‘Right investments, community-driven solutions can transform Nigeria’s healthcare system’

Anthony Aduro, a healthcare practitioner and CEO of Aduro Foundation, is driven by passion for improving the lives of fellow Nigerians, Aduro is spearheading a transformative approach to healthcare in Nigeria. In this interview, he spoke on Nigerian healthcare system, his philanthropic gesture, plans to facilitate medical outreach in underserved communities in Okitipupa, Ondo State, his childhood upbringing, among other issues. IFEOMA OKEKE-KORIEOCHA brings the experts: Excerpts:

How do you see Nigerian healthcare system and how do you think you can impact on it?

I witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by patients in accessing quality care. The lack of adequate infrastructure, limited resources, and the prevailing apathy towards healthcare among government officials have fuelled my determination to make a difference.

The state of healthcare system in Nigeria is saddening. About 80 percent of Nigerians use the general hospitals where you sometimes go and see patients sharing bed space, some of them not properly equipped.

That is why I have a lot of interest in the healthcare system in Nigeria, and I’m putting in efforts to develop something where we can have an impact that if other people see, they can actually assist in building the health sector of the country.

What are some of your significant milestones in Nigeria’s healthcare system?

“During the #EndSARS protest, my home town was affected. The healthcare centre there was demolished, and I reached out to the local government chairman, and they took me there. So, I rebuilt it, and equipped it, and I told them that it should be for the community. I thank God; a lot of things are going on there now. It’s like a mustard seed, something that is small; but it will still grow and I still intend to build more health centres so that a lot of people, especially the low income earners will benefit from it.

I have plans to facilitate medical outreaches in underserved communities in Okitipupa, Ondo State, where I hail from and also employ manpower to drive the growth of the healthcare sector.

What are your strategies to revamp Nigeria’s healthcare?

My strategies include partnership with the private healthcare sector; creating insurance systems for low-income earners; Investing in healthcare infrastructure and telemedicine solutions. Telemedicine is one of my areas of research. Telemedicine is where you can still have the doctors and nurses in the US, and they can still treat you here.’

May we know some of your philanthropic activities?

I believe so much in a clean environment. When the environment is clean and you have some clean water, you are solving some problem that you don’t even know exists. I have drilled solar powered clean borehole water in seven villages including Okitipupa, Oloto, Ilumeje in Ondo State. My core objective is to set a pace that others can emulate, and create employment opportunities.

I was there at the commissioning of the town hall that I built and that was where one of the community members proposed to donate books for the students. That was the time I promised them that I’m going to build a library for them, and today, I opened the library and it cost N150 million. The library is an ultra modern one, powered by solar energy. Giving back doesn’t have to be monetary. There is the need to create lasting impacts through job opportunities and infrastructure development.

How is your foundation, Aduro Foundation transforming lives in your community?

Aduro Foundation was established to transform life through community empowerment, and creating opportunities. The core objective of the foundation is just to give back to, and have an impact on the community.

You have to be creative when you want to give back to the community. It doesn’t have to be money, rather let it be something that will create a lasting impact. For example, if you create job opportunities, where you employ people, they will take care of others which also have multiplier effects. Giving back to the community entails making sure that something which will positively impact their lives is happening and it is continuous. It will not be one-off.’

What inspired you to establish Aduro Farm?

On Aduro Farm, I got the idea while thinking of a way to reduce unemployment in Nigeria and boost sustainability. It is just like creating an opportunity economy for people to get employed, and some people will have the opportunity to trade and do businesses with it. It is a highly mechanised farm, and there are staff working there. There are close to 60 people working there.

We’re building a large piggery farm right now. We have a poultry pen that will take about 20, 000 layers. We have a fish outdoor pond that will probably take up to half a million fishes, we have about 15 people working there. You also see people doing business, for instance we have egg sellers coming to buy eggs and resell them.

My philanthropic endeavours are driven by a belief in the power of community-based solutions. I believe in creating lasting impact through initiatives that empower individuals and communities. By providing access to healthcare, clean water, and economic opportunities, Aduro foundation is helping to build a more resilient and equitable Nigeria.

I am optimism over the future of healthcare in Nigeria. I believe that with the right investments and a commitment to community-driven solutions, it is possible to transform the country’s healthcare system and improve the lives of millions of Nigerians.

How is your childhood upbringing influencing your present personality and values?

My upbringing was very humble. It takes a community to raise a child. I was raised within a community and that influenced me because I love to have people around me. I was surrounded by people while growing up and I saw the knowledge my mother and father impacted on me on how I have to be nice to people. With that at the back of my mind, I grew up within a very large family comprising uncles, aunties, cousins etc while in Okitipupa and that influenced my upbringing, I really respect the communal life; I can never go away from that, and then the influence I saw within the community is what actually brought me to where I am today. Whatever I am doing or what I am trying to do, that community influence will always come into it and I can never forget that community which I grew up from.

Tell us about your educational background?

I attended St. John RCM School, it was Roman Catholic school. I later moved to Joala, where my father was working then. I then moved to Saint Columbus RCM School. After graduating from there, I think that should be around 1975 or 1974, I then moved to Modern School. From there to Local Authority Modern School at Okitipupa for three years, after that I went to Government Secondary School, Idanre.

During that time, things were tough for me. I think the secondary school fees that time was less than N500 per year but it was a tough thing to pay but my parents tried. My mother had to sell her properties to put things together for myself and my siblings to go through secondary school. After my secondary school, I got admission to read anthropology in Maiduguri and I really did not like it because I had interest in health.

