OKOYA AT 86: Over 1,000 residents benefit as industrial titan holds medical outreach in Lagos

*Beneficiaries praise Okoya for preserving others’ lives through medical outreach at 86

*Laud Eleganza chairman’s ‘powerful act’ of love choosing to celebrate life by preserving the lives of others

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

As the days roll toward the grand finale on January 12, Okoya @86 is already etched in the hearts of the people — not as a birthday party, but as a powerful act of love from a man who chose to celebrate life by preserving the lives of others.

When Nigeria’s revered octogenarian industrialist, Chief Rasaq Akanni Okoya (CON), chose compassion over celebration to mark his 86th birthday, it was a moment that blended gratitude, grace and generosity: reinforcing a pattern many have come to identify with the billionaire industrialist. On Monday, January 5, 2025, the Chairman of Eleganza Industrial City Limited turned what could have been a lavish birthday affair into an extraordinary humanitarian spectacle, which left residents of Ajah and neighbouring communities not just deeply moved but fostered a sense of belonging in them.

For a man whose name has become synonymous with enterprise, resilience and enduring wealth, Chief Okoya once again rewrote the script of celebration. The billionaire businessman, whose multi-billion-naira empire spans industries under the iconic Eleganza brand along with decades of active inventiveness, stunned many as he flagged off a massive, free medical outreach for people living around him.

Fondly called Eleganza by admirers, Chief Okoya’s legacy stretches beyond boardrooms and factory floors. Generations of Nigerians, pupils, student of tertiary institutions, market leaders, artisans and other professionals have different stories to tell about using the famous Eleganza biro, a modest tool that quietly became part of the success stories of several generations.

At 86, the industrialist has chosen to write another chapter of impact, laced not with ink, but a large does of empathy. Rather than roll out drums for a flamboyant birthday bash as many who are not even in his class are wont to, Chief Okoya deliberately redirected his celebration to the streets and homes of ordinary people in Ajah and the wider Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State.

Many of the people ordinarily would not be able to gain access to him but his intentional and purposeful decision granted them unhindered entry. His reason was simple, yet profound: good health is the foundation of a good life. Still, he is not unaware that many Nigerians lack access to quality healthcare.

To bridge that gap, he unveiled the Okoya @86 Medical Outreach, a week-long programme designed to deliver free, quality healthcare services to people who might otherwise be denied such care due to poverty, limited education or lack of information.

As a result of this, his sprawling estate became a beehive of activities as residents from near and far-flung communities including Ajah, Jakande, Ikota, Iru, Egunshi, Eleko, Epe and surrounding communities trooped out in their numbers. Men, women, young parents and the elderly not only gained entrance but got to experience the comfort of the classic Eleganza chairs as they sat patiently in the over 300-capacity hall of the expansive castle, hopeful and grateful as medical professionals attended to them with dignity and care.

The outreach, which continues until January 12, 2025, the actual birth date of the celebrant, stands as a bold testament to Chief Okoya’s long-standing commitment to community development, healthcare delivery and the service of mankind.

Far from a token gesture, the initiative has been described by many as unprecedented as beneficiaries were extremely delighted about the gesture of accessing the ordinarily expensive healthcare services for free. Beyond the comprehensive medical check-ups, each beneficiary who completes the cycle would get a food pack and N10,000 transport fare as earlier announced by Dr. Jemilade Longe, Consultant for the Okoya @86 Medical Outreach and a Retired Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Health Services Commission.

Addressing the event, Chief Rasaq Okoya spoke with characteristic humility, explaining that his decision to give back to the people of less means in the format he did was born from observation and gratitude.

He noted that while he has been fortunate to enjoy quality healthcare throughout his life, many around him are not so lucky. “This birthday,” he implied, “is not about me — it is about giving people the chance to live healthier, happier lives.”

According to Chief Okoya, “I prayed to God that I know this year. Health is wealth. I have been going in and out of the country but by the grace of God, now, I feel better. I see that most of us, if detect our health challenges earlier enough, we won’t have problem. Six years ago, I even had prostate cancer, which I detected on time, I had been operated and I am happy with it.

“Today we have tests here, anyone who wants to do test for prostate cancer, HIV, it’s available. There is no disease that is untreatable once it is earlier detected and you know your status and you take care of yourself, you know what to eat, what to drink and you are taking good care of your health. So, health is wealth. You can live up to the age of 100 years or more.

“And this is why I am grateful today and say I should extent what I have been enjoying to my community so that everyone can know the status of his or her health and this is why we are here with this medical outreach today. And by the grace of God I thank the government of Lagos State and a lot of doctors, pharmacists, we have a high calibre of healthcare here which, if most of the people go out to get they cannot be able to easily, and they are here for the next one week and we are ready to give our services; whoever needs attention, our doctors will take care of them,” said Chief Okoya.

