Res Ipsa Loquito: The 27-Year-Old trailblazer proving that African Health Leadership knows no gender

By Esther Olatimehin

They say fortune favours the brave, but for Dr Tesleemah Abdulkareem, leadership wasn’t about waiting for a lucky break or a formal invitation to the boardroom.

At just 27, while many are still finding their professional footing, the Nigerian optometrist has successfully bridged the gap between eight African nations, proving that the “audacity” to lead is perhaps the most vital instrument in a doctor’s kit.

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As the founder of Wiki Health Africa and CEO of the Mira Sight Foundation, Dr Abdulkareem is changing the archaic narrative that pan-African impact is a pursuit reserved for the silver-haired or the male-dominated elite.

Instead, she is championing a movement that sees feminine leadership and digital literacy as the primary solutions to the Pan-African misinformation epidemic.

From Local Impact to Pan-African Reality

According to Dr Tesleemah, the inauguration began three years ago with a localised mission to bridge the health knowledge gap among professionals in Nigeria by inviting experts from the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital and the University of Ibadan College Hospital to conduct physical workshops.

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The breakthrough came through a successful proposal to the Wikimedia Foundation, which provided the grant necessary to scale her vision.

However, expanding a Nigerian project into a continental fellowship presented a new challenge, how does a Lagos-based doctor reach the rest of the continent?

Through partnerships with media outlets like Icanstudent and the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) in Uganda, the call for applications went viral, and this collaboration birthed over 209 applications, which were received for just 30 coveted fellowship slots.

The Power of “The Thing Itself”

In a society where young women often feel the heavy weight of having to prove their competence twice over than their male counterparts, Dr Abdulkareem with her guiding principle being the Latin maxim Res Ipsa Loquito: the thing speaks for itself remains determined towards her dream.

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“I am not burdened by the opinion of being ‘taken seriously. ‘ My actions speak for me, and that’s enough.”

This “action-first” approach has resulted in two distinct powerhouses which are the Mira Sight Foundation, a registered NGO delivering vital eyecare and blindness prevention to the most remote corners of the continent and Wiki Health Africa, a strategic initiative funded by the Wikimedia Foundation to replace dangerous health myths such as the use of salt water to treat Ebola, and the use of palm oil to cure poison with credible, professional content.

A Feminine Blueprint for Innovation

Dr Abdulkareem, being the brain behind the ideas, but with a core leadership team consisting of three women and two men, the project models the very equity it seeks to promote, and what made it stand out, according to her, was its layout.

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The fellowship, which drew over 209 applications for a mere 30 slots, was meticulously balanced to ensure that female professionals from Ghana, Gambia, Uganda, South Africa, Congo, Benin, Cameroon, and Nigeria were given a seat at the digital front line.

“For each country, we made sure there were females represented,” Dr Abdulkareem explains. “Fortunately, it seems there are more women interested in healthcare than men. We are giving them the tools to turn that passion into pan-African influence.”

Breaking the “Permission” Culture

With the fellowship including journalists and radiographers alongside doctors, Dr Abdulkareem has created a multidisciplinary solution that treats health as a community issue rather than a clinical one. It is a holistic, empathetic approach to leadership that she believes is essential for the 2026 health landscape.

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While reflecting on her journey from what seems to be an idea to a multinational reality, her message to other young Africans is to have a firm rejection of the “permission culture” that often holds women back.

“I would tell my younger self: ‘I am super proud of you! Keep it up,'” she reflects. “My charge to others in their 20s is that they should start now. You don’t need anyone’s permission to be great or to do great things.”