I was actually thinking that I should be a doctor, which was my dream, because if I am a doctor I will be able to give something back to the society; I would be able to take care of other things at home. But things did not walk out that way. I went to a technical school, it is more of an engineering school that time but it was a private school. I was there for one year but things were not going the way I wanted it.

Take us through your journey and purpose of going to India?

The purpose of my travelling to India was for education. It was hard in India; very tough; I left Nigeria with $100 that time. During that time, you can only take $100 out of Nigeria and then being a strong headed person, I went through a lot of things in India. When I got to India, it became so difficult even that $100 was stolen from me because we were placed in a dormitory, like a hostel. We were like 16 of us in the hostel. Before I could register, the money was gone. But I thank God, I went to a church and I told them what happened to me because my passport was stolen also. Then a church community in India, though they are Hindus gave all they could, including their offerings, to me. Till now, this never left my memory because when people come together to give you a purpose for life, it will ever stay there.

That is how I started. I went to Nigerian embassy, I got a little money, I was able to register for college because I didn’t register for the university in Belgrade, I couldn’t go to medical school there. I have to go to a Business school. So, I got myself into commerce and then I moved to the central part of India that is Mapal, where I graduated with a Bachelor degree in Commerce and Accounting after which I did Master’s degree in Business and Commerce. But health was still very much in my head.

What was the reason you moved to Kenya?

I moved to Kenya for educational purpose. That was where I thought I can survive. There was no job, so we were looking for a best way to survive. I am very entrepreneurial. I have a lot of Kenyan friends when I was in India and from there I knew what was going on there. They are mostly into in coffee and tea export and I got into horticultural export in Kenya. My wife is a Kenyan. I went there to see if I could see a better opportunity rather than going into a mainstream employment; maybe I could actually create employment, that was why I set up the horticultural export in Kenya. I did it for a while, exporting to France, UK and Italy. It was very competitive then because I was competing with Indians. Indians were exporters and importers; I didn’t make much in Kenya at all. It was tough.

My sojourn to USA

Things were becoming so difficult, the competition was very high, I love to be in competition but it was higher for me. The Kenyans and Indians dominated the economy and for you to be able to be successful, you have to go through them. The Kenyans and Indians fixed the prices for everything, prices that you are going to use to export and that is only price you’re going to use to export unless you have other means of getting your own deal from London or France or so.

When it was becoming so difficult I just have to move on and I said I would be focused on my dream. It was not because of education that I moved to US, I moved because I was looking for a better opportunity. So when I got to the US I have to start from scratch that is what a lot of people don’t know. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are coming from; America will humble you, whether you have Ph.D or whatever you have, you’ll start from the scratch.

Tell us about your American dream?

The American dream is always there; if you are determined, committed to what you are doing and straight forward, you’ll make it. You can be who you want to be there. So, I got into US and then started working in the healthcare sector. I was employed just like a programme kind of something, to co ordinate programmes within the health sector. I was in finance, I had a Master’s degree in Finance from India but when you can coordinate programme, it doesn’t mean you are practising. You coordinate programme, which is the finance part of it, although that is in the heath sector. Then I had to start changing my ways. That was when I developed interest in how the health system works, like how to take care of aged and disabled people, people with disabilities, like autism, various types of disabilities. It is a different sector of health care system that actually focuses on human not on symptoms or treatment. It focuses on you and your health outcome. So, healthcare is a big field where you have the physician and co.

So, I got into that and I started developing. I was actually growing in the heath sector. I became the residential manager for healthcare system which was Anthony Wince Services in Texas, Houston then after working in Houston about two years, I moved to Fort Wayne through one pastor from Zambia. We got talking and he said “if you are in this sector, you can get something better in Fort Wayne in Indiana.” And he spoke with a friend of mine from South Africa. He spoke to Anthony Wince Services. It is one of the biggest health care providers for people with age and disabilities. That was in year 2001. That time I was made a programme coordinator for a sector of heath care, that is residential service of people with disabilities.

That was what led me into the healthcare education. I moved from there and then I also had a doctorate degree in health care from University of Minnesota. I grew up and I saw what I was doing there, I have to set up my own. I grew up to the policy level when we started doing policy for Benchmark and from there I kind of broke out and started my own called Medị-link. This takes care of people leaving with disabilities. I was able to talk to the state of Indiana that I have a better policy on healthcare sector and I was told to bring a proposal.

That was why I was saying that your dream is possible, the American dream, if you are focused but the idea is that you have to be humble, because whatever the case, you are going to start from zero. It doesn’t matter what and how you are and then. I put my proposal together and it was approved. I started my own healthcare operation system in 2013.

Have you been intimidated or were you affected by racism which is usually in practice?

First of all, I don’t feel intimidated. I remembered one time in 2003 when I was a programme coordinator for Benchmark and we would go for healthcare the entire hall would be filled and I would be the only black person there. Racism is something that cannot be taken away but you can actually create an opportunity from racism. That is what led me to where I am today. This is using negativity to create a positive thing for yourself. When you are able to modify the thinking and make use of the best of racism.

When you were in the US Healthcare sector, were you subjected to any form of racism treatment?

It is something that you feel and know. There were a couple of times in 2005/2006 I was supposed to be a programme director of a major programme for the healthcare system. We were five of us there and I was the most qualified, but things moved here and there but I am very grateful for the organisation.

Everything I am able to build up on my own; it is because of that issue of racism. I won’t say it is a big issue but it has always been there, you’ll feel it. You know, the position you are supposed to get, you’ll probably not get them. There are so many people that I have trained that were put above me. Those are areas that I told myself that there must be opportunity in them. If I can train this person to be in this position, I can actually step out and create opportunities for myself. Regardless of who you are or the colour you are, you can achieve the American dream. It might be difficult but you can always achieve it.