In a major boost to its social investment drive, the NNPC Foundation has donated a state-of-the-art 1.5 Tesla GE MRI machine to the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Dala, Kano.
Handed over on Thursday, the advanced diagnostic equipment is set to significantly enhance specialized healthcare services across northern Nigeria.
The donation is part of a comprehensive health sector initiative launched by the Foundation in April 2026.
Also the delivery of an identical MRI scanner to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital in Anambra State in May 2026 for neurological, orthopaedic and musculoskeletal cases.
The Dala facility, a key centre for trauma and orthopaedic care for more than six decades that serves patients from beyond the northern region, will now have enhanced diagnostic capacity expected to cut down on accessibility and affordability challenges.
Speaking at the ceremony, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, said the new equipment would transform healthcare across the region.
“We believe that the installed MRI equipment will revolutionise healthcare service delivery in Nigeria’s northern geopolitical zone,” he stated, while praising the hospital’s management and staff for their courage and commitment to serving humanity despite tough conditions and obstacles.
Ojulari also reiterated the wider difficulties facing Nigeria’s healthcare system, including infrastructure gaps and rising demand for specialised services.
“Interventions such as this MRI installation are therefore timely and necessary to enhance diagnostic capabilities and improve patient care outcomes,” he added, calling for joint efforts to protect the equipment.
The NNPC boss noted that the corporation remains deliberate about the quality of its social investments through the NNPC Foundation.
“Through the NNPC Foundation, we continue to implement interventions that create measurable social value across Nigeria,” he said, describing it as an honour to formally commission and hand over the system for quality specialised healthcare to the public.
The Executive Vice President, Business Services at NNPC Limited, Mrs. Sophia A. Mbakwe, represented by the Executive Director, Programme Management, NNPC Foundation, Mrs Rose Okonkwo reaffirmed the company’s wider responsibility.
“We reaffirm our commitment to improving the wellbeing of Nigerians as well as strengthening key national institutions,” she noted, adding that the Foundation has a dedicated unit for social interventions that touch communities across the country.
She expressed hope that the MRI system would be put to maximum use.
The handover is seen as another demonstration of NNPC’s commitment to strategic investments that support national development beyond its core energy operations.
The Foundation’s health portfolio stands out for its focus on high-burden areas. In April 2026, it rehabilitated and handed over three wards (G, H, and J) at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, restoring approximately 100 beds with new infrastructure including a central medical gas system, upgraded electrical and mechanical works, and improved flooring.
This directly addresses inadequate in-patient capacity in a national referral centre for trauma and orthopaedic cases
The Kano handover completes a deliberate northern-southern spread of the same technology.
The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Isa Nuruddeen, thanked the Foundation for the donation, describing it as a timely intervention that will significantly boost the hospital’s diagnostic capacity.
Nuruddeen said the installation of the modern MRI machine symbolised renewed hope for the healthcare sector, and assured that the hospital would make optimal use of the equipment to achieve its intended purpose.