The Nigerian Family Survival Guide to Cancer:
How to Detect It Early, Face It with Faith, and Keep Your Home Together When Everything Feels Impossible
Written by a Nigerian pastor, professional, and cancer survivor who refused to accept the verdict his community had already written — for every patient, caregiver, and family living in silence, in shame, and in desperate need of hope that is real, practical, and built for the Nigerian reality
“If you are reading this in fear, in silence, or in shame — this is written for you.”
It was June 7th 2003 on a Saturday morning. I observed blood spots on my my pyjamas shirt directly on top my left nipple. I thought it was an offending mosquito I
must have crushed on my body while I slept. When I saw this again 2 weeks later at the same spot I decided to check the source of the blood spots. I expressed my left nipple to see blood spots appear on top of my nipple. I realized then that something was wrong. 3 months later I went to see the doctor at one of Abuja’s major hospitals.While the investigations were going on i researched the Internet extensively about male breast cancer. One major take away from my searches was to abolish the fear of cancer.
By this time the dark area around my left nipple had begun to harden and become painful. After the last of several tests over a period of 5 months, the doctor took me to a senior oncologist in the same hospital where they confirmed the reality of breast cancer to me.
It seemed like a big joke to me because I had never heard of male breast cancer before this time. However, the alarm and
the urgency on the faces of the doctors told me it was no joking matter. I made a huge decision there and then that while I accepted the seriousness and urgency, I would not buy their fear and alarm. That decision stuck with me all through the journey and would become the pillar of my psychological fight against cancer.
When I broke the news to my wife and children, everyone burst into tears. I had no one to guide me on how to handle my family and friends in mitigating the fear and alarm that usually ensued whenever discussions arose regarding my health. Everyone believed I was going to die shortly. Although most people I encountered never uttered this fear overtly, yet it was written all over their faces. I could easily read it all the time. The good part was that I was already mentally prepared to handle this situation.
My strong faith in God combined with my decision never to submit to fear were some of the major reasons 1 1 m winning against cancer. I cooperated fully with all the instructions of the medics. All these measures stood for me even when the cancer recurred on my right breast in 2024.
But the recurrence didn’t come alone in 2024. I faced type 2 diabetes. I faced heart disease, stories for another day. This is 2026 and 1 1 m still here standing firm at seventy years old. Sharp, faithful , experienced, ready to soldier on.