*By Moji Danisa*
Azuka Jebose is a name that resonates when journalists are being mentioned in Nigeria.
Jebose started his Journalism career at the Punch Newspapers where he rose to become Entertainment Editor before leaving for America where he bagged Bachelor’s and a Masters’s Degree.
A retired Public Radio popular On-air personality and Businessman in the United States, Jebose has taken up humanity as his passion. He tenaciously pursues courses that will better the lives of others and some of his fight for the less privileged have put him in a collision with some of Nigeria’s most influential figures. But despite the threats and attack, sometimes directed at his immediate family, Jebose never backs down.
Not too long ago, Jebose was slammed with a N2billion defamation law suit by Ned Nwoko, billionaire and husband of actress, Regina Daniels. Though he insists he was never served notice of the libel suit, what led to the celebrated lawsuit was the consistent bashing of Nwoko by Jebose who felt his kinsmen, the people of Udumuje-Ugboko, where Ned hails from, were allegedly being mistreated by the Billionaire. Jebose recently responded to the lawsuit thusly:
“It’s my understanding that Ned Nwoko sued me, a year ago, for defamation, claiming N2Billion in damages. My sister, it’s been a year now since the floating online and mainstream media rumors . I have not received any summon. My lawyer in Nigeria has not received any summon on my behalf. One year don pass. The question is: has Ned Nwoko any character to defame?
Jebose who is also an author and arguably one of Nigeria’s greatest writers, will also be remembered for taking on the course of Journalists who were owed several months salary at Thisday media organisation.
Jebose says, passion drives him and many times he cries because the Nigerian society has failed it’s people: “My sister, there are nights I cannot sleep. Tears roll down my eyes as I reflect on what our society has become. Every day, I get tons of requests from people needing help for things government should ordinarily provide. My heart bleeds when people are dying because of lack of good health care in a country where men buy private jets and take their girlfriends for shopping in Dubai, yet the people are helpless.”
Jebose said he was so moved by the sufferings of the Nigerian people that he set up a foundation, the Gra-Gra Foundation’, to aggressively pursue the cause of humanity and raise funds for people in need: “I have helped raised over N100m for Nigerians in need of urgent medical care and it is still grossly inadequate given the requests for help I get every day: “Why are our government over the years so heartless? Why can’t they build hospitals and equip them? They borrow money our tenth generation may not be able to pay, they take loans from Europe, America and Asia yet they beg for grants and aid to do the most basic things. Primary Health Care which the colonialists bestowed on us has gradually gone kaput. Health centers are comatose. Only the rich can access good health care in a country that has the most Private Jet owners. A country that has more Billionaires listed on Forbes than any other African country. “I sat down one day and decided to do something, in my own small way. Gradually, I plunged into fundraising, especially in the area of health care and it has been fulfilling that we have been able to help a few Nigerians but I am sad because the list of people needing help to stay alive, is overwhelming. When I turn down any request because I am concentrating on some other dire needs, I feel horrible. Sometimes I feel as if I’m sliding into depression. Watching human beings suffer and not being able to help is heartbreaking.”
Those he has raised funds for
Some top Nigerian celebrities who benefited from Jebose’s fundraising include popular actor, Sadiq Daba, singer, Stella Monye, whose son needed urgent surgery to stay alive and Yoruba actress, Ronke Oshodi Oke whose niece, Esther, had a life-threatening tumor.
Listing other causes he has taken on, he says:
“My sister, they are so many, but here are a few Nigerians I remember, that privileged me opportunities to their human spirits with life’s severe health challenges. I used my platform to campaign for funds to pay for their various treatments and health challenges; sadly, I lost a few of these wonderful people. Late Rilwan Omosun was blasted by a stroke for nearly 20 years, kidney disease, heart failure, and bone disease. I raised almost $5000 for his assisted living, my friends such as Angela Aboderin donated N100,000
Nineteen-year-old Henrietta was a charming teenage girl with kidney disease in Abuja. She died a few years after moving to Lagos for dialysis treatments. She was the only child of her loving mother. We did not have enough time to do more and save her from the disease. Miss Ebere Ukwu was an amazing dream girl and banker. After she lost her Bank job in Lagos, she decided to locate to the United States of America in November 2012. Five months after arriving here, she fell ill, was in a coma for two years. She died in 2015. People back home in Nigeria, along with a decent Nigerian community in Raleigh North Carolina, helped bring her body home from America to her family for burial. We collectively raised $16,000 to make that happen. She was buried on a humid July 9th, 2015. Thousands of miles away, my first daughter turned 21 that day. Bringing Ebere home for a dignified burial was priceless.
Did you remember Esther Akinleye, the young girl with a large cancer tumor on her right shoulder? We collectively pleaded her case and funding for her in 2011. Esther was the niece of popular Yoruba actress, Oshodi Oke. Esther died a few days after a wife of a Governor donated N7million to her family funds for surgeries. She had been accepted by Duke Hospital Cancer Center here, for treatments. If only our hospitals had an effective healthcare system, Esther would be here and now.
And then came November 2016, we pushed the fund – drive to save our movie culture treasure, Sadiq Daba. Our collective efforts, powered by my passionate appeals, raised over N40million to help Sadiq Daba manage his healthcare challenges.
In January 2017, Stella Monye cried to me, to help save her only son, Ibrahim. I used my Facebook and other social media handles to initiate the most passionate campaigns to help Stella raise over N35Million to help send Ibrahim to New York University Hospital for surgeries.
