‘I Was Given Last Sacrament’: Oramah Recounts How Near-Death Experience Spurred Him To Boost Nigeria’s Health Sector 

The President of the the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Benedict Oramah, has revealed the motivation behind his constant interest in Nigeria’s healthcare sector, and his efforts to bring about a change for the better in the system.

Oramah has always been passionate about healthcare in Nigeria and Africa at large, making contributions and pursuing investments in the health sector to ensure that the health care of Nigerians is top notch.

Recently, Oramah, in a bid to help to build Nigeria’s healthcare sector, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Health ministry on behalf of Afreximbank, to provide a $1 billion facility that would finance a contribution pool for private investors who want to invest in Nigeria’s health sector value chain.

Speaking in an exclusive Interview with ARISE NEWS anchor, Ojy Okpe, Oramah gave his reason for being so involved in the health sector, despite the fact that his area of focus is banking.

He said, “I always believed that healthcare is s human right. Every person on this earth should have access to good health care, because that is what makes you to live a wholesome life. It is not what we should just reserve for the very rich and mighty. I always believed this.”

However, the banking guru’s journey to supporting healthcare in the region, though having a good ending, had a very rocky start, as during the interview, he shared his near-death experience from a critical blood condition which made him seek the intervention of health consultants outside Africa.

Sharing his journey, he recounted, “We had at the bank, in 2012, put in place a health and medical tourism program. Under that initiative, we had very, very good plans about what we could do through direct interventions and through support we could provide to others who are practicing in the space.

“But in 2013, I fell seriously ill and I nearly died. My condition was so serious that I had to be evacuated out of Cairo. But to evacuate me out of Cairo, given the complexity of the condition, we had to find out, my bank had to find who in the world could handle this kind of situation. They wanted to make sure that I received the best care possible to give me the chances of survival.

“We did checks, and three of the references all ended up naming one professor-Professor Ghulam Mufti of Kings College Hospital, London. We then made contact with him, our office contacted him, and he was kind enough to say he could receive me, that I had to come and I had to come very quickly. 

“This was happening on a Wednesday, and I had to come back before Friday because he said if I came on a weekend, the outcome could be different because doctors will not be there, specialists will not be there. It was a very complex process of making sure I arrived in London before that Friday.”

Recalling the severity of his illness, Oramah said, “I did arrive there and it became really really serious, that actually, as a Catholic, I was given the last sacrament, what they give to somebody when they are about to die.”

Fortunately, with the quick thinking of Professor Mufti and the access to world class facilities and treatment, Oramah began to recover. He said, “It was a very very complex process and experience, but out of that came something good.

“As I was beginning to recover, I will always ask God, okay, given the many near deaths that I went through as I was receiving treatment and I still was alive, I was now looking like I was going to come out of it. I always told God, I know you will not come down to tell me why you kept me alive, but I want you to find a way to point me in that direction of why you decided to give me another chance.”

It was at this point that the Afreximbank President’s passion for healthcare began to grow. He said, “I told myself, having gone through this, having been kept alive because of the kind of facilities and the expertise I met at Kings College Hospital in London at that time, that I should try, do my best to make sure that I contributed in putting such a facility in Africa so that those who find themselves in similar conditions will not have to be like me. I was able to get the care because I was protected by the bank. It was very expensive treatment I received, so the bank was able to take care of it, I was able to get all the support to get evacuated, it was because of the bank that we had to ask, where is the best place to find somebody to look after me.”

Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi

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