By: Ejimkonye Caesar Munachiso
Dr Godwin Maduka is a US-based Medical practitioner from Umuchukwu in Orumba South L.G.A of Anambra State. Born into a very poor family, Dr. Maduka was faced with the challenges of poverty as a child and this propelled him to start struggling early in life to fend for himself and his family. After his secondary education, and by dint of hard work and providence, he left for the United States of America in the 1980s to further his education.
He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from Rust College, Mississippi in 1984. In 1988, he obtained his Doctor of Pharmacy from Mercer University, Georgia. He also earned his Doctor of Medicine in 1993 from the University of Tennessee. He was awarded a Diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners of the United States of America in 1994. He completed his Residency and Post-Graduate training at the Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School in 1997 and was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1998.
Dr. Maduka is the CEO and Medical Director of the Las Vegas Pain Institute and Medical Centre, which is the largest Pain Treatment Centre in Nevada, US. He specializes in Chronic and Acute Pain Management, Anesthesiology and
Interventional Pain Management. He serves as Adjunct Professor of Anesthesiology/Pain Management at Tuoro University School of Osteopathic Medicine as well as Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery at
University of Nevada School of Medicine.
Dr. Maduka has no doubt distinguished himself in his field of endeavour and this has earned him numerous recognitions, honours and awards. He is a “Heartbeat of America” Award winner and widely recognized as a premier physician in the pain management field. He was listed in the Top 100 Men of Success and Top 100 Doctors and Dentists respectively by MY VEGAS MAGAZINE. The list abound.
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Dr. Godwin Maduka is no doubt a wealthy man in the true sense of it but what distinguishes him from so many others in his class is his firm conviction that the true worth of a man is not measured by the amount of wealth he has acquired but by the number of people whose lives he has touched positively. He is, therefore, a man of deep benevolence, who strongly believes in giving back to the society. He has obviously affected many positively through his philanthropic gestures. Moreover, he subscribes to the Igbo philosophy of “Aku luo uno”, which is a “think home” philosophy that emphasizes the overall importance of benevolence to one’s own people. This, therefore, explains why Dr. Maduka has embarked on a mission to pull his hometown, Umuchukwu from the rubbles of poverty and underdevelopment.
Umuchukwu, formerly known as Nkerehi was not only in the league of the poorest communities in Anambra State but was one of such ‘unheard-of’ towns that not many knew existed. It was a community populated by poor subsistent farmers and bereft of any meaningful development. In fact, it was one of such communities that always attract such negative appraisals as poor, backward, remote, underdeveloped and educationally disadvantaged. Umuchukwu was indeed like the biblical Nazareth, where no one expected that anything good could come out of soon. Such was the prevailing condition before Dr.Maduka rose to the challenge, took his wealth home and transformed the hitherto poor and underdeveloped community to a modern city, which has been variously described as the ‘Las Vegas of Africa’.
He started his uncommon transformation by building schools in the community and offering scholarship to children and youths at all levels of education. He started a microfinance programme through which grants were given to people desiring to start up a trade and other vocations. Several thatched houses were transformed to modern houses with over 100 of such houses built for the indigenes. He procured transformers to boost electricity and a
gigantic water plant was constructed to supply water to the community. He constructed many roads within the community. Today, the town has a distinguishing characteristic of being the home to one of the tallest buildings in Nigeria: a 17-storey Medical Research Centre, which is one of its kind in the country. Thus Dr. Maduka fulfilled his aspiration of turning the town into the hub of medical research in Nigeria as well as the African continent.
Other several landmarks and world-class projects done by Dr.Maduka in Umuchukwu includes:
* A State High Court
* A Magistrate Court
* Judges’ Residential Quarters
* Umuchukwu Health Centre
* The Umuchukwu Town Hall and Civic Centre
* A Vocational Centre for Skill Acquisition
* The Palace of the traditional ruler of Umuchukwu
* A Post Office
* A Filling Station
* The Umuchukwu Community Market
* Two state of the art Churches for Catholics and Anglicans
* A monastery
* Immaculate Conception International College
* The Five-Star Lion of Africa Resort
* Trinity Hospital and Maternity
* Police Stations and Barracks for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence
Corps staff
* The National Legal Aid Centre, Umuchukwu
There is no doubt that the giant strides of Dr.Maduka has placed Umuchukwu on an enviable height, thereby making it a golden fish that can no longer be hidden, as well as a tourist attraction of sort. Indeed, his philanthropic and humanitarian accomplishments, which are so conspicuous have endeared him to the people. Certainly, for the generality of the people of Umuchukwu and Anambra State at large, posterity will ever be kind to Dr Maduka for proving himself a great man and a rare breed whose interest is clearly to better the lots of his people and others around him.