Did you also remember the 15-year-old Joy Chiedozi, in 2018, a victim of a kerosene explosion that scarred her face and smiles? Nigerians were touched by her trauma; they passionately donated, and we were able to raise N3million to give Joy a happy face through reconstructive surgeries. Joy’s grandfather who had a stroke was given a three-month bi-weekly therapy that helped him to walk with a cane. Her grandmother was gifted N100,000 to start a business of her choice so as to lessen the burden of dependency.
I have privately paid for hospital bills of Nigerians that I had never met. In a village near Kaduna, a father burnt the palms of his eight-year-old daughter because she allegedly stole a portion of food from their neighbor. When the doctor that treated the child posted the sad experience on Facebook, I paid for the girl’s hospital care and treatment. Her name is Endurance.
I also raised about One Million Naira for Eunice Owoeye, a woman who lived in Abuja, who had cervical cancer from years of sexual abuse by her estranged husband. Eunice’s case was brought to me by Lara Wise, Special Adviser to the Deputy Senate President. Today, Eunice continues to enjoy a treatment in Gombe.
In 2013, I saw a young body inside the morgue where my late mother’s body was placed in Isele – Ukwu. The body was rested by the entrance, covered with a cloth. I asked the Undertaker why the body was there, near the entrance. He said the Funeral home was waiting for the child’s parents to come from Calabar and pick their child’s remains. The child was involved in a fatal auto wreck within the Lagos -Asaba road in December. The undertaker stated that it appeared the child and his employers were returning to Calabar for Christmas when the accident happened. Between December 2012 and April 2013 when I came to bury my mother, the body had been waiting for the parents to come and pick him up for burial. But they could not raise N50,000. I immediately used my Facebook to raise N30,000 and added the rest to pay for the child’s body to be transported to Calabar and be given a dignified burial by his parents.
Last year I took on the case of my homeboy, Chuks Ujormu who needs eleven million Naira for a kidney transplant. Ujormu has been battling kidney disease since 2016. I have so far raised six million Naira and I continue to pray we raise more this year.
There was also Ihed Ihediora who died alone and his body was found five days after he died in his bathroom on a cold February of 2016. Ihed’s body had been cooked by the heat in his apartment because he fell by the vent in his bathroom and his room heat was at about 80 degrees. When his ex-wife, a Nigerian, was notified, she brought the children to the Funeral home and refused to be responsible for the body of their dead and decomposing father. She would not allow her children, two boys, to sign and accept their father’s dead body for burial.I had to sign to take burial responsibility for my dear friend. I raised about $12,000, with great help from the amazing Nigerian Community in Raleigh and Abia State. His ashes were returned to his home town for traditional burial, thanks to the funds raised.”
With this passion for humanity and zeal to help, Jebose has launched an N160million campaign towards building a community health center in his home town, Onicha-Ugbo.
Jebose hopes to raise enough funds, using his 60th Birthday celebrations as leverage to kick-start the project.
“I will not be celebrating my 60th birthday with fanfare or pageantry. Instead, I am using the occasion to raise N160m for a community health center in my hometown.
The health center will be open to Nigerians irrespective of their financial standing. Everyone, especially the poor, indigent and vulnerable shall be treated once they can find their way there.
The project is borne out of my desire to give back to the community; to my roots which I sprung from. There is an old saying thus: “The river that does not know its source will dry up.” I do not and cannot forget my roots and ancestry; I am a proud offspring of the Onicha-Ugbo soil; I wear their badge with undeniable pride. Therefore I have the unquenchable thirst to give back to the community that shaped my identity.”
“The guiding principle is that life is precious and no one should be denied access to good medical care because they cannot afford it. So many people die of preventable deaths and from curable diseases because they cannot afford even the cheapest tablets or medication. This is medical care that will be humane, benevolent and compassionate.
Nobody should die because they cannot afford medical fees to save their lives.
“The Nigerian health care system is poorly developed and dysfunctional. At the primary health care level, it does not fare better.
Nigeria is reported to have 3.8 doctors per 10,000 people, as a result, there are not enough doctors to treat the populace. Many who cannot afford the spiraling costs of health care resort to the services of Herb sellers, herbal treatments and faith-based or miracle healing for their health care.
There is a massive brain drain of healthcare practitioners from Nigeria to other countries.
Only one percent of Nigerians have health insurance so that in cases of medical emergencies, only a few can afford it.”
Jebose is a classic example that you do not have to rich to make an impact in the lives of those around you.
Many troop to churches and Mosques to save their souls but Jebose says: “Humanity is my religion”.
Yesterday, Jebose launched an audacious but laudable N160 Million Fund campaign to build a Community Health Center in Nigeria. The project is to celebrate his 60th birthday on June 22nd. He appealed to citizens of the world to: “Please help donate to this project that would help save lives. No amount is too small. Turn your happy birthday messages, wishes to donations. Kindly support this effort which I hope to break its ground on June 22. Your donation means a lot. 60 Years nor be beans. I remain grateful to live this far. With your help and donation, let’s make this birthday a purpose-driven one for our people. Please donate Now, thus:
AZUKA JEBOSE MOLOKWU
WELLSFSRGO BANK ACCOUNT:
1206147884
Or
Azuka Jebose Molokwu
GTB CURRENT ACCOUNT:
0016705783