To the wife of the celebrant and Managing Director of Eleganza Industrial City Limited, Mrs Folashade Okoya, MON, it was not the first time Chief Okoya would be doing a social responsibility of this nature.

According to her, “Chief Rasak Okoya @86 Medical Outreach is just something we decided to do so that everybody will be conscious of their health status and they can control from there. So, this is just an awareness for people to know what and what is wrong with them physically and mentally so that when you know your health status, you will be able to now start checking and start controlling and know what to do, what to eat, how to ensure that you are in the best state of health and today marks the first day.”

As for Shubomi Okoya, son and director at Eleganza Industry, “These are some of the things that we as young boys aspire to do like him. So, we all support him today. He loves to give out. You can help just one person today; he will be grateful for life. We give glory to God for everything.”

Dr. Kemi Ogunyemi who represented Governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the event, said, “I am very, very elated to be here representing the Ministry of Health, representing the Governor of Lagos State Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. When I was called to come here to flag off this event, I said to myself, perfect! I didn’t even have to think about it twice and chief has said it all: “Health is wealth”.

“The governor cannot do it all, everybody has to be responsible for their health. So, when events like this occur, when philanthropists like Chief Okoya decides to do this, it’s not just because of his community, it is also to honour God and, like he said, also to thank God because a lot of us has been through healthcare and the best thing is to lead other people and say ‘I do not want bad thing to happen to you’.

“Early detection is going to save life. That’s what this outreach is all about. There are many other outreaches that are going on in different places but this is such a comprehensive one. This is excellent, and I got the list of all the things you are providing, not only lab services even family planning that we are always talking about in Ministry of Health that people space out their children so that we can reduce our maternal and infant mortality rate. We have HIV screening, very, very important, tuberculosis, dental services, eye screening services, breast and cervical cancer, prostate cancer and, of course, you are going to get drugs.

“But it does not stop here. This is almost like an introduction to all of you. Some of you don’t even know you have high blood pressure. You do not know. Coming here doing some tests, they let you know that you need to curb it, in other words, you need to treat it so that it does not lead to stroke. That’s why young people you hear that they collapse, they got stroke and you wonder why. It’s because they did not check. This is free, you need to go back to your family, your brother, your husband, your wife, your sister, your church members that they should check themselves.

“What you are getting here is free for you because somebody is paying for it and, guess what, that is what chief is doing. To commemorate his 86th birthday, he thought it wise and, rightfully so, that he’s going to extent that hand of health. Health is wealth. You can have all the money in the world but if your health is not good or you are not treating whatever is wrong with you well, you are not going to enjoy this wealth.

“We thank God for a new year and we are happy to be alive. That’s what Chief Okoya is saying that he wants you to stay alive to witness next year and the year after and so what he’s doing for you, you need to take advantage of it but it does not end here. It’s going to end after one week. You have going to continue looking after yourselves. You have to be responsible for your health. Government cannot do it all, that’s why we appreciate Chief Okoya for doing this, for extending this to his community, the area that sometimes we cannot reach.

“Also, I want to use this to tell you that there is something called health insurance, it’s called ILERA EKO. You need to key in, in it. Everybody here must have that ILERA EKO health insurance so that when you go to the hospital, you will not be leaving with huge bill because you have health insurance, just like life insurance, car insurance. So, this (Okoya @86 Medical Outreach) is really laudable.

“We say thank you to Chief Okoya and his entire family because it is not easy, it’s not everybody that has money that is a philanthropist that thinks about health but he has and you cannot take it for granted at any time. Your health is very important to us in Lagos State; it is very important to every single person all these nurses and health educators that are here.

“A lot of them are from Eti-Osa District 3 and the permanent secretary is here and they have all taken their time out to help Chief Okoya and his family realise what it is that wants to do for every one of you. What he’s giving you is more than money. What he’s giving you is more than food. What he’s giving you is more than the joy. He’s giving you an opportunity to stay healthy, an opportunity to see whatever may be wrong with you,” Ogunyemi said.

Health experts, volunteers and beneficiaries alike echoed similar sentiments, praising the Okoya @86 Medical Outreach as timely, impactful and deeply humane. For many residents, the programme was more than a medical exercise — it was a rare reminder that wealth, when guided by conscience, can truly heal.

Among the health givers drawn from the various health institutions was Prisca Anyakee, who is head of marketing of Grandville Hospital and team leaders of the hospital at the event, one of the healthcare organisations partnering with Chief Okoya @86 Medical Outreach.

