Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, has urged government at all levels to encourage and support privately driven investment into the health sector.Ogunwusi said this on Wednesday at the inauguration of a two-storey laboratory building named “Omics Diagnostics Ltd.,” at Yaba, Lagos.
He said that there was a need for government to start to promote and propagate medical tourism in the country.
Ogunwusi also stressed the need for repositioning the health sector to meet up with its responsibilities.
“For me, this is a challenge even to the three ties of government; they need to encourage a lot of private sector-driven investment into the health sector.
“We need to start to promote and propagate medical tourism in our dear country.
“We need to do a lot of repositioning of the health sector.“This centre is at the heart of Yaba, we all know Yaba is the best designed environment in the history of country.
“It is located not far from some teaching hospitals, they can easily access, so this is a challenge to government to continue to support and promote a private sector learning,” he said.
He said that the establishment of Omics Diagostics centre was another refinement and another game-changer in the health sector in the country.
“I went there, I checked every unit, the state of the art equipment for different levels of test and also a very strong and dedicated home-grown diagnostics centre that is critical.
“One beauty of this home-grown centre is by localising each and every section after role models around the founder and the owner.
“This centre is obviously another level in the health sector because a lot of Nigerians travel out of the country to other countries to undergo ordinary test.
“They think diagnostic centres in Nigeria are not reliable, they cannot rely on outcome of the results.
‘This is a game-changer; a complete game-changer. It is driven by a private sector led Princess Adepeju, in whom I am well pleased,” he said.
The traditional ruler commended the founder for her doggedness and zeal to excel.
Princess Adepeju Ogunleye, Founder/CEO, Omics Diagnostics Ltd., Lagos, described the laboratory as a dream come true.
Ogunleye said that the centre would provide support for researchers and research works.
She added that through the laboratory, researches that would inform and transform government policies would be conducted.
“We learnt a lot during COVID-19 pandemic, Ebola gave us the signal but COVID shut down the world.
“The essence of this centre is that government cannot do it alone, so private sector need to come in and assist the government.
“We should not wait until there is a pandemic before we act. The essence of this research laboratory is to help researchers carry out studies ahead of time.
“The African also need to start planning ahead so that when we have cases like this, we are also prepared and not caught unaware and stranded.
“This is to allow researchers come in and use our world-class equipment, some have been installed, some about to be cleared, while others are been shipped into the country,” she said.
Earlier, in her welcome address, Mrs Oyindamola Ige, the Proprietress, Nest Montessori Pre-school and Bridge International School, Ibadan, described the laboratory as a world-class and asset to Lagos State and Nigeria in general.
Ige commended the founder for her insight and vision to set-up the facility that would be of great benefit to humanity.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the centre was founded by Princess Adepeju Ogunleye, a sister to the Ooni of Ife, from the Giesi ruling house of Ile-Ife.
The centre offers medical research, medical diagnostics, laboratory services and medical consultancy.
It services include hematology, genomics, biomaker analysis, flow cytometry, laboratory work, sample testing, equipment validation, kit testing, crime analysis, project research, toxic analysis and COVID-19 test, among others.
