Over 1,000 Ayobo-Ipaja residents benefit as LASUCOM, LASUTH volunteers honour a teacher of teachers
Ayobo-Ipaja, Lagos — It was more than a birthday. It was more than a retirement. For the people of Ayobo-Ipaja, it was history returning home.
On Wednesday, October 1, 2025, the Ayobo-Ipaja Local Council Development Area Secretariat and Ipaja Primary Health Centre turned into a hub of healing and hope as over 1,000 residents received free medical care in honour of one of Nigeria’s most respected medical icons, Professor Oluwarotimi Ireti Akinola, who clocked 70 and bowed out of active service.
The outreach, coordinated under the Oluwarotimi Ireti Akinola Foundation, was no ordinary medical programme. It was a testament to the enduring legacy of a man whose life has been defined by service, mentorship, and sacrifice for humanity.
A HOMEBOY WHO NEVER FORGOT HIS ROOTS
Prof. Akinola, a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM) and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), and a former National President of the Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON), grew up in Ayobo-Ipaja. On his 70th birthday, he returned, not with pomp and pageantry, but with doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and health managers to give back to his people.
“All my life in service has been about gathering people in the health sector for impact,” he said with a smile that carried the humility of decades of service. “Even in retirement, this is not a one-off project but an ongoing mission to improve health-seeking behaviour and encourage grassroots access.”
For many in attendance, it was more than words. Residents received blood pressure and diabetes checks, outpatient consultations, breast examinations, cervical cancer screenings, prescriptions, and free drugs — life-saving interventions that would otherwise have been out of reach.
MENTEES RISE TO HONOUR THEIR MENTOR
The celebration doubled as a tribute from his mentees. Professor Yusuf Oshodi, convener of the outreach, described him as “a teacher of teachers, a father, and a mentor whose fingerprints are on countless lives in the medical profession.”
Over 50 volunteers from LASUCOM and LASUTH participated, many of them former students of Akinola. “Nobody is being paid,” Oshodi explained. “This is purely volunteer service in honour of a man who has given his all to the profession. Silent killers like hypertension and diabetes can be picked up early through programmes like this. That is his legacy — saving lives, even in celebration.”
BEYOND MEDICINE: A CALL TO ACTION
The outreach was also about advocacy. Dr. Modupe Adedeji, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at LASUTH and SOGON Lagos Secretary, sounded the alarm on cervical cancer.
“Cervical cancer is 99% preventable if women are screened and girls vaccinated early,” she said passionately. “We cannot continue to lose mothers to preventable diseases. This programme is both service and awareness — a push towards a future where women do not die needlessly.”
Her words echoed the broader vision of Prof. Akinola’s Foundation: to take healthcare beyond hospitals into communities where it is most needed.
VOICES OF GRATITUDE
For the beneficiaries, the day was unforgettable.
“I came for consultation and was given free drugs. God bless Professor Akinola for remembering us,” said Mrs. Titilayo Bakare, a resident.
Another participant, Mrs. Folashade Obembe, who underwent cervical cancer screening, said: “I feel safer and more informed about my health. The education we received on breast self-examination alone is a gift.”
Community leaders hailed the gesture as a fitting homecoming for a man who, despite global recognition, remains deeply connected to his roots.
A LEGACY THAT LIVES ON
The Ayobo-Ipaja outreach follows a similar initiative held earlier in Ojodu Ogba, with plans to make it an annual intervention for underserved Lagos communities.
For Prof. Oluwarotimi Ireti Akinola, turning 70 is not about stepping back but stepping forward into a new phase of service. His story is not just about a career in medicine but about the lives he has touched, the doctors he has trained, and the communities he continues to serve.
At 70, he is retiring from service — but not from impact.
