By Tajudeen Kareem

Built and donated by Chief Dr. LeemonIkpea, the ultramodern facilityat Idumu-Iyase was handed over to the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital — and within hours it was diagnosing, dispensing andreferring patients from across Esanland.

The building was new enough that its corridors still smelled of freshpaint. By mid-morning on Monday, 19 October 2026, they smelled ofdisinfectant, pharmacy sachets and the particular patience of peoplewho have waited a long time to see a doctor.

Hundreds of residents of Ewatto and neighbouring communities filedthrough the 62-bed ultramodern hospital at Idumu-Iyase, Esan South East Local Council, not as guests at a commissioning but aspatients.

The Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH), incollaboration with the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH),had marked the formal handover of the facility with a free medical outreach — and organisers say more than 1,000 people were screened,dispensed drugs and, where necessary, referred onward.

It was, in the organisers’ phrasing, a celebration of trust, qualityand partnership — and a test of a model rarely executed at scale: aphilanthropist builds, a proven institution runs.

The facility was built and donated by Chief Dr. LeemonIkpea, Chairmanof the Board of Trustees of the AgbonjagweLeemonIkpea Foundation(ALI). What distinguished the handover was not the concrete but thecondition attached to it. Ikpea asked that ISTH take over fulloperations and management of the hospital, citing the institution’sreputation for excellent, patient-centred and specialist care.

Stakeholders described the decision as confidence in ISTH’s profile asa centre of excellence in service delivery, training and researchunder its Chief Medical Director, Prof. Reuben AgbonsEifediyi — and as a guarantee that the building will be run to the standards,discipline and compassion ISTH is known for.

Equipment does not treat hypertension; staffing, protocols andsupervision do. By handing the keys to a teaching hospital rather thana caretaker committee, the donor attached an institution’s reputationto his gift.

Outreach like a carnival
ISTH provided leadership, coordination and more than 85 per cent ofthe manpower, logistics, drugs and equipment that made the exercisework.Under Prof. Eifediyi, the hospital deployed consultant physicians andsurgeons, resident doctors, an outreach medical team, nurses,pharmacists, laboratory scientists and public health officers. Supportteams from the Works Department, ICT Unit, Publicity and Protocol,Security Unit and the CMD’s Office converted the newly commissionedbuilding into a functioning treatment centre, with triage,consultation, pharmacy, laboratory and health education unitsoperating in sequence.

The service menu was deliberately broad: general medical consultation, screening for hypertension and diabetes, malaria testing, eye checks,maternal and child health services and health education, alongsidefree dispensing of essential drugs. Patients requiring advanced carewere referred to ISTH and UBTH.

That mix — screening for the silent conditions, testing for theendemic one, catching maternal and child cases early — reflects theburden of a farming population for whom distance to a specialist isoften the difference between management and emergency.

‘We will live up to the trust’
Prof. Eifediyi used the occasion to answer the question implicit inany handover: whether ISTH can carry the weight of that confidence.He expressed profound gratitude to President Bola Tinubu, through the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad AliPate, for the trust reposed in him and in ISTH to manage the newhospital’s operations.

The CMD assured that ISTH “will live up to the trust” — and that thehospital would achieve the purpose for which it was created: bringingaffordable, accessible and specialist healthcare closer to the peopleof Esanland and beyond, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda and thevision for Universal Health Coverage.

He also commended Chief Ikpeafor what he called uncommon philanthropy and love for his people, andappreciated UBTH for its collaborative spirit.

Okpebholo: Government cannot do it alone
Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, who inaugurated the facilityalong with Pate, emphasised the importance of private-sectorparticipation, adding that government alone could not meet thepopulation’s healthcare needs.”My administration has recruited over 2,000 healthcare workers toboost our workforce, and upgraded over 65 primary healthcare centresacross the three senatorial districts of the state,” the governorsaid, while acknowledging President Tinubu’s support for the state’sefforts.

“Government alone cannot do it. We need private-sector partners andother individuals to complement public-sector investments,” he said. “Dr. Ikpea has set a good record, and I encourage other well-meaning individuals and organisations to emulate him.”

Turning to the institution now holding the keys, he added: “I chargethe management of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital and the medicalprofessionals who will serve here to uphold the highest standards of
patient care.”

And to the hosts: “To the people of Ewatto, protect this facility andmake good use of it. Let it become a place of hope and healing.”Okpebholo also assured residents that his administration wouldmobilise the contractor back to site to complete the Ewatto-Udo roadas the dry season approaches — a reminder that the hospital’susefulness depends as much on the road to it as on the wards inside.

Pate: A healthy population is a productive one
Prof. Pate commended Ikpea, the ALI Foundation and his family forinvesting in healthcare infrastructure serving Ewatto and itsneighbours, describing the project as a source of pride for thecommunity and for Edo State.

Access to quality healthcare, the minister said, is essential to thedevelopment of any society: a healthy population is better positionedto contribute to economic growth, and farmers, teachers, children andother members of the community all benefit when services areaccessible and effective.

He called on wealthy Nigerians and private-sector organisations topartner with government to expand healthcare infrastructurenationwide, saying such partnerships would complement publicinvestment and support efforts to transform the health system.

Ikpea said the centre was equipped with modern facilities, but spentmuch of his address on stewardship, urging community leaders,residents and security agencies to protect the hospital, its equipmentand buildings from damage and vandalism.
The facility, he said, belongs to the community and should be treatedas a collective asset; protecting it would ensure its continuedavailability for care.

For Ewatto, Monday was a day of joy, hope and healing — and theflag-off, in the organisers’ words, of a sustainable partnershipbetween ISTH, the Leemon Foundation and UBTH.

Indeed, more than a thousand people received care in a building thathad just been handed over. If that becomes routine, the gift atIdumu-Iyase will have done more than honour a donor. It will haveshown what happens when philanthropy stops at the ribbon and letscompetence take the wheel.