Kofoworola Abeni Pratt

Chief Kofoworola Abeni Pratt Hon. FRCN (1915 – 18 June 1992), a Nigerian-born nurse, was the first black nurse to work in Britain's National Health Service.[2] She subsequently became vice-president of the International Council of Nurses and the first black Chief Nursing Officer of Nigeria, working in the Federal Ministry of Health.[3][4]

Chief

Kofoworola Abeni Pratt

Hon. FRCN
Born1915[1]
Nigeria
Died18 June 1992
NationalityNigerian
OccupationNurse
Known forFirst black nurse to work for the NHS

Pratt, daughter of Augustus Alfred Scott and Elizabeth Omowumi (née Johnson),[5] was educated at St John's Secondary School and CMS Girls School, Lagos,[6] then studied to be a teacher at the United Missionary College in Ibadan, after her father discouraged her from her wish to be a nurse.[7] From 1936 to 1940 she taught at a Church Missionary Society girls' school in Nigeria.[7] She married a Nigerian pharmacist, Dr. Olu Pratt, who subsequently obtained British medical qualifications at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.[8]

After moving to England in 1946,[7] Pratt studied nursing at the Nightingale School at St Thomas' Hospital, in London.[4] During her time at St Thomas' Hospital, Pratt experienced racial discrimination, when a patient refused to be treated by a black nurse.[9] Pratt passed her preliminary state exams in 1948 and her finals in 1949, qualifying as a State Registered Nurse in 1950.[1] It was unusual for a married woman to be allowed to take up nursing at that time, and Pratt was also the first qualified black nurse to work for the NHS.[4] During her time in London, she was active in the West African Students' Union,[7] an association of students from various West African countries who were studying in the United Kingdom, and which, in 1942, had called for the independence of Britain's West African colonies.[10]

Pratt returned to Nigeria in 1954, after 4 years working for the NHS. Although she was initially denied a post as ward sister – a position only open at the time for British expatriates[9] – she was appointed Matron of the University College Hospital in Ibadan within ten years. Pratt was the first Nigerian to hold that position.[7] She created a school of nursing at the University of Ibadan in 1965. Pratt was also a founder and leader of the Professional Association of Trained Nurses in Nigeria and founder and co-editor of the journal Nigerian Nurse.[11][12]

Pratt was chief nursing officer to the Federal Ministry of Health in Nigeria and then appointed Commissioner of Health for Lagos in the 1970s.[13][14] In 1971, Pratt became the President of the National Council of Women's Societies in Nigeria.[15]

In 1973 she was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The citation described her as a:[16]

State Registered Nurse and Midwife. Certificate in Tropical Nursing. Teachers Diploma. Hospital Nursing Administration Certificate. Chief Nursing Officer, Federal Ministry of Health, Lagos.

The award was presented to her by the President of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, on 21 December 1973.[17] In 1975, she was awarded a chieftaincy title – that of the Iya Ile Agbo of Isheri – for services to the country Nigeria .[9][18] In 1979 she was made an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Nursing.[19]

Another “first” for Pratt: in 1973, she was invited by the military governor of Lagos, Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson,[20] to join his Cabinet as, in effect, Minister of Health (the title was “Commissioner of Health”). In office, she succeeded in achieving reforms for doctors, nurses and in public health. Her term of office ended in 1975 with another military coup.[21]

She died on 18 June 1992.[22]

References
  1. Nightingale Training School: Record Book No.24. London Metropolitan Archives. H01/251/NTS/c/04/03/.
  2. "Wonderful adventures: How did Mary Seacole come to be viewed as a pioneer of modern nursing?". Times Literary Supplement. 6 December 2013. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  3. Bell, L. M. (October 1967). "Kofoworola Abeni Pratt; third vice-president, International Council of Nurses". Int Nurs Rev. 14 (5): 7–10. PMID 4864502.
  4. "Listener Week". Woman's Hour. 11 July 2016. BBC Radio Four. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  5. Women's Research and Documentation Centre Newsletter, collected vols 1 and 2, University of Ibadan Institute of African Studies, 1987, p. 9
  6. Nigerian Women Annual: Who's Who, Gito & Associates, 1990, p. 7
  7. Matera, Marc (May 2008). Black Internationalism and African and Caribbean Intellectuals in London 1919–1950. doi:10.7282/T38S4Q7V. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  8. McDonald, L. (2014). Mary Seacole: The Making of the Myth. Iguana. pp. 230–231.
  9. "8. Kofoworola Abeni Pratt: From the First Black Nurse in the NHS to Minister of Health for Lagos State — The Nightingale Society". Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  10. Hakim Adi, West Africans in Britain 1900–1960: Nationalism, Pan-Africanism and Communism, London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1998. ISBN 978-0853158486.
  11. McDonald, Lynn (16 May 2019). "The First BME Nurse in the NHS". Florence Nightingale Comes Home for 2020. University of Nottingham. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  12. Three Decades of Florence Nightingale Trophy Speech Contest. LAYTAL Communications. 2000. pp. 8–10. ISBN 9789782170484.
  13. "Kofoworola Abeni Pratt". Litcaf. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  14. "Kofoworola Abeni Pratt". Nursing Times. 70: 1632. 1974.
  15. "Presidents". ncwsnigeria1958.com. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  16. "Twenty-fourth award of the Florence Nightingale Medal" (PDF). International Review of the Red Cross (146): 242. May 1973. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  17. "Twenty-fourth award of the Florence Nightingale Medal" (PDF). International Review of the Red Cross (147): 250. May 1974. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  18. https://archives.rcn.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=DS%2FUK%2F25782&pos=1
  19. "RCN Fellowship and Honorary Fellowship Roll of Honour". Royal College of Nursing United Kingdom. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  20. Akinsanya, Justus A, 1987: An African 'Florence Nightingale': A biography of Chief (Dr.) Mrs. Kofoworola Abeni Pratt, p.167
  21. Akinsanya, op.cit., p.179
  22. "In the estate of Kofoworola Abeni Pratt deceased". The Times. 24 April 1993. p. 16.

Further reading
  • Akinsanya, Justus A (1987). An African 'Florence Nightingale': A biography of Chief (Dr.) Mrs. Kofoworola Abeni Pratt. Vantage. ISBN 978-9782458186.
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