By Mwanahabari Reporter
1. How he got his passport to travel to Nigeria to study medicine
It took the intervention of Jackson Wachira, a senior official at the Ministry of Education for Magoha to get a passport to enable him to travel to Nigeria to take up his scholarship at the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos.
He got his passport on the day he was scheduled to travel.
2. Was forced to strike as a First Year student in Nigeria
On his way to his first ever lecture, at the College of Medicine, Magoha and other First Years were hijacked by senior clinical students, who put them on the frontline of a students’ strike. The violent strike led to the closure of the college. Magoha and other foreign students found themselves in the streets with nowhere to go. Good Samaritans hosted him for the two weeks the college was closed. When he returned to his hostel, at the end of the strike, he found his belongings, including newly purchased medical books, missing.
3. First car – Volkswagen Beetle
To celebrate his qualification as a medical doctor, Magoha bought himself a Volkswagen Beetle. One night, during an emergency call, in his internship, the vehicle was stolen. It took him six months to purchase another car.
4. Meeting wife in Nigeria
When they met, in 1979, Barbara was a second year medical student at the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos.
5. Never repeated a single exam
Magoha graduated as a medical doctor in 1978 without repeating any examination in the five years of his studies.
6. Wife visited Kenya in 1980
When he became convinced that Barbara would be his life partner, Magoha persuaded her to visit his parents in Kenya, which they did in July 1980.
7. Engaged wife in Nyeri
Magoha and Barbara got engaged at the Mountain Lodge, in Nyeri, in July 1980.
8. What Magoha’s mother-in-law said about their marriage
Evelyn Essien, Barbara’s mother insisted that her daughter graduates and becomes a medical doctor first, like her three senior brothers, before considering marriage.
9. First visit to his wife’s family in Nigeria
When Magoha and his family visited Barbara’s family, he had a strong contingent that included Kenya’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Alfred Machayo. Jaluo in the house!
10. Best man
Magoha got married to Barbara on May 15, 1982, at Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church, Falomo Ikoyi, Lagos. His brother, Joseph – the youngest in the family – was his best man. They went for honeymoon in Togo.