It was awesome and amazing when the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NIJ), Oyo State Council, Comrade Ademola Babalola and Chairman, Ibadan Central Hospital, Dr Abib Olamitoye, led journalists in Oyo and Ogun States to a big and mighty edifice, Coxwell Hospital, behind Sherfex Gas Station, Leme Abeokuta South in Ogun State.
In the meantime, the two leading Nigerian medical doctors based in the United Kingdom and Canada who have invested billions of naira into the Nigerian economy via Hospitals and hospitality in Oyo and Ogun States, Dr Abib Olamitoye and Prof. Leke Badmos, have advised the Federal Government that “in a bid to attract and sustain foreign investors, there is the need to fix insecurity that has been scaring potential investors away from the country and other challenges such as regular electricity supply, increasing carbon emissions and strangulation of business growth and development in the nation.
The medical doctor Dr. Abib Olamitoye, Chairman of Ibadan Central Hospitals and Academy Suites, in Ibadan and Abeokuta, as well as the Founder, of Coxwell Hospital, Abeokuta, Prof. Badmos, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, who works in the University of Toronto, spoke at the grand opening of the multimillion naira Coxwell Hospital, on Saturday, July 1, 2023. which also featured health outreach for scores of pregnant women in Abeokuta, towards reducing maternal and infant mortality rates in Nigeria.
It would be recalled that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) put the latest figures for the maternal mortality rate in Nigeria at 576 per 100,000 live births, which is rated the fourth highest on earth.
The report stated further that each year, approximately 262,000 babies die at birth in the country, which is also rated wor second-highestghest national total. Infant mortality, according to UNICEF, currently stands at 69 per 1,000 live births.
Olamitoye, a prolific writer and motivational speaker, told the gathering that Badmos established the specialist hospital with modern-day equipment for residents of Abeokuta, adding that the founder has spent more than 30 years abroad and he decided to give back to society.
He said many wealthy Nigerians who are based abroad have not been coming back to the country to invest because of insecurity and the challenge of epileptic electricity in the nation, saying “If the Federal Government could fix the two issues wealthy Nigerians abroad would not need to be told to come and invest in the country.”
“Prof Leke Badmos hails from Abeokuta in Ogun State. He attended primary and secondary schools in Abeokuta. We both studied Medicine at the University of Ibadan. We were coursemates. Then, he travelled to the United Kingdom and then Canada, where he became a professor. He has come back home to Abeokuta to give back to the society. He is made already. He is rich. He did not establish this hospital for pecuniary gains but as a payback for Nigeria and Abeokuta in particular,” Olamitoye said.
Badmos, who led journalists on a facility tour of the hospital, said the project would reduce medical tourism as some medical doctors based in Canada have indicated interest in coming to Nigeria and working in the hospital to gain more knowledge.
“Nigeria will be great. Rome wasn’t built in a day. If you look at countries outside Nigeria, most of what they did there, was done by the citizens. The government just made rules, and laws and created an enabling environment. If all these things are put in place, people will do so many things. I trust this current government and I am sure they will do their best.
“As a Nigerian, we should be thinking about how to help and contribute to national development because I believe that we are the government. I am sure this will go a long way to improve the healthcare facility. Coxwell Hospital is special because it is a specialist hospital. It is located in Abeokuta which is a cradle of knowledge because the people would benefit from it and also because it is going to bring a lot of Western inputs”, he said.
The Oyo NUJ Chairman, Comrade Babalola, on his part, commended Prof. Badmos, for the big and mighty hospital edifice he brought for the people of Egbaland and Nigeria in general and thanked Dr. Olamitoye, for persuading him to come and establish the hospital in Nigeria.
He then urged the Federal Government to support the dreams of the two doctors in making health tourism in Nigeria one of the best in the country.
The event was anchored by Oyetayo Oladimeji popularly called MC Handsome and covered by Apreel1 Events TV.
With this positive energy, this is the best Nigerian can wish for especially the good people of Abeokuta and Ogun State in general. “Rome wasn’t built in a day”