An Alumnus of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan (CoMUI), Dr. Phillip Ozuah, who is currently the President and CEO of Montefiore Medicine in New York, has donated a sum of $1,000,000 to the college, which is about ₦416,690,000 officially or over ₦700,000,000 in Nigeria’s parallel market.
In a press release circulated by College of Medicine UI (CoMUI) together with the Ibadan College of Medicine Alumni Association world wide (ICOMAA-WW), the donation was made on Monday, August 1, 2022 at a 3-tier ceremony to mark the 2nd year anniversary of the current administration of CoMUI led by the first female Provost of CoMUI, Prof. Olayinka Omigbodun.
The event which started first with naming the college board room after the 2nd Provost of the College, Prof. A. O. K. Johnson and the commissioning of some refurbished spaces in the college; culminated into the sod-turning and laying of foundation for the proposed $5M new students’ hostel.
According to the release, the first foundation stone was laid on behalf of the Pro-Chancellor, His Excellency, Chief E. K. Odigie-Oyegun, CON, by the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Kayode Adebowale FAS, mni.
It was during the third and last activity of the day, that the keynote speaker and Fund Raiser-in-Chief for the Students’ Hostel Project, Dr. Philip O. Ozuah pledged a donation of one million U.S dollars, on behalf of his family present with him on the zoom platform, to the new hostel building fund, to the unreserved delight of the college management, alumni body and student leaders who were present both online and onsite.
Dr. Ozuah who was a medical school classmate of the Provost (1985 set), made the donation while delivering his inspiring lecture, in response to a request from the Provost to the alumni of CoMUI to come together to help build a new hostel for the students.
In the meantime, Dr. Ozuah is the President and CEO of Montefiore Medicine, the umbrella organisation for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Montefiore Health System’s 13 member hospitals, 300 clinical locations with 7.5 million patient encounters per year.
It would be recalled that before the sod-turning ceremony, the medical college had reportedly received donations from other alumni members.
In June, at the 2022 Annual General Meeting of ICOMAA North America Branch, the class of 1989 donated $30,000 towards the project.
Also, two alumni identified as Dolamu and Modupe Shokunbi, the President and Publicity Secretary of ICOMAA-North America donated $6,000 towards the project.
Similarly, the college disclosed that an alumna of the MBBS Graduating Class of 1990, Olajumoke Banjo and her husband, Ayodele Banjo have donated $12,000 towards the student hostel project.
