– As Governor Sanwo-Olu Inaugurates AVON Medical’s Ultra-Modern Hospital in Surulere
– “We Built This for Everyone”—Dr. Awele Elumelu
She is the wind beneath no trumpet, yet she soars. In a world where greatness often arrives clad in spectacle, she moves like dawn. Soft, sure, and sovereign. Never given to borrowed light, Dr. Awele Elumelu ignites her blaze – steady, silent, and unshakable.
She is not a woman of thunder, yet the earth remembers her steps. Awele Vivian Elumelu does not announce herself with flair, yet presence wraps itself around her like silk. She moves with the assured cadence of one who understands that influence, true influence, does not need to shout. It simply is.
From medicine to boardrooms, from the running tracks to the hallowed spaces of legacy-building, Dr. Awele Elumelu is a gentle fire whose warmth touches everything and everyone in her orbit. A physician of quiet power. A corporate Amazon. A wellness evangelist. A wife, a mother, a matriarch of meaning. She is woman, reborn as will and wonder.
Interestingly, however, a new dawn breaks in Surulere, Lagos. The air crackles with the energy of something profound, a dream anchored in the conviction that healing must not be a privilege, but a right. Thanks to Dr. Awele Elumelu, a fresh citadel of care rises against the backdrop of Lagos’ ceaseless hum. AVON Medical, a 50-bed ultra-modern medical facility, inaugurated on Monday, April 14, 2025, by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is more than bricks and machines. It is a promise; a tender, deliberate pledge from a woman whose heart beats for the people.
With unfaltering resolve and a belief that medicine transcends mere diagnosis and superficial treatment, Awele has gifted Lagos a citadel of care that actualises her deep-rooted commitment to restoring dignity to healthcare. There is no gainsaying She entered the health space not merely as a practitioner but as a believer, a believer in Africa, in women, in wellness, and in the quiet miracle of impact. On that radiant morning, with the weight of the moment folding history into the present, Dr. Awele stood beside her husband, the ever-gracious Heirs Holdings Chairman, Mr. Tony Elumelu, and declared: “We could not look away, so we decided to do something about it.”
AVON Medical’s journey began in 2009, modestly, with a single worksite clinic and an audacious dream: to build a healthcare system that does not judge by pocket or privilege. “We started to fill a vacuum. To offer what was absent. To heal where systems were broken,” she recalled.
Today, that seed has blossomed into a full-fledged ecosystem—a hospital network with diagnostic suites, dialysis centres, and paediatric units; a health insurance arm through AVON HMO; and, most importantly, a renewed commitment to inclusivity in care. In a city where the lines between the wealthy and the weary are sharply drawn, this facility emerges as a sanctuary of equality.
It is healthcare with heart. And it bears the mark of a woman who sees every patient as a story, not a statistic.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, visibly moved by the depth of the initiative, paused his Monday cabinet meeting to be present. “This is not just another ribbon-cutting. This is a convergence of vision, collaboration, and delivery for the ordinary man on the street,” he said. His voice, touched by nostalgia, recalled his father’s service at LUTH decades ago, when Nigerian hospitals held global repute.
But today, Sanwo-Olu saw hope again. “This is what partnership means. Government cannot do it alone. But with institutions like AVON Medical, we can dare to dream of reversing the brain drain, of reclaiming our healthcare dignity,” he said.
What makes Dr. Awele Elumelu’s journey especially poignant is not just the scale of her impact, but the intention behind it. Born into medicine, trained in discipline, and steeped in philanthropy, she could have easily opted for the quiet life of a successful professional. But she chose the harder path: building systems where none existed.
“Only about 3% of global health workers serve Africa,” she noted in her address. “And in Nigeria alone, the gap in available and qualified doctors, beds, and equipment reflects a system under pressure.”
With statistics that cut deep—20% of the world’s disease burden, yet less than 2% of its practitioners—Dr. Awele understood early that mere concern was insufficient. There had to be structures. Institutions. And above all, access.
This new AVON hospital is the architecture of that understanding.
At the philosophical heart of this medical movement is Africapitalism—the brainchild of Mr. Tony Elumelu and embraced by his wife with equal passion. It is the belief that the private sector must lead in building Africa, not just by chasing profit, but by solving problems.
“Too often, healthcare is seen as charity or government burden,” Dr. Awele said. “We disagree. Healthcare is an investment in the continent’s most valuable resource: our people.”
And this investment, she emphasized, must be patient. “You don’t expect returns in six months or even two years. You invest because people matter. Because life matters.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu echoed that spirit: “You must have the conscience and sense of purpose to say, ‘I want to help my people live.’ That’s why AVON’s story is so powerful. They didn’t stop at a clinic. They expanded. They endured. They delivered.”
Those who know Dr. Awele speak of her quiet strength and precision—traits that once shaped her path in medical school and now define her approach as a businesswoman. She is equal parts fire and finesse. A woman of few words, but of deeds that thunder across industries.
In her, the soft meets the steel. She has brought to the AVON network not only medical innovation but a mother’s tenderness. “This hospital means more women will now receive maternal care in dignity,” she said. “It means more children will live to run, to read, to rise.”
Indeed, her belief that healthcare is not a privilege but a right continues to shape AVON Medical’s expanding portfolio. With facilities springing up in underserved regions and partnerships forming across sectors, the story is still unfolding. And yet, already, it glows.
Even as dignitaries filled the inauguration grounds—among them Minister of Health Muhammad Ali Pate (represented), LUTH CMD Prof. Wasiu Lanre, and Lagos Commissioner for Health Prof. Akin Abayomi—Dr. Awele stayed mostly in the background, offering smiles, not speeches.
But when she finally spoke, it was poetry laced with power: “This achievement is not the end. It is only a springboard.”
It’s no wonder her husband, Tony Elumelu, often describes her not merely as his partner but as “my pride, my inspiration, and the quiet pillar behind many of our strides.”
As Lagos State ramps up healthcare delivery—with maternal and child centres in Badagry, Epe, Alimosho, and Ajah; and mega-facilities underway in Ojo—Dr. Awele’s AVON Medical stands as both complement and challenge: a private-sector model with public-good outcomes.
“This,” said Sanwo-Olu, gesturing around the hospital, “is how we reverse the migration crisis. This is how we show our doctors they can thrive here.”
And thrive they will. For AVON Medical is not just another hospital—it is a movement. A reminder that women like Dr. Awele Elumelu are not waiting for Africa to be healed. They are doing the healing.
One patient. One policy. One purpose at a time.
