the Quadrumvirate of Excellence.
The context of their contributions
To truly appreciate their impact, we must revisit the era in which they began. There was a time when dentistry in Nigeria was still finding its voice, when training opportunities were limited, when infrastructure was evolving, and when the profession itself required pioneers who could see beyond the present. At such a time, these men did not ask, “What exists?” They asked, “What is possible?”And then, they went ahead to make it possible.
They were guardians of Standards and Ethics. In every generation, the survival of a profession depends on those who are willing to uphold its standards. These men were not only innovators, they were custodians that upheld professional integrity, Ethical conduct and Discipline in practice and scholarship. At a time when shortcuts could have been tempting, they insisted on doing things the right way, and because of that, the profession became stronger and more respected.
Professor Joel Oyekunle Akinosi
Professor J. O. Akinosi successfully passed the Final Fellowship examinations in Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England as well as that of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in November and December, 1965 respectively.
He is one of the founding fathers of the Nigerian Dental Association and was also President of the Association (1974).
He joined the staff of the University of Lagos Dental School in 1969. At inception, Professor Fox-Taylor recruited dentists practicing in the Lagos area to start the first Dental School in black Africa including Drs Frank Okoisor, Yemi Mosadomi, Sam Akpata and Femi Adenubi, Ana, Henshaw, Jacks, Subair and Ogundipe. Through careful planning, recruitment of expatriate dental staff and arrangement of sandwiched training programmes for young lecturers Dr. E. N. Henshaw, Dr Frank Okoisor, Dr Sam Akpata, Dr Yemi Mosadomi and Dr Femi Adenubi acquired desirable postgraduate qualifications and John Fox-Taylor succeeded in building a formidable team that produced the first set of dental graduates in 1971. Following the departure of Professor Fox-Taylor, Prof (then Dr.) Akinosi took up the leadership of the school in an acting capacity.
He was a member of the Court of Examiners that conducted the first primary examination of the Faculty of Dentistry of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria in May 1979. The other members were Prof. C. A. Cawson (Guys Hospital, UK), Prof. (Mrs) O. Elebute, Prof. J. R. Ana, Prof. A. Tela, Prof. N. E. Henshaw, Dr. D. Brown (Kings College Hospital, London), Prof. C. N. Lasi and Prof. Harris (Eastman Dental Hospital, London). The first Part I examination conducted in November 1980, had Drs. S. O. Ajayi-Obe, S. A. Ibikunle, N. O. Ogundipe, E. S. Akpata, and A. L. Nwoku as examiners.
Now, let me tell you a story that every dentist would appreciate. For decades, oral surgeons struggled to anesthetize the mandibular nerve for surgery. The standard techniques were difficult. Then a Nigerian surgeon, Professor Joel Akinosi quiet, unassuming, brilliant, watched, thought, and made amajor contribution in 1977 when he described a new closed-mouth injection technique for the block anaesthesia of the oral branches of the mandibular nerve. Only one penetration of the oral mucosa is made in this injection at a site which is relatively painless and which results in a more rapid onset of anaesthesia. This method which is free of common complications, is also of value when trismus or ankylosis is present (Akinosi, 1977). The Akinosi Technique (the closed-mouth mandibular nerve block) is not just a footnote in textbooks. It is a global standard. Think about that. A Nigerian dentist, working in Lagos devised a technique so elegant, so safe, that it is taught in dental schools from Maiduguri to Mumbai to Minnesota. His name is spoken by students who have never set foot in Africa. That is the definition of a legend. Professor Akinosi did not seek applause. He sought solutions. He represented the clinical genius, the man who looks at a problem everyone else accepts and says, “There is a better way.” For placing African dentistry on the global clinical map, he is being honoured today
Professor Frank Etumiwe Okoisor
Professor Frank Okoisor who retired from the Dental School, University of Lagos in July 1993 after 25 years of meritorious services to the University and the dental profession, is the first Nigerian Professor of Oral Medicine.
At the international conference on “Oral Health Research Needs Opportunities” held in Lagos from the 1st to the 5th of February 1982, it was resolved that the Intercountry Centre for Oral Health (ICOH) for Africa be formed and sited in Nigeria. Professor Okoisor was a member of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) headed by Dr. Idowu Koledade put in place to implement this decision. Other members of the LOC were Dr. A. Adeyinka (Secretary), Prof. A. Mosadomi, Dr. S. A. J. Ibikunle, Prof. Cyril O. Enwonwu, (1981-1983) and Dr. Simi Johnson (1981-1982). Dr. T. C. O. Chiori who was representative of the Minister of Health was also Consultant to the LOC. The memorandum submitted by this committee led to the establishment of lCOH for Africa.
He is also one of the founding fathers of the The Nigerian Dental Association.
If dentistry is a war against pain and deformity, Professor Okoisor was our Field Marshal. He is, without debate, the patriarch of Oral Medicine in this country. He taught us that the mouth does not end at the lips; it connects to the face, the airway, the very identity of the patient. His legend is written in the lives he saved and the specialists he trained.
