“We thank God that our dream is being realized. We thank the Regulatory Bodies, our dedicated staff and our admirers as well as our well-wishers for their support and quality advice along the way. We will continue to keep the flag of excellence flying high”
By Tunde Olofintila
The ultra-modern 400-bed ABUAD Multi-System Hospital endorsed by leading healthcare stakeholders as the “most well-equipped Hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa” is at it again.
The Hospital which was commissioned at an elaborate ceremony on October 20, 2017, and commenced operations on March 21, 2018, will be receiving the Award for Excellence on February 7, 2026, as part of the activities lined up to mark the 23rd Anniversary of Progress 100.5 FM Ado-Ekiti.
The Station was commissioned on February 7, 2003, by the then Minister of Education, Prof. Babalola Borisade, an indigene of Usi-Ekiti in Ido-Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti State, during the administration of the pioneer Civilian Governor of the State, Otunba Richard Niyi Adebayo.
This latest Award by Progress FM, Ado-Ekiti, is in appreciation of what Station acknowledges as the ABUAD Hospital’s “quality healthcare and service delivery”.
The New Year Award is coming some seven months after the same Hospital won the 2025 Nigerian Health Excellence Award (NHEA) Special Recognition Award in appreciation of what was described as the Hospital’s “exceptional achievements in redefining medical excellence and setting a new standard for healthcare infrastructure in Nigeria”.
The cheering news was contained in a letter dated January 8, 2026, signed by the General Manager of Progress FM, Dr. Adebola Adeniyi-Agbaje.
In Adeniyi-Agbaje’s words: “As part of the activities slated to mark the 23rd Anniversary of Radio Nigeria Progress FM, Ado-Ekiti, the Management of the frontline Station has thought it right and worthy to confer the most deserved Award of Excellence on your ultra-modern 400-bed ABUAD Multi-System Hospital for quality Healthcare & Service Delivery”.
She added: “The frontline posture of the ABUAD Multi-System Hospital has been aptly captured by Dr. Yemi Johnson, the Chief Medical Director of First Cardiologist, Lagos, who endorsed the Hospital in the following words: “This is my first visit to Ekiti and the ABUAD Hospital was my first stop. This is really impressive. I can say without any equivocation that this hospital has more high-tech medical equipment than all the Hospitals in Lagos put together. This is most certainly the best equipped Hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
The place of the Multi-system Hospital has earlier been corroborated by top rate Medical Educators such as Prof. Isaac Folorunso Adewole, former Hon. Minister for Health, who said: “This Hospital will offer us what we hitherto believe cannot happen in this country. It will also improve the poor Health Indicators in Nigeria. With what I have seen here today, this Hospital matches the best in the world, and it will certainly put an end to Medical Tourism outside Nigeria”.
Also, Prof. Temitope Alonge, former CMD, University Teaching Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, said: “I have worked in many Hospitals both here in Nigeria and in Europe. This Hospital beats most Hospitals where I have worked in Europe. This surely will be the answer to outward Medical tourism. With what is here in this Hospital, there is no reason why any of our Doctors should want to go abroad for their Sabbatical. All they need is here”.
Adeniyi-Agbaje reiterated that in tandem with the hope, dream and vision of Aare Afe Babalola, the Founder of the Hospital, AMSH has certainly become a world-class hospital having regard to the quantum of state-of-the-art equipment and the array of qualified medical personnel delivering quality and world-class medical services, including but not limited to Open Heart Surgeries and Kidney Transplantation among several others.
Since the Hospital commenced operations in 2017, it has made giant strides in different specialties of medicine, performing cutting-edge surgical and medical procedures such as:
* Open Heart surgeries
* Cardiac interventional procedures
* Spine surgeries
* Brain surgeries
* Plastic and reconstruction surgeries
* Hip and Knee Joint replacement surgeries
* Major eye surgeries
* Haemodialysis
* Interventional Radiology procedures
* Kidney Transplantation
* Renal Biopsy, and
* Daily medical operations in different areas of Medicine.
Some of the high-tech medical equipment available in any hospital which are deployed for sophisticated surgeries include
* Five (5) Modular Theatres
* Three (3) MRI Machines
* Toshiba Infinix -cf-i/mono-plane Cathlab machine
* Intra-Aortic balloon Pump
* Maquet Vario twin -HL20 Heart Lung Machine
* Maquet servo air ventilator
* Servo-I adult ventilator with compressor
* Non-invasive ventilation software
Humidifier
* IVF Facilities
* A modern Dialysis Centre consisting of 21 state-of-the-art * Dialysis Machines
* A modern Blood Bank and Transfusion Service Centre
Ministry of Aviation-certified modern Helipad to ease transportation of patients and clients to ABUAD Multi-system Hospital and the university
*A Building for the Military to aid security, and
*Special beds among several others.
