In this episode, Ndep speaks with Dr. Seye Abimbola, Principal Research Fellow at the University of Sydney. Dr. Abimbola shares how his mother’s political awareness shaped his understanding of healthcare and stresses the need for political insight into health systems.

He discuss his book The Foreign Gaze, which explores power dynamics between health professionals from high-income and low-income countries. He also talks about the failure of an alternative medical school model in Nigeria and the challenges faced by doctors trained outside Western frameworks.

Dr. Abimbola highlights the difficulty of challenging well-meaning but flawed systems and stresses the importance of collective action to drive change. In leadership, he calls for amplifying suppressed voices and pushing back against the status quo.

He proposes reframing global health to focus on equity, not just interventions led by wealthy countries. Finally, he emphasizes the need for African nations to control foreign aid and protect their dignity and self-reliance.