The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others – Mahatma Gandhi
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” —Martin Luther King Jr.
In a world where selfishness, betrayal, sense of superiority and greed reign supreme, where people do not waste their energies in consideration of others, finding people who have taken it upon themselves to work for the greater good of others, is no mean task.
Indeed, this man has come a long way in putting the consideration of others way above his personal gains and aggrandizement. He’s been a part of the reason for a positive change in the lives of many whom he has touched through his service to humanity.
Dr. Olayinka Rasheed Alausa, founder of Omo Alausa Foundation and popularly referred to as Omo Alausa is a distinguished Nigerian with an outstanding passion for charity.
The Physician-scientist, entrepreneur and advocate for good governance who spends his leisure time advocating for citizens’ engagement in business and politics as a means to enhancing qualitative followership and leadership in the polity, is also the Medical Director of Global Safety at Takeda Pharmaceutical Inc., a global research and development –driven company based in Boston, USA.
Also co-founded Biogreen Energy Solutions, CS Farms and Pan Atlantic Healthcare Corp, which focuses on the transformation of the energy, agricultural and healthcare industries in Nigeria and Africa.
He has 15 years of combined experience in the clinical and biotechnology space, providing solutions for drug/pharmaceutical research and development. He is an alumnus of College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Boston University, and Hult International Business School where he bagged MBBS, MPH, and MBA degrees respectively.
The Omo Alausa Foundation was born out of the passion to provide large scale humanitarian services to people within the Southwest geopolitical zone, in order to give them a sense of belonging in the society.
In Lagos, the Foundation has engaged in free medical health outreach that benefited over 2000 people; in Badagry, they have sank boreholes and renovated some public toilets; at Ikorodu during the occasion of the Oga Day celebration, free medical outreach was conducted; at Ikeja, they visited some special homes, constructed public toilets and sank boreholes and in Lagos Central. They also embarked on visitations to special homes.
Other humanitarian endeavors include grants to widows, soft loans to petty traders, sponsoring community match activities, scholarship to exceptionally brilliant secondary school students. Theybare also heavily involved in free leadership trainings, sponsoring academic awards; sponsoring Alimosho leadership conference; visitation to prominent traditional rulers; festive seasons packages to the public; sponsoring of political and religious activities in Nigeria, to mention a few.
And as the popular saying goes, behind every successful man is a right thinking woman, Omo Alausa is not alone in his selfless services to humanity, he is happily married to a woman, who on her own also shares the same ideology and beliefs with her husband.
Benice Abimbola Alausa, is the amiable wife of Omo Alausa. She is a certified public accountant, entrepreneur and a tax problem solutions advocate, poised to represent troubled taxpayers in the US by resolving complex tax issues and restoring the peace of mind of citizens so that they can be protected from aggressive collections enforcement from the government.
She is the founder of Bernice Hassan & Associates, CPA. For over a decade, her firm has served as an emergency clinic for individuals and small businesses with IRS tax problems.
Omo Alausa, who is based abroad disclosed that he never really left Nigeria as he has a family in Nigeria to care for, because giving back to the society is natural to him, hence leaving the country was not part of what he wanted.
Here is how he shared his thoughts on CSR and humanitarian services within the country: “There is never enough good. In Africa, we are not doing too badly but our best is still not enough. Corporate bodies like MTN, Glo, First Bank are doing their best but sometimes, it seems like they are not. So we need more entities to join hands for the good of all mankind.
“There is need to have a more government-corporate collaboration. Some of the implementations and the mode of which these monies or gifts are being distributed to people have to be thoroughly followed and investigated.”
On how to have a more impactful humaniefforts, the philanthropist believes that government and private individuals should first carry out a community assessment exercise to know what exactly the people need and what they are lacking. Needs assessment should be carried out at all levels, he posited.
Explaining his take on CSR legislation, Omo Alausa noted that government departments should be able to refocus CSR, making it a rule for a particular percentage of corporate and individual proceeds to be given to the needy.
He noted that the reason why CSR initiates of corporates are not recognized is because they don’t first and foremost conduct a thorough needs assessment exercise on how the monies will get to the right hands.
He acknowledged that the much-talked about girl-child education is very important, being a father to three daughters. Every child, he hinted, has a right to education, healthcare, etc.
“When you train a girl child, you have trained a nation. You can’t exhaust what comes from educating a girl child. There is no culture or society that is totally wrong and the ones that make sense, let’s use it. We should be able to provide food, school fees and every basic need for these kids.”
Sharing his views on politics, he said: “Naturally, I love politics and I think I should be involved when the time is right. I have never thought of running for any political position now but if the opportunity comes, I will definitely do it when it’s time. The goal for now is to carry out impactful and sustainable CSR initiatives.”
He praised the efforts of the generation of Lagos leaders, particularly from the era of Bola Tinubu who have continued to give Lagos the best of everything leadership has to offer. He maintained that the only way to support government’s efforts at helping the society grow is to join hands with them in your own little way considering that government can do it all.
Omo Alausa admitted to getting lots of support from his family members, but especially from his lovely wife, whom he said supports him fully in everything he does. They are both looking forward to creating a global NGO where the funding will come from all across. He is looking forward to seeing the Foundation grow from strength to strength and involve in positive interventions far and wide.
Answering questions about the ‘japa’ syndrome, the medical doctor cum farmer and philanthropist advised that, for those within the age brackets of 20 to 35, there is no harm for them to ‘Japa’ provided it is done with commonsense. For those around 40 and above, he admonished them to remain within the country and rather establish themselves while joining in building a greater society.
On why he ventured into farming, he has this to say: “Farming is a safe place for me and I find joy in it. If I was not in the medical line, I would have gone into farming fully because it is something that will never perish.”
Now to round off our discussion with this philanthropist par excellence on his considerations and continuous investment in alleviating the pains of others, this piece would be ending with a quote from Nikki Rowe, author of Once a Girl, Now a Woman,
“Please hold onto your kindness. We share the world with many selfish beings and we need open hearts to create change.” —Nikki Rowe
