Kashamu Donates N2.5m to 38 yrs-old Man for Kidney Transplant

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

Kashamu is the Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District of Ogun State and the Founder of a non-governmental organisation, the Omoilu Foundation.

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

But rather than just accede to the request for support to carry out the dialysis, Senator Kashamu directed his aides to enquire from the hospital’s management if they could handle the situation; whether there was a donor for the patient and the cost of performing a kidney transplant at the hospital.

The management of the hospital answered all the questions in the affirmative and said the sum of N2.5million would be required to carry out the kidney transplant.

Upon receiving the hospital’s response, Senator Kashamu dispatched two of his aides, Honourable Onadeko Onamusi and Mr. Austin Oniyokor, to Kano where they presented the N2.5 million cheque to the hospital’s 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.

In his address, Onamusi, who is the Senior Legislative Aide to Senator Kashamu, said the gesture was natural to the senator as a compassionate leader and philanthropist.

He spoke of how the Senator has touched a lot of lives personally and through the Omoilu Foundation, adding that, “I think it is safe to say he has dedicated his entire life to giving without looking back”.

Onamusi also commended the management of the hospital for taking the initiative to write the senator soliciting assistance for the patient, stressing that such a move was novel.

Responding, Mohammed expressed the gratitude of the members and staff of the hospital to Senator Kashamu for the “life-saving initiative”, just as he added that 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. We thank him and pray that the Almighty Allah rewards him abundantly.

“We also wish and pray that more wealthy and highly-placed Nigerians would take a cue from Senator Kashamu in giving hope to the hopeless,” Mohammed said.

Narrating his ordeal with tears rolling down his cheeks, Adeyemi, 38, said he took ill in May last year and thought it was malaria.

But, upon being treated for malaria and typhoid in Akure, Ondo State, where he was based, his condition did not improve. So, he went to a hospital in Palmgrove, Lagos, where it was found that his kidneys were bad.

He was later referred to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital where he has been undergoing dialysis with the support of his relations and friends. But, as the days went by, and weeks turned to months, resources began to thin out and it was becoming increasingly difficult to raise funds for the dialysis.

That was when the management of the hospital told him they could help him appeal to well-meaning Nigerians like Senator Kashamu to come to his aid, and according to Adeyemi, “Here I am today; Senator Buruji Kashamu being a kind-hearted person has decided to come to my aid. I cannot thank him enough”.