Nigerian Businessman, Louis Ekere, Reaches Out To the Less Privileged, Provides Gift items and medical treatment to Over 200 People in Lagos, On His Birthday
It was the birthday of Dr. Louis Ekere, the Chairman of WellMed Healthcare Limited and Chief Executive Officer, Homeland Integrated Offshore Services Limited, a few days back. For a man who recognizes how far he has come and acknowledges how life has rewarded him with both professional and personal successes, he would be forgiven if he shuts down the city of Lagos to celebrate.
Instead of gaudily or grandly celebrating the landmark birthday, he devoted the day to one of his major passions – Medical Philanthropy.
As a lifelong philosophy, Ekere believes that ‘Selfelss giving unto others is the true definition of wealth, and if one is fortunate to be among the luckiest 1% of humanity, it is important to think about the other 99% and find ways to improve their lives and livelihood.
He recently organized a medical outreach through his philanthropic effort, WellMed Healthcare by providing free health care checks, counselling sessions, feeding of the less privileged and distribution of medical supplies and gifts to all those in attendance.
In a short video to commemorate the day, Dr Ekere thanked God for making him see the day, adding that the outreach is just one of his ways to celebrate his birthday. In his words, “I feel that one of the best ways to celebrate today is by giving back to the society through this Corporate Social Responsibility program. The idea of this is to say that we remember the needy, even at a time of celebration and also to say God, we appreciate what you have done in our lives and that we would continue to give back to the society.”
While the medical outreach programme may have been organized in celebration of a birthday, its essence is highly significant in this present day economy. For Iyabode Adebayo, an aged mother who had lost all hopes of getting her nine-year-old daughter, Titilayo the adequate medical care she requires due to financial constraints, she found hope after seven years of waiting for a miracle as her prayer was answered in the guise of the soft-spoken, kind-hearted billionaire.
Also, For seven years, Obom had battled with a severe bout of whooping cough which has adversely affected his health. He disclosed that “every treatment I could afford had failed. I hadn’t enough money to seek the best of medical care and the little I could scrounge from selling fruits was frequently exhausted on the little affordable but ineffective herbal treatments”.
But the 38-year-old single mother would worry no more and Odom has found a cure. Courtesy of the billionaire businessman’s recent health lifeline program, these troubled families have found their relief.
Famed for his compassion, selflessness and love for humanity, Dr Ekere is a giver without measure whose philanthropic activities include but not limited to distribution of food and personal hygiene items, feeding multitude of families during the COVID – 19 lockdown period in LEKKI area of Lagos, organising free medical testing on World Hepatitis Day and launching free medical outreaches in Lagos and environs where residents are screened for chronic lifestyle diseases including diabetes, hypertension, breast cancer, obesity etc.
He has offered free high-end radiological and pathological investigations including MRI and CT scans that were hitherto unaffordable to indigent patients of public hospitals including Massey Street Children’s Hospital, General Hospital, Lagos and Epe General Hospital. He has provided employment opportunities and sponsored indigenes of host communities where Homeland IOS Ltd operates amongst several other activities.
Dr Ekere’s multi-billion naira Medical investment, WellMed Healthcare Ltd is an indigenous healthcare company in Lagos, offering one-stop diagnostics services with state-of-the-art medical equipment including 1.5 Tesla MRI, 64-slice CT Scan, 4D Ultrasonography, fully digital X-ray, 3D Echocardiography, Mammography, Resting and Exercise ECG and pathology laboratory with a menu of over 3,000 tests and investigations and partnerships with international medical laboratories.
Its Fully automated molecular laboratory is one of the few laboratories accredited by the Lagos State Government to provide COVID-19 Fit to Fly and Fit to travel testings across Nigeria and in line with the FGN NCDC guidlines.
As an Electrical & Electronics Engineering graduate and alumnus of the prestigious IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain; Lagos Business School and Harvard Business School, Boston, USA, Dr Ekere’s love for humanity has not gone unnoticed across the world.
In November 2018, he was conferred with an Honorary Citizen award by the State of Georgia and presented the Key to South Carolina, USA. The award of honorary citizenship of Georgia is conferred on individuals deemed worthy, and who have great experience, knowledge and impact, doing great work at home and abroad. This recognition accords an honouree every courtesy as a goodwill ambassador from Georgia in his travels to other states and even nations beyond the borders of the United States of America, or wherever they may travel or reside.
Also, in April 2019, he was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award by former President Donald Trump of the United States of America. The award was bestowed upon Ekere because “he serves as a model of the American spirit and his many hours of service have strengthened the bonds of cooperation and trust that bring people together while helping to address some of the greatest challenges of our time.”
We join in this celebration as we congratulate and wish him the best in all his future endeavours.