Nigerian medical practitioner Julius Oni, who has gained attention for leaving his position at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States, was the surgeon who operated on President Bola Tinubu’s knees a few years ago, sources told The Bureau Newspaper.
Oni, an Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, recently shared his inspiring story on TikTok. After spending 25 years abroad, he said he made the decision to return to Nigeria, embracing the concept of “reverse Japa” – a term coined to describe Nigerians who choose to move back home after living overseas.
In his TikTok video, Dr. Oni narrated his journey, highlighting his voluntary return to Nigeria.
This migration phenomenon, “Japa” (a Yoruba term meaning “to run or flee”), typically refers to Nigerians seeking better opportunities abroad.
Oni also shared how he worked with patients from different parts of the world.
“I reverse Japa