‘Megacorp Will Address Medical Equipment Gap in Nigeria’

Martins Ifijeh

ikFollowing dearth of medical equipment in Nigeria, especially in sub-urban and rural areas, the Chief Executive Officer, Megacorp Enterprise, Okoh Benjamin, said easy and affordable access to medical tools will aid health workers and medical students in hospitals and schools respectively.

He said lack of healthcare tools has hampered effective treatment in many hospitals, as well as poor learning in medical schools.

Stating this in a chat with THISDAY recently in Lagos, he said this was part of the issues affecting healthcare in Edo State and other parts of the country, hence the drive that led to the establishment of Megacorp Enterprise as part of efforts to address the gap.

Benjamin said: “For instance, years ago, medical institutions in Edo Central and Edo North would have to travel all the way to get medical equipment in Benin and Lagos.

“This, in no small measure, affected learning as well as treatment in that region. This was the reason we birthed Megacorp, which has now filled in the gap in the two senatorial districts of Edo State.

“But with the dearth of medical equipments across other parts of the country, there is need to extend this service to those areas and support the healthcare system through our own little way,” he said.

The Microbiology graduate of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, said if health facilities across the country have access to hospital facilities, laboratory equipment reagents and chemicals, as well as university and professional textbooks, it would have in a big measure helped in reducing the burden of poor health indices the country is currently known for.

While Megacorps, which clocked 10 years recently, currently has offices in Auchi, Uromi, Irrua, and Ekpoma areas of Edo State, the entrepreneur said, “We have been able to bring medical materials close to the people in these rural and suburban areas.

“We deal in over 3000 different items, but soon we go beyond provision of basic medical equipments. Our plan is to become producers of advanced equipment for the purpose of providing healthcare to our people”.

Going down memory lane, the CEO said he started Megacorp with an N18, 000 loan he borrowed in January 2008, adding that 10 years down the line, the organisation is worth several millions of naira with seven branches in four towns, adding that this was possible because they have been dedicated over the years in the provision of quality services of Nigerians.