The Story Of Dr. OLALEKAN MAKINDE
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is a man that commands enormous influence within and outside the shores of Nigeria. He is widely respected by majority of Nigerians for the modest impact he has been able to make in the socio-political trajectory of the nation. As a former 2 time president who ruled the country both as a military and civilian ruler, he made quite some telling impact. He was widely regarded as a no nonsense leader who demanded forthrightness consistently from everyone who worked closely with him.
Those who know him closely will tell you that one of the quickest ways to upset OBJ is to tell him lies. Another way you could get in his bad book is if he finds you utterly incompetent at your job. He resents laziness. He detests men who are not smart and agile. And this probably explains why many have said it is difficult to sustain a long standing friendship with OBJ because he expects nearly a hundred percent of loyalty, sincerity, transparency, from you all the time. And for this reason, he has quite fallen out with a lot of close acquaintances and associates who couldn’t meet his expectations of them. If you work with him, the stakes are even raised much higher. OBJ expects total dedication and commitment to your job and unfortunately, only very few people have met Obasanjo’s incredibly high standards. And it must be said that he sometimes speaks glowingly of those whose work ethics and dedication to their cause impress him. One of such people whose competence and commitment to his job has made such a big impression on the former president is the CEO of the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, Dr. Olalekan Makinde.
Dr. Makinde has been Obasanjo’s trusted physician for decades running. Apart from being the CEO of his foundation, he has been the personal physician of the former president and also a close confidante. He is one of the very few people Chief Obasanjo does not joke with. For several years running, OBJ has entrusted the running of his foundation into his hands and the gentleman has obviously been doing a fantastic job. That speaks volume of Dr. Makinde’s credibility for OBJ to entrust in him such massive responsibility, considering that he, OBJ, is a man who does not trust easily. The foundation has grown so big, transforming lives and impacting on society but making little or no noise of their successes. Two weeks ago, the former president celebrated his 88th birthday with the launching of two books. His foundation was behind the big celebration and Dr. Makinde was heavily involved in the organisation as the CEO. OBJ’s daughter, the very wonderful and incredibly brilliant Funke Obasanjo, was also pivotal to the successful event. Dr. Makinde could be seen supervising things from his seat and standing up once in a while to ensure everything went according to plan. This is one of the reasons why OBJ trusts him and has absolute confidence in his capabilities.
Dr. Olalekan Makinde is a medical doctor and experienced Manager. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Judges Business School, University of Cambridge. He also attended the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) of the university of London, as well as, The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). He is a consultant Public/Preventive Health Physician. He has a Masters in Public Health, as well as, Masters in Business Administration. He is a Fellow of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria and The Royal Society of Public Health (UK).
Let us tell you a bit about Obasanjo’s foundation that a lot of Nigerians probably don’t know about. The Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, OOF, was incorporated in Nigeria by the former President, Chief (Dr) Olusegun Obasanjo (GCFR) to tackle some key issues of Human Lives, health inclusive Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation (OOF) has reached out to the less privileged and needy in the society on issues of Health, Education, Nutrition and Youth Empowerment. In the last five (5) years, it has offered free medical and surgical intervention to more than fifty thousand (50,000) people, talk–less of the hundreds of thousands of indirect beneficiaries of such free health interventions.
As a non-profit organization that is involved in a lot of advocacy on education of the girl Child and organizing major public health programs, which includes the 2017 Partnership with Starkey Hearing Foundation (USA). The Foundation has sponsored Hearing Care Specialists to be trained at Starkey Hearing Institute (USA) in Zambia who had further professional training at the International Hearing Institute, with the aim of reducing the impact of hearing Loss in Nigeria through early detection and public screening protocols. They have provided over 6000 bespoke Hearing Aids and over 3000 reading glasses to Nigerians across the 6 geopolitical zone, apart from free eye surgeries for about 1000 people.
Since inception, most of these initiatives have helped people to enjoy themselves, work smarter, live healthier, and increase self-sufficiency which will motivate them for success in individual endeavors. The foundation intends to feed about 5,000 IDP’s especially children, conduct Ear Screening of primary school children for conductive loss and providing textbooks and facilities for the girl’s schools library in the northern regions of Nigeria. This is a strategy to help Nigeria reach all of the SDG 2, 3, 4, and 7 of the United Nation 2030 Agenda.
The Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation has recorded quite a measure of successes. It has made provision of Eye glasses for about 1,000 persons with visual impairments and Removal of Cataract through surgical intervention in Abeokuta Ogun State in 2013 and conducted a 3-day health screening for about 5,000 citizens OF Benin republic in 2014 to commemorate the World Health Day 2013.
They have made donation of Medical Equipment and Surgical Materials to 5 general Hospital in 4 states in Nigeria in the year 2015 and sponsored Hearing Instrument Specialists who had further professional training at the International Hearing Institute (operated by Starkey Hearing Institute (USA) in Zambia), with the aim of reducing the impact of hearing Loss in Nigeria through early detection and screening protocols.[2016]
OOF has organised awareness walks to advocate for prevention and early management of diabetes on World Diabetes Day in November, 2017 and have partnered with the OOPLF to empower 1000 youths in agricultural methods training, 2017.
Partnership with Starkey Hearing Foundation and State governments in providing Hearing Aids for About 5,000 persons with hearing impairments in 6 Geopolitical zones of the country and follow-up through Aftercare in 2017.
The foundation has also been instrumental to the provision of seeds and Farming tools and implements to 500 Farmers in Ogun state. July 2018. It also organised the African convention for sickle cell intervention programs in 2019, at the landmark event center, Lekki, Lagos, and also donated relief materials to less privileged in various States in Nigeria, and supply of sanitizers, PPE and machines to support the prevention effort of the government in the fight against COVID-19. [2020]
Another area the foundation has impacted is the education sector. It has donated one million books (textbooks and notebooks) to primary and secondary schools (beneficiaries are as chosen by Nigerians through online nominations) located in Bayelsa, Imo, Kano, Bauchi, Abuja, and Ogun State. (2020/2021) and also donated 40 laptops (N350,000 per unit) to young girls to support their education in Science and Technology in Lagos, Ogun, Edo and Nasarawa States. [2021/2022]
One of the reasons the foundation was set up was to reduce the rate at which children below the age of 10 years die of kwashiorkor due to malnutrition or excess intake of carbohydrate. This is because of the inflation, making it difficult for people to cook and eat proper diet. It also helps farmers to provide food for the nation by training young men and women in various modern agricultural methods.
OOF also helps increase advocacy on Education for Girls as they need a safe and supportive environment, free from abuse, with separate toilet facilities, safe drinking water, equal attention with boys and a gender sensitive curriculum especially in rural environs.
A lot of these initiatives and their successes were orchestrated by Dr. Makinde. He has been pivotal to a lot of the massive achievements recorded by the foundation and, if the flourishing relationship between him and OBJ is anything to go by, he is not looking at resting on his oars any moment from now.
– WALE LAWAL
(08037209290)
