Subomi Balogun donates N3.7bn hospital to UI

According to Punch, the Founder, Otunba Tunwase National Paediatric Centre, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, Otunba Subomi Balogun, has donated a N3.7bn tertiary children's hospital to the management of the University of Ibadan, Oyo State.

Before the handing over, the hospital had initially been managed by the university but owned by the Otunba Tunwase Foundation.

Speaking at the Signing of Deed of Total Gift by the Otunba Tunwase Foundation to the College of Medicine, UI, in Ijebu-Ode on Friday, Balogun said the foundation was donating the paediatric centre to enhance teaching, research and the quality of care offered to the Nigerian child.

Balogun, who is also the founder, First City Monument Bank, said the total handing over of the paediatric centre to UI was to raise the ante of corporate social responsibility programmes by organisations in the country.

He said, "We are giving back to humanity what has been given to us. Children particularly are very close to my heart. We are doing what is beyond what business men call CSR."

Balogun said he became passionate towards the plight of children after he visited the children emergency ward at the UCH, Ibadan on the invitation of the hospital .

"After I visited the children's ward in UCH, I adopted it, endowed it and also refurbished it. They even renamed it after the foundation, but the people of Ijebu,where I hail from invited, me to do more in the state, that is how the whole journey into child care in Nigeria began. I decided to dedicate my life to children that are just born, the ones that are growing and their mothers," he said.

Balogun added that apart from the UCH visit, a meeting with the late Minister of Health, Prof. Olikoye Ransome Kuti also encouraged him to build the specialist paediatric centre.

"The late Prof.Olikoye Ransome-Kuti also challenged me to do more. He told me that what Nigeria needed was a specialist hospital dedicated solely to children's care- like the Children's Hospital in London. That was when I was fired up to build this centre for children's health and survival," he added.

Seventy-nine-year-old Balogun said the decision to hand over the N3.bn facility,situated on a 50-acre expanse of land,to the university was part of his retirement plan and to ensure proper management and sustainability of the hospital.

The renowned paediatric centre seated on the Sagamu-Benin Expressway, has facilities for clinical, medical laboratory and community health services as well as an institute of child health.

They include two operating theatre suites, paediatrics surgical ward, adolescent ward and a reception/outpatient clinic, equipped with modern facilities.It also has a 1000 capacity auditorium as well as a conference room with accommodation for over 90 post- graduate students and over 120 beds for admission available at every point in time.

"I'm growing older, I will not be able to oversee the running of this centre.The foundation is run by business-oriented professionals. So, to ensure that this centre continues to deliver health services, teaching and research, we decided to give it to a university.

"We have facilities, sophisticated incubators, theatres and equipment. I ensure success in all I do, that is why we chose UI to be the recipient of this hospital. The institution has been managing it before now.Its authorities opened my eye about child care and I know they have what it takes to retain and upgrade the health services even beyond child care," he said.

In an atmosphere laden with emotions, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Isaac Adewole, thanked Balogun and the foundation for the largesse.

Adewole stated that the centre would be included in the university's maternal and child care services and pledged that the university would provide top grade services at the centre and sustain the ideals for which it was established.

The VC said, "This is the first time UI will be benefitting from this kind of largesse. It is simply unique, outstanding and yet unparallel. As a doctor, I was trained in the Otunba Tunwase Emergency ward in UCH.

"So, we know the passion and commitment that has gone into this centre. We will uphold and also expand the services to provide laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures. It is on a 50 acre of land. So,we will also explore farming and other ventures as we do in UI. We must sustain this centre and we will adopt all avenues to completely integrate the centre to the university."