The Hospital which has successfully completed a total of 40 kidney transplant surgeries, which places it among the leading transplant centres in Nigeria, has started reversing outward medical tourism of notable Nigerians with patients now come from overseas for medical care at the hospital.
In a recent media parley, the Hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Dr. Akinola Akinmade, said that AMSH has also achieved another landmark: the successful completion of the first penile implant surgery.
According to Akinmade, an Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon, the patient in question, who had experienced longstanding erectile dysfunction (ED), is now able to achieve an erection on demand, with full restoration of sexual and reproductive function.
On the reversal of outward medical tourism, Akinmade said, “We are now reversing medical tourism. The channel for medical tourism is typically outward. People leave from here and go to New York for their procedures, but now we’re having patients who have seen the value, who have seen the quality of care that is available in Nigeria and have seen that they can get it for a fraction of the amount that they would spend if they go outside the country.
He added: “And so, if our politicians develop such centres in every part of the country, then it’s a bit of our own collective advantage. So, I think that’s one way to think about it.”
Speaking on the successful completion of 40 Renal transplants, the CMD said, “Our outcomes remain outstanding, with a very high success rate, comparable to respected international centres. This reflects the strength of our Surgical teams, our Nephrology Unit, our Critical Care Specialists, and the seamless collaboration across all Hospital Departments.
“We are also entering a new phase of Urological advancement with our preparations to perform complex urethral reconstruction surgeries. These surgeries are highly specialized and remain unavailable in many centers across West Africa. Our readiness to provide them positions AMSH as a clinical and academic leader in advanced Reconstructive Urology.”
Also speaking at the event, ABUAD’s Vice Chancellor, Smaranda Olarinde, said that all the surgeries are highly subsidized by the Founder of the Hospital, Aare Afe Babalola.
She praised the AMSH medical personnel and the medical team from Morengo Hospital, India, for their outstanding performance that has placed the Hospital not only as the best in Nigeria, but also in Africa.
The leader of the medical team from Asian Morengo Hospital, Dr Rajeev Sood, an acclaimed Urologist and Renal transplant Surgeon, said that the cost of renal transplant in AMSH is 10% of the cost overseas.
He said that the unique aspect of the AMSH experience is that all the medical experts are housed within ABUAD.
Commending AMSH for this rare development, Sood said: “not many hospitals can boast of that.”
Celebrating the cheering news, an elated Babalola said: “This is certainly a good way to begin the new year: You will recall that 2025 ended gloriously with an uncommon Award tagged “Award for Daring” bestowed on me by People of the Fountain Television, POF-TV, in appreciation of my name (Afe Babalola) which the organization proclaimed, “has no doubt grown into a formidable and distinguished brand in Nigeria, across Africa and now on the global stage”.
He added: “POF- TV did not stop at that. It went on to emphasize that my attribute of daring which reflects in a myriad of ways, including but not limited to my most uncommon courageous journey out of Ekiti to Ibadan at a young age, armed with nothing more than a Standard Six Certificate and the resolve not to return home until you had succeeded in life, remains one of the most inspiring chapters of my story.
“I am happy that what we are doing in our University, our Multi-System Hospital and our Industrial Park in Ado-Ekiti is being noticed by many, including the Press as a result of which Progress FM, a Station under the umbrella of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, is now giving us an Award for Excellence for service delivery.
“When we started the Hospital, we made it clear that we wanted it to be the best around, that we wanted it to stand out as a clear leader and the toast of its peers in Africa. That was why we populated the Hospital with the most modern and sophisticated medical equipment and hired the best of hands that will make it the Hospital of first choice in Africa. That was why we entered into partnerships with reputable global players in the Healthcare industry including Project C.U.R.E and Bridge of Life (BoL) of the United States of America and Marengo Asia Healthcare Private Limited.
“We thank God that our dream is being realized. We thank the Regulatory Bodies, our dedicated staff and our admirers as well as our well-wishers for their support and quality advice along the way. We will continue to keep the flag of excellence flying high”.
Babalola, a former Pro Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, expressed joy at the latest accomplishment by his Hospital, noting that this pleasant and encouraging news of additional feather to the university’s well-adorned hat of Awards will surely buoy and fast-track his (Babalola’s) dream and vision to reform functional education and quality healthcare delivery in this clime.
* Olofintila, ABUAD’s Director of Corporate Affairs writes from Ado-Ekiti.
