Prof. Ajekigbe Died of Stage Four Prostate Cancer

pharmacy

-As President Buhari urges for documentation of his research works

While condolences are still pouring in at the Ajekigbes on the demise of the Nigeria’s renowned oncologist, it has been revealed that he died of stage four prostate cancer.

The Founder of Atinuke Cancer Foundation, Tinu Lawal, one of the close associates of the oncologist, disclosed this in a newspaper interview on Wednesday, saying the deceased was diagnosed of the late stage of prostate cancer sometimes in June this year.

Lawal, who is a cancer survivor revealed her last conversation with the deceased after he was diagnosed of the cancer thus: “He said to me:  ‘Welcome back. I’ve joined your league.’ I said:  ‘Which of your league, sir?’ He said while I was away, he had some complications while he was sleeping. He couldn’t carry his body. He had to call the ambulance to carry him. By the time they ran tests and everything on him, he had prostate cancer, Stage Four.”

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has called on the academia and medical professionals to urgently document the research findings of the cancer specialist for the benefits of humanity.

The Nigeria’s president, who was among the first set of people who condoled with the family of the deceased and the medical profession, described the late oncologist as a rare gem, who after retiring from active service, still lent his God-given intellect to research and advocacy of early detection of cancer, so that the scourge can be reduced in the country.

Mr Buhari, who sent his condolence message through a statement by a presidential aide, Femi Adesina, said Ajekigbe’s death is a huge loss to the country, because he had contributed to knowledge in various fields of Engineering, Pharmacy and Medicine.

According to the statement, the president “salutes the commitment to the scholarship of the departed, which saw him first qualifying as an engineer, later as a pharmacist, and eventually as a medical doctor”.

Prof. Ajekigbe, practised for decades at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), rising to head the Oncology and Radiology department, and retired in 2017.