By Etop Ekanem

The joy of Mr. Adeyemi Aderogba, a kidney failure patient at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano, Kano State, knew no bounds on March 15, 2016 when he was presented a cheque for N2.5 million to perform a scheduled kidney transplant at the hospital, courtesy of Senator Buruji Kashamu.

PRESENTATION: Official presentation of the N2.5 million cheque to kidney failure patient, Adeyemi Aderogba (right) on behalf the Omoilu Foundation, an initiative of Senator Buruji Kashamu.

Kashamu is the Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District of Ogun State and the Founder of the Omoilu Foundation.

The management of the hospital had written in January 2016 to the Abuja office of the Senator seeking financial assistance to be able to continue the dialysis being done for the patient.

Kashamu had inquired if a donor was available and offerred to pay the N2.5 million. He dispatched two of his aides, Onadeko Onamusi and Austin Oniyokor, to Kano where they presented the cheque to the hospital management.

The team was received by the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Prof. Aminu Zakari Mohammed, who was accompanied by the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Council, Dr. Muhammad Mijinyawa and the Director of Administration, Mallam Adamu Aliyu, among others.

Onamusi, the Senior Legislative Aide to Kashamu, said the gesture was natural to the Senator as a compassionate leader and philanthropist who touched lives through the Omoilu Foundation.

In his response, Mohammed expressed gratitude for the “life-saving initiative,” and said the hospital had done about 30 kidney transplants over the years.

“We have heard and read about the good things Senator Kashamu has been doing and we thought that we could approach him on the issue of this patient. We are happy that we are witnesses to his kind gesture.”

Narrating his ordeal in tears, Adeyemi, said he took ill in May last year and thought he had malaria. But, when his condition did not improve after treatment, he left his Akure base and went to a hospital in Palmgrove, Lagos, where he discovered his kidneys were failing.

He was later referred to the AKTH where he has been undergoing dialysis with the support of his relations and friends. But his resources ran out and that was when the hospital appealed for help.

“Here am I today. Senator Buruji Kashamu being a kind-hearted person has decided to come to my aid. I cannot thank him enough, Adeyemi noted”