As part of efforts to deepen the quality of healthcare delivery in Nigeria, Subomi Balogun, founder, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), has donated a N5 billion Otunba Tunwase National Paediatric Centre in Ijebu-ode, Ogun State, to the management of University of Ibadan (UI) and the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan.
The Otunba Tunwase National Paediatric Centre, built and equipped by Otunba Tunwase Foundation to cater for research, training and medical care of infants, children and adolescents, was handed over to the management of UCH and UI by Ladi Balogun, the group executive/chairman of Board of Otunba Tunwase Foundation.
Ladi Balogun said the N5 billion health facility was built by his father to enhance delivery of quality medical care, especially for children in Nigeria, adding that his father was inspired to build the centre 11 years ago as a result of his experience when he took over the children’s hospital at the UCH Ibadan.
He noted that his father’s interaction with the former minister of health in Nigeria, late Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, encouraged him towards building a world-class medical facility to cater for the needs of children’s health in a sustainable manner.
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“An interaction with the then minister of health, late Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti for Otunba Olasubomi Balogun to do more, in terms of the provision of world-class medical facilities, during an event where Otunba Balogun was honoured for his philanthropy, would later become the brainchild of this N5 billion establishment, credited as a prototype of the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London, United Kingdom.
“At the end of its construction, some institutions requested to manage this hospital, but Otunba Balogun strongly believes that the University of Ibadan and University College Hospital are in a better position to do that, effectively and further raise its status, considering their respective pedigrees.
“Following the signing of the MOU last year by all the concerned parties, the resolution is that while the University College Hospital (UCH) has been mandated to provide clinical services, the University of Ibadan (UI) will engage in research and other academic works, while students from UI would also be involved as part of the training,” he said.
Adebola Ekanola, the acting vice-chancellor of the University of Ibadan, expressed delight at the official handover of the hospital to both the University of Ibadan and University College Hospital, saying the centre would be used to provide quality medical services to Nigerians.
Also speaking, the chief medical director, UCH, Jesse Otegbayo, promised that same high level healthcare services administered at the main hospital in Ibadan would also be administered at the centre, just as he urged residents of Ijebu-ode and environs to utilise the opportunity provided by the hospital to further enhance their wellbeing and wellness.
