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Nigerian oil services tycoon Leemon Ikpea has donated a 62-bed hospital to Ewatto, his hometown in southern Nigeria's Edo State.
Edo Governor Monday Okpebholo and Muhammad Ali Pate, Nigeria's Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, commissioned the medical center on Monday in the Idumu-Iyase quarter of Ewatto, in the Esan South-East local government area. The hospital was built by the Agbonjagwe Leemon Ikpea Foundation, the charity Ikpea chairs, and will operate as an annex of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, a federal hospital in the same part of the state.
The foundation has not disclosed what the project cost.
The center has wards, operating theaters, an accident and emergency unit, X-ray and CT scanning, physiotherapy and ambulances, the foundation's board told the health minister in Abuja in July. Doctors' residences and a police post were still being built at the time.
Run by a federal hospital
Ikpea led the foundation's delegation to Pate in Abuja that month to ask the federal government to name one of its medical institutions to manage the hospital's clinical work. The foundation said the arrangement would keep standards high and make the hospital sustainable, while ownership of the facility would remain with the foundation.
At Monday's ceremony, Okpebholo told the management of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital and the medical staff who will work at the center to "uphold the highest standards of patient care."
"Government alone cannot do it, we need private-sector partners and other individuals to complement public sector investments," Okpebholo said. "Ikpea has set a good record, and I encourage other well-meaning individuals and organizations to emulate him."
He urged residents to look after the facility. "To the people of Ewatto, protect this facility and make good use of it. Let it become a place of hope and healing," he said.
The governor said his administration had hired more than 2,000 health workers and was upgrading more than 65 primary health care centers across the state. He also promised to send contractors back to finish the Ewatto-Udo road before the dry season.
Pate praised Ikpea and his family and called the hospital a source of pride for Ewatto and Edo State. He urged wealthy Nigerians and private companies to work with federal and state governments to build more health infrastructure.
Ikpea asked community leaders, residents and security agencies to guard the hospital, its equipment and buildings against damage and vandalism, describing it as an asset that belongs to the community.
Oil services fortune
Ikpea, 69, is the founder and chief executive of Lee Engineering and Construction Co., a Nigerian company that works in oil and gas, construction and power.
He was born in Ewatto in December 1956 and went to primary and secondary school in Warri, the oil hub in neighboring Delta State. He holds the traditional title of Odonlagbon of Warri Kingdom.
The University of Benin awarded him an honorary doctorate in business administration in 2024, the same year the Nigerian Society of Engineers made him an honorary fellow. The Federal University of Petroleum Resources in Effurun gave him an honorary doctorate in engineering in 2025.
His foundation, which carries his full name, Agbonjagwe Leemon Ikpea, focuses on health care and education for poor communities.
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