Professor Sam Akpata
Professor Enosakhare Sam Akpata was appointed Professor of Restorative Dentistry in October 1979, and headed the department after Profesor Henshaw retired from the Lagos University in 1979 (or 1980?). Professor Akpata led the design of the Residency Programme in Restorative Dentistry for the National Postgraduate Medical College. During his tenure as President of the Nigerian Dental Association, the Federation of African Dental Associations (FADA) was inaugurated at an International Dental Conference held in Lagos in May 1985. At the meeting, a decision was made to establish the African Dental Journal and Prof Akpata was elected the foundation Editor. Two years later, in 1987, the first issue of the journal appeared. Although the journal was indexed in Medline from 1989, it could not be sustained beyond 1996 because the parent association (FADA) was not sustained. He played his part creditably well but there were not many like him to render necessary support.
If you have ever wondered why Nigerian dental research is respected in Basel or London, you have Professor Akpata to thank. In an era when many dentists were content with clinical anecdote, Professor Akpata insisted on evidence. He took the mysteries of dental caries, tooth decay, and demystified them in the laboratory. His work on the biochemistry of the oral environment, particularly the role of fluoride and plaque in the Nigerian population, is foundational. He published in the most elite journals, placing Nigeria on the global map of cariology. He is the only Nigerian to have authored a Restorative textbook titled “A Textbook of Operative Dentistry” and published in London by Class Publishing Company in 1997. When we speak of dental science in Nigeria, not just practice, but science, we speak of Professor Enosakhare Samuel Akpata.
Professor Hezekiah Mosadomi
Professor H. A. Mosadomi was the pioneer Head of Oral Pathology at the University of Lagos. It was Professor H. Adeyemi Mosadomi, as Dean of the School of Dental Sciences of the College of Medicine University of Lagos who promptly responded to my enquiries in January 1987, and encouraged the writing of my book on the History of Dentistry in Nigeria. He sent me a comprehensive list of all graduates of the Lagos Dental School from inception up to 1986. His action was a source of great encouragement which gave impetus to my resolve, and acted as antidote against despair and the impediments that later confronted me in other areas.
He was featured in the book “Secrets to a richer life” published in 2005 by Earl Ernest Guile a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Public Health and one time Associate Professor at the King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. The book also featured interviews with the late Professor Adenubi and Professor Samuel Akpata, who were also then in Saudi Arabia.
Harvard-trained Professor Mosadomi’s genius was not just clinical; it was administrative and educational. He understood that brilliant individuals are fleeting, but institutions are eternal. He laboured tirelessly to build and strengthen the dental schools in Lagos, Ife and internationally. He served as Dean, he served as President of the Professional Association, he served on every national health committee that mattered.
However, his deepest legacy is in Oral Pathology. He taught us to read the language of disease at a cellular level. He created the first generation of Nigerian Oral Pathologists. Because of him, we stopped sending biopsies overseas for diagnosis. Because of him, we developed an indigenous understanding of oral cancers and diseases prevalent in the Nigerian environment.
He was the institutional memory of our profession. When we speak of the structure of Nigerian dentistry, we speak of Professor Hezekiah Adeyemi Mosadomi.
A Word to the Younger Generation
To the younger dentists here today, this celebration is not just about the past, it is about your future. The legends we celebrate today were once young professionals like you. What distinguished them was not merely opportunity, but vision, discipline, and commitment. The question is not whether you can match their achievements. The question is whether you are willing to embrace the values that made those achievements possible.
Conclusion
Distinguished Fellows, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have gathered these four names this afternoon:
Professor Akinosi – the clinical innovator.
Professor Okoisor – the master clinician.
Professor Akpata – the rigorous scientist.
Professor Mosadomi – the institutional architect.
Let me emphasise, however, that we are celebrating more than four individuals, we are celebrating a legacy of excellence, sacrifice, and service. Separately, they are giants. But together, they tell the complete story of how modern dentistry in Nigeria was forged.
To Professors Akinosi, Okoisor, Akpata, and Mosadomi, we say:
Thank you for your vision.
Thank you for your leadership.
Thank you for your sacrifices.
Thank you for building a profession we are proud of today.
You are, indeed, Legends of Dentistry in Nigeria.
May your legacy continue to inspire, guide, and challenge us for generations to come.
Please rise and join me in a thunderous vote of appreciation for Professor Joel Oyekunle Akinosi, Professor Frank Etumiwe Okoisor, Professor Enosakhare Samuel Akpata, and Professor Hezekiah Adeyemi Mosadomi, the true Legends of Dentistry.
Thank you for your attention and for being part of history.
* Professor Ogunbodede, BSc. (Hons), BChD (Ife), MPH (Lagos), PhD (UWC), DDPH RCS (England), FFD RCS (Ireland), FNCS, FNAMed, was Vice-Chancellor (2017-2022), Department of Preventive & Commuinty Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria , and President, National Association of Artificial Intelligence Practitioners (NAAIP)
Professor Frank Okoisor at Celebrating the Legends event May 8, 2026.
Chief Aderinokun making a remark at the event
Professor Joel Akinosi and AIG Dr Nkechi Eze at the event
Professor Oke and brother. Chief Aderinokun at the event
