Irene Ighodaro

**Irene Elizabeth Beatrice Ighodaro** née **Wellesley-Cole** (16 ga Mayu 1916 - 29 Nuwamba 1995) likita ce kuma mai gyara zamantakewa ta Saliyo, wacce ita ce mace ta farko ' yar Saliyo da ta cancanci zama likita kuma likita mace ta farko da aka haifa a Yammacin Afirka a Birtaniya.   Ta kasance shugabar ƙungiyar Kiristocin Matasan Mata ta Najeriya. Ita ce kuma Shugabar ƙungiyar Likitoci ta Matan Najeriya ta farko. 

## Rayuwa
An haifi Ighodaro a Freetown, Sierra Leone, ɗaya daga cikin 'ya'yan injiniyan gine-gine bakwai, Wilfred Wellesley-Cole, wanda shi ne babban jami'in kula da ayyukan ruwa na Freetown.  Babban ɗan'uwanta likita ne Robert Wellesley-Cole . Ta halarci Makarantar Tsarin Mulki kuma ta kammala karatunta daga Makarantar Tunawa da Annie Walsh . Ta yanke shawarar zama likita bayan ta kula da mahaifiyarta, Elizabeth Cole (wadda aka haifa a Okrafo-Smart),  sakamakon rashin lafiya da ta yi ajalinta. Ta halarci Makarantar Likitanci ta Newcastle-upon-Tyne  kuma ta sami digirinta na MBBS daga Jami'ar Durham da ke Ingila a shekarar 1944.  Tana ɗaya daga cikin mata uku a ajinsu na makarantar likitanci na ɗalibai sittin.  Daga nan ta yi aiki na tsawon watanni shida a matsayin Jami'ar Gida a Sashen Kula da Mata da Cututtukan Mata.  Daga Janairu 1945 zuwa Satumba 1946, ta kula da aikin ɗan'uwanta na sirri yayin da yake kan aikin yi a Ofishin Mulkin Mallaka a Yammacin Afirka.  Daga ƙarshe ɗan'uwanta ya sayar da aikinsa na sirri bayan ya dawo Birtaniya a 1946. 

A lokacin da take zaune a Ingila, ta kafa ƙungiyar ci gaban al'adu ta Afirka da ke Newcastle da kuma ƙungiyar mata ta Afirka ta Yamma ta farko a Ingila. Ta kuma kasance mai himma a cikin ƙungiyar ɗaliban Afirka ta Yamma da kuma ƙungiyar mutane masu launin fata. [1] A lokacin Yaƙin Duniya na Biyu, ta yi wa waɗanda suka mutu magani kuma ta yi aiki a ƙungiyar kawar da gurɓataccen muhalli a asibitin Royal Victoria da ke Newcastle. [1]

A shekarar 1947, ta auri lauyan Najeriya, Samuel Osarogie Ighodaro na Benin City  wanda ta haifi 'ya'ya huɗu da shi; Tony, Wilfred, Ayo, da Yinka.

Bayan aurensu, ita da mijinta suka ƙaura zuwa East Croydon suka zauna a International Harsuna Club.  Daga baya a shekarar 1947, ta sami alƙawari a Brighton inda ta yi aiki a matsayin likita a Asibitin Mata da Yara na New Sussex.  Ta zauna a gidan zama na ma'aikatan asibiti kuma ta koma East Croydon kowane ƙarshen mako don kasancewa tare da iyalinta.  Sun ƙaura zuwa Najeriya a shekarar 1949, inda mijinta daga ƙarshe ya zama alkali a Babbar Kotun Yankin Tsakiyar Yamma na Najeriya.   

Ighodaro ta ci gaba da gudanar da aikin likitanci mai zaman kansa kuma ta kasance memba na wasu kwamitocin ba da shawara kan harkokin lafiya na yammacin Najeriya. Ta tuntubi Hukumar Lafiya ta Duniya kan lafiyar yara da mata kuma ta rubuta littafin *Baby's First Year* .  Ta kuma taimaka wajen kafa Asibitin Koyarwa na Jami'ar Benin, inda ta yi koyi da Royal Victoria Infirmary kuma ita ce shugabar hukumar gudanarwa ta farko kuma memba ce a Kwamitin Zartarwa na Duniya na YWCA.  Ta jagoranci Majalisar Ƙasa ta Ƙungiyoyin Mata da Ƙungiyar Matan Jami'o'i ta Najeriya *.*  An naɗa ta Memba a cikin Order of the British Empire (MBE) a 1958. 

## Manazarta