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President, and the then Governor of Ogun State there to show what at that time looked gargantuan. I had spent nearly N2billion of my own at that time. But what was unique about it was that I was bent on sustaining the culture of excellence. I can say it is a world class children's hospital for treatment, teaching and research. As at today, the Otunba Tunwase National Paediatric Centre has cost me about N4billion. "I am involved in so many other benefactions, and I now have what you can call donor fatigue. So, I had to approach the then Provost, Prof. Adenike Grange, that instead of N10m, I would only be paying N7.5m and six months later, I said it will only be N5m, that, I have been doing that now for some years. "I have a lot of benefactions. I was embarrassed when the Archbishop of Lagos announced what I had done in the House of God. Not only in the Anglican Communion but I have been doing things in the entire Christian world. I was involved in the setting up of some Dioceses in the North, I have also helped some Pentecostals to build their churches. And my friend, Evang. Ebenezer Obey reminded me that when he was going to be an Evangelist, I was one of the people who encouraged him to come and address a congregation in my House in Ijebu. That has been my life and that takes a heavy toll. As a first-rater, I would not want to do anything sub-standard. So, one day I called my wife, that I am getting old that I am not a Medical person, whatever resources I have, I will give, but I will not have the time again, let me give the institution away lock, stock and barrel to competent hands. "We first thought of giving it to the government, we said no, that the standard may be lowered, we thought of a state university, I said no. I have decided to give the Otunba Tunwase National Paediatric Centre to the doyen university, the University of Ibadan as a gift, lock, stock and barrel, everything. " The only thing I want is that they should kindly retain the name, but the 50 Acre land, all the developments there, the extra-ordinary furniture, the state-of-the-art equipment, the facilities. We have an auditorium to the capacity of a thousand and we have residential accommodation for Post-Graduate students. We have a clinical section which is one of the best equipped in this country, for those of you who are familiar with neo-natals, pre-mature babies, we have 10 incubators in that place I am not sure how many teaching hospitals in Nigeria have such a number. We have two surgical theatres with observatory, we have a Laboratory service, which with all due sense of humility is one of the best in the country. We also have other facilities, so when I looked round, UI came to my mind because they have always been appreciative of what I have done before, because they are 5-star institution, because they have a good reputation all over the world. "If you have a degree of Ibadan, you are regarded as primus inter pares. And I pride myself as one of the earliest to be given a Doctorate degree Honoris Causa by Ibadan, I was in the company of Chinua Achebe. And history has it that of all the Ijebus, after the legendary Baba Odutola, I was the second to be so honoured by Ibadan. A few other Universities have given me degrees but I have given service to the University of Ibadan, I was Chairman of their UI Ventures, I have given them an endowment for Professorial Chair, so giving something to them was like giving it to my own. "But knowing the financial state of the country, I do not think, I can do it alone to the level of excellence that I want, I promise that from time to time I will be extending something from my foundation to them, but I would like all men and women of goodwill that if you should save the life of a child, you would have saved the life of a people. The child is not only the nucleus of a group of people, it is the essence of the beginning of creation. "Like I said in my letter, God had given me enough, and I am bewildered and overwhelmed by the awesome protection, the abundance of blessing the Good Lord has given me, don't give me a personal birthday present, give everything you have for me to the Children's Hospital. "I have been very blessed by God. I have four 24
sons, we call them the four musketeers, I have 16 grandchildren all at a blow. Maybe the good Lord is appreciating what I have been doing. Whenever I look round and I see my children, my daughter and the ten grandsons and six grand daughters we have, I feel fulfilled, I am recommending it to you, spare a thought for these children, donate something, however, small to assist the children of this hospital so that they may not die of any curable disease. If you do this for me, you have made my day. Thank you very much, please support OTNPC and the good Lord will bless you adequately" Oladipupo Balogun, the third son of the celebrant and Group Managing Director of FCMB, gave the vote of thanks. His speech was short, sharp and straight from the heart. According to him" I want to thank you all for the love that you have shown our father on 80th, and specially, I want to thank all of you that have supported the Otunba Tunwase National Paediatric Centre. That you very much for your generosity. I wish you travelling mercies and God Bless you all. What began with a joyous dance was rounded off with loads of dancing and good cheer as Evangelist Ebenezer took centre stage to entertain guests till late into the night.
…AND RED RIBBON ENTERS WITH A TOUCH OF CLASS… No one will doubt that in terms of style, colour, class and uniqueness, the 80th birthday of Otunba Michael Subomi Balogun will definitely hit the upper rungs of any rating. What many who attended the event did not know was that the celebrant was involved in many aspects of the planning, but most of the concepts and execution which wowed the thousands who attended the ceremonies was the handwork of Red Ribbon Limited, a young and dynamic PR, Creative Event and Experiential Marketing Company that has just arrived on the scene. The company is headed by an exjournalist/ Banker, Tunde Shofowora with over 21year experience spanning the world of Media, Marketing and PR. Reflecting on the Otunba @ 80 celebration; Shofowora told Ovation in an interview that the Otunba @ 80 was a bespoke event According to him "We don't just manage events, we create events that add great value to the personality of individuals and corporate organisations. Our over 21 years of knowledge and experiences from the client's perspective, give us a good advantage to see events beyond the ordinary eyes". “At Red Ribbon, we have a creative mind which flows from our DNA. We create and activate innovative,
attention-grabbing events for individual and Corporate brands. “Our clients' background provides us hindsight to deliver highly targeted, memorable experiences that connect brands to the emotions of their consumers, generate leads and drive consumers to actions" Concerning the Horse Rider concept which also added a lot of glamour to the celebration, Shofowora said it was meant to add a royal and regal touch to the Otunba @ 80 celebration. “Otunba is a Man of Royalty who also love horses”. The event venue was elegantly decorated by PK Lamour Creation working in line with the concept originated by Red Ribbon Limited. One of the uniqueness and the height of the decor was the bespoke triangular royal table (first of its kind) and the aquarium landing red carpet walk-way, which was titled "Way to paradise". The theme of the celebration was "A walk Down Memory Lane" which was depicted by the red carpet tunnel that had pictorial story of the celebrant that took the guests on an historical excursion into the life and times of the celebrant. Shofowora revealed to us that working with Otunba over the years helped the team deconstruct his vision for the celebration, but being a man of excellence who is finicky about class, it was a tough task delivering on Otunba’s set goals. From what we saw however, kudos should in deed go to Shofowora and his team because they did deliver big time. Everyone acknowledged that the ceremony was in many respects first-rate.