In her comments fielding questions from journalists, she said, “It was a thing of joy that the chief and his family reached out to us. We see this as celebration of a legacy giving back to his people and it is the kind of life that chief has lived. For example, we have attended to 150 people and these are lives that are being transformed because the screening is intensive. On our own part at Grandville, our doctors are here, our nurses are here, also the eyes screening is also very thorough even the medications. These are some of the things that we are contributing to the programme. So, Grandville has been a friend and partner to the Okoya family.”

Another health giver and optician, Dr. David Ayanlere, of Haven Eye Clinic let journalists into what services his own section was contributing to the outreach. He said, “What we are doing here, we are doing visual screening basically. We are also trying to diagnose and help elderly patients to get reading glasses and see smartly better. This is basically just an eye screening to help elderly patients mostly. But we can also diagnose early stages of conditions that are just starting up and we can refer properly and manage. This is what we have done so far.”

On whether he was impressed with the turnout of beneficiaries, Dr. Ayanlere said, “Well, if you look around there are so many people. So, to be impressed is an understatement. I am overwhelmed. You can even see that it is difficult to find two minutes to even talk to me. That is to tell you the number of people that we have around to be attended to.”

Mrs Haruna Oluwaseyi of Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board, who headed the pharmacy team, assured that the Okoya @86 Medical Outreach had drugs stock enough to take care of patients estimated to hit 1,000.

On areas of cases she has touched Mrs Haruna said, “We have been touching the eye drugs, the hypertensive drugs, the analgesic drugs for pain relief, drugs for malaria and diabetes. Those are treatments we have handled so far. I say a very big thank to the financier because health is wealth. It’s when you are healthy that you can be able to do so many things.”

A Lagos State health official in charge of Family Planning section but declined to be identified gave a detailed explanation of deep support and impacts the Okoya @86 would have on the targeted communities.

She said, “We are in support of what Baba is doing starting from today and going on to the next one week. We were invited to come and do medical outreach here. And when you are doing medical outreach, we have a lot of units. This family planning unit.”

On the important of family planning she said, “We need to know how to control and plan our family. Nobody is in support of bringing up children we cannot cater for. It is very essential. Family planning is a form of controlling birth and we have different methods of doing this here, maybe for three years, five years, 10 years, 12 years, we have them here.

“We have the short-term family planning; we have the long term. When we say short term, that where you don’t for few years. And the long term, where we have the permanent family planning, although the permanent one, we are going to counsel you here and the we refer you to the hospital. Here we do counselling and give family planning methods.”

Some of the beneficiaries also spoke to journalists on their experiences during the ongoing Okoya @86 Medical Outreach generally agreed it was massive.

One of the beneficiaries, Mallam AbdulMalik Kolawole who said he came from Jakande to partake in the medical outreach, said, “One of why I really came to be attended to was eye problem and that has been fixed and they gave me drugs because they said my case has not reached the stage to be recommended for eye glasses. They infections, as that, they prescribed drugs for me to go and get outside because on the card, that is not part of what they have at the programme. But I also did HIV test a d I was negative. I was generally well attended to. After that, the last place I went I was dental section. My teeth were examined and I was counselled on how to treat my teeth that it will not have problem.”

Comfort Kakraba, a Ghanaian, also shared her experience saying, “I did not expect it. I thank God for the man who organised this. We are here to take our medication for free. Nobody does that. Only God can send a help to just help a nation like that. So, we thank God for everything. They checked my blood, my urine, everything is perfect. I must be sincere with you; things I got here today will cost me a lot of money outside.”

Another beneficiary, Mrs Funke Olayemi who said she came from Abule in Lafiaji Lagos Island, expressed her joy and appreciation to Chief Okoya over the gesture. She said, “I came because eye problem, they examined me, gave me drugs and eye glasses. What is more, the also gave me takeaway food and N10,000 transport money for coming. This is great. May God never let difficult touch Baba Okoya and his family. His health and work will not go bad by the grace of God,” she prayed.

Oladipupo Sunday Dele of Ikota, Ajah said his problem of not being able to well for the past days was treated having gone through different sections of screening that were available and that he has been getting better. “What made me wonder more is that, after checking my blood, eyes, teeth, and all the treatment, the Baba still gave us food and N10,000. Anybody who plans evil against him will carry it with his own head,” he prayed.

Mrs Modinat Hassan said, “So many things happen in Eleganza here, not medical outreach alone. Even if you come to mosque, he makes sure that worshipers go back happy. But this one of today, I am so surprised because I am seeing it for the first time and Baba that made this happen, may God please accept it from him as act of worship and prolong his life, prolong the life of his wife so that next year, we will witness it in good health and peace.”

As the days roll toward the grand finale on January 12, Okoya @86 is already etched in the hearts of the people — not as a birthday party, but as a powerful act of love from a man who chose to celebrate life by preserving the lives of others.