ABEOKUTA– To attracts foreign investors into the country, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been advised to fix the security architecture and erratic power supply in the country.
A Canadian-based-Nigerian medical doctor, Prof. Leke Badmos stated this at the official opening of Coxwell Hospital, in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.
Badmos, a obstetrician gynecologist, with the University of Toronto, Canada maintained that Nigeria must overcome its twin-issue of insecurity and electricity that have been militating against the progress of the nation.
He added that these issues have been scaring foreign investors from doing businesses with the country.
Badmos, who led journalists on facility tour of the hospital, said the project would reduce medical tourism, as some medical doctors, based in Canada have indicated interests to come to Nigeria to work in the hospital, with the purpose of gaining more knowledge.
“Many wealthy Nigerians that are based abroad have not been coming back to the country to invest because of insecurity and challenges epileptic electricity in the nation.
“The Federal Government is trying their best in terms of health facilities and I want to use this medium to advise the government to continue trying and the citizens should also continue to try their own.”
“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.
“The idea was conceived by my late father, who was a man of the people and my dear friend, Dr. Abib Olamitoye, who has been so supportive.
“We are going to make sure that it is affordable. Of course, I am a man of the people and my aim is to give back to Abeokuta and this country. It has to be affordable and we are going to make sure that we make it affordable.
“With this development, it will reduce the number of people that will be traveling outside the country for treatments. People don’t have to think that they have to pay through all their nose; we are going to make everything simple.
Meanwhile, the chairman, Ibadan central hospitals, Dr. Abib Olamitoye lauded the establishment of Coxwell hospital, saying it will further bridge the gap between the disparity between the tertiary and primary health centers.
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 the society.
“Prof Leke Badmos hails from Abeokuta in Ogun State. He attended primary and secondary schools in Abeokuta. We both studied Medicine in the University of Ibadan.
“We were course mates. Then, he travelled to the United Kingdom and then Canada, where be 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.
Nigeria, according to him, will be great, saying: “Rome wasn’t built in a day. If you look at countries outside Nigeria, most of what they did there were done by the citizens.
“The government just made rules, laws and created 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 health care facility.
“Coxwell Hospital is special because it is a specialist hospital. It is special because 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.
“This is also a general hospital, but it is going to have obstetricians and gynecologists with a lot of stuff that can be compared with what we have outside like Canada and United States. There will be a lot of orthopaedic opportunities and internal medicine. We hope people would be coming from overseas to work here.
