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Built and donated by Chief Dr Leemon Ikpea, the ultra-modern health facility at Idumu-Iyase was handed over to the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital and within hours it was diagnosing, dispensing and referring patients from across Esan land.
The building was new enough that its corridors still smell of fresh wall paint. By mid-morning on Monday, 19 October 2026, it smells of disinfectant, pharmacy sachets and particularly patients who had waited a long time to see a doctor.
Hundreds of residents of Ewatto and neighbouring communities filed through the 62-bed ultra-modern hospital at Idumu-Iyase, Esan South-east local government area, not as guests at a commissioning but as patients.
The Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH), in collaboration with the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) had marked the formal handover of the facility with a free medical outreach in which the organisers said more than 1,000 people were screened, with drugs dispensed to them and, where necessary, referred for onward examination.
It was, in the organisers’ phrasing, a celebration of trust, quality, partnership and a test of a model rarely executed at scale where a philanthropist would build and the institution would be running.
The facility was built and donated by Chief Leemon Ikpea, the chairman Board of Trustees of Agbonjagwe Leemon Ikpea Foundation (ALI). What distinguished the handover was not the concrete but the condition attached to it. Ikpea asked that ISTH take over full operations and management of the hospital, citing the institution’s reputation for excellent, patient-centred and specialist care.
Stakeholders therefore described the decision as confidence in ISTH’s profile as a centre of excellence in service delivery, training and research under its chief medical director, Prof Reuben Agbons Eifediyi and as a guarantee that the building would be run to the standards, discipline and compassion ISTH is known for.
Equipment do not treat hypertension; rather, staff, protocols and supervision do. By handing over the keys to a teaching hospital rather than a caretaker committee, the donor attached an institution’s reputation to his gift.
An outreach like a carnival
ISTH provided leadership, coordination and more than 85 per cent of the manpower, logistics, drugs and equipment that made the exercise work.
Under Prof Eifediyi, the hospital deployed consultant physicians, surgeons, resident doctors, outreach medical team, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and public health officers. Support teams from the Works Department, ICT Unit, Publicity and Protocol, Security Unit and the CMD’s Office converted the newly commissioned building into a functioning treatment centre, with triage, consultation, pharmacy, laboratory and health education units operating in sequence.
The service menu was deliberately broad: general medical consultation, screening for hypertension and diabetes, malaria testing, eye checks, maternal and child health services and health education, alongside free dispensing of essential drugs. Patients requiring advance care were referred to ISTH and UBTH.
That mix, screening for the silent conditions, testing for the endemic one, catching maternal and child cases early, reflects the burden of a farming population for whom distance to a specialist is often the difference between management and emergency.
Living up to the trust
Prof Eifediyi used the occasion to answer the question implicit in any handover. This is whether ISTH can carry the weight of that confidence.
He expressed profound gratitude to President Bola Tinubu, through the coordinating minister of health and social welfare, Prof Muhammad Ali
Pate for the trust reposed in him and in ISTH to manage the new hospital’s operations.
The CMD assured that ISTH would live up to the trust and that the hospital would achieve the purpose for which it was established by bringing affordable, accessible and specialist healthcare closer to the people of Esan land and beyond, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda and the vision for Universal Health Coverage.
He also commended Chief Ikpea for what he called his uncommon philanthropy and love for his people, while appreciating UBTH for its collaborative spirit.
Government cannot do it alone
Edo State governor, Monday Okpebholo, who inaugurated the facility along with Pate, emphasised the importance of private-sector participation, adding that government alone could not meet the population’s healthcare needs.
“My administration has recruited over 2,000 healthcare workers to
boost our workforce and upgraded over 65 primary healthcare centres across the three senatorial districts of the state,” the governor
said, while also acknowledging President Tinubu’s support for the state’s efforts.
“Government alone cannot do it. We need private-sector partners and other individuals to complement public-sector investments,” he said.
“Dr Ikpea has set a good record and I encourage other well-meaning individuals and organisations to emulate him.”
Turning to the institution now holding the keys, he said, “I charge the management of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital and the medical
professionals who would serve here to uphold the highest standards of
patient care.”
For the hosts, he said, “To the people of Ewatto, protect this facility and make good use of it. Let it become a place of hope and healing.”
Okpebholo also assured residents that his administration would
mobilise the contractor back to site to complete the Ewatto-Udo road as the dry season approaches as a reminder that the hospital’s usefulness depends as much on the road to it just as the wards inside.
Healthy population is a productive one
Prof Pate commended Ikpea, ALI foundation and his family for investing in healthcare infrastructure towards serving Ewatto and its
neighbours. This is as he described the project as a source of pride for the community and for Edo state.
Access to quality healthcare, the minister said, is essential to the development of any society as according to him, a healthy population is better positioned to contribute to economic growth, saying that farmers, teachers, children and other members of the community would benefit when services are accessible and effective.
He therefore called on wealthy Nigerians and private-sector organisations to partner with the government in order to expand healthcare infrastructure nationwide.
He noted that such partnerships would complement public investment and support efforts to transform the health system.
Ikpea said the centre was equipped with modern facilities, but spent much of his address on stewardship, urging community leaders,
residents and security agencies to protect the hospital, its equipment
and buildings from damage and vandalism.
The facility, he said, belongs to the community and should be treated as a collective asset. To that extent, he said, protecting it would ensure its continued availability for care.
For Ewatto, it was a day of joy, hope and healing. The flag-off, in the organisers’ words, is a sustainable partnership between ISTH, the Leemon Foundation and UBTH.
Indeed, more than a thousand people received care in a building that had just been handed over. If that becomes a routine, the gift at
Idumu-Iyase would have done more than honour a donor; it would have shown what happens when philanthropy stops at the ribbon and lets competence take the wheel.
Kareem is an Abuja-based public relations consultant
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