Friends of the Chief Medical Director of Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Professor John A. O. Okeniyi have described him as a game changer and a man with many achievements who impact are far reaching.
The friends made this in a birthday congratulatory message obtained by InsightMedia on Monday.
The statement reads, “We proudly join many others at home and abroad today, Monday, July 8, to celebrate the birth day anniversary of a jolly good fellow, an icon, a role model, a man with a good heart, Professor John A. O. Okeniyi.
Professors Okeniyi, the Chief Medical Director of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria, is a man whose landmark achievement is not only one of medical excellence but of a profound humanity that transcends borders.
We want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your care, kindness, compassion, and medical expertise that have made all the difference in the lives of those that you have come across.
You are a man who practice medicine with unwavering passion, touching countless lives and becoming a beacon of hope for those in need.
Your commitment to the well-being of staffs under you, mindless of the rank, is not just a profession but a calling.
You have brought an immense development to OAU Teaching Hospital Complex since your assumption as CMD.
You have proved to the whole world that a leader can instil changes and discipline just by leading by example and the difference is clear.
Testimonies by patients that have had cause of visiting OAUTHC under your supervision have established that your devotion and sacrifice will continue to linger on.
Our prayer is that this birthday will bring you joy, good health, and many happy moments. We are proud to associate with you, a man of integrity, courageous and game-changer.
Professor John A. O. Okeniyi is a Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist and a Human Physiologist. He pioneered and headed the Paediatric Cardiology Unit of the OAU/ OAUTHC, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
He is an alumnus of the CMS Grammar School, Lagos (1984), the University of Ibadan, Ibadan (1988) and the College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (1997). He underwent medical internship training and residency training (1999 – 2004) in pediatrics at the OAUTHC and further training in paediatric cardiology at the Evalina Children’s Hospital, London, UK; the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, India; the VU University Medisch Centrum, Amsterdam, Netherlands, National Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan; and the Edmund and Safra International Congenital Heart Centre, Sheba Medical Centre, Tel-Hashomer, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
He joined the OAU as a Lecturer 1 and the OAUTHC as an Honourary Consultant in 2004 and rose through the ranks to be appointed Professor in October 2017.
He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC), the West African College of Physicians (FWACP), the Nigerian Cardiac Society (FNCS) and a Member of the Nigerian Society for Paediatric Cardiology (NISOPAC). He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Professional Managers and Administrators.
He was the Head of Department of paediatrics and Child health, OAU/ OAUTHC, Ile-Ife till he was appointed in September 2023 as the substantive Chief Medical Director of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Written by the Committee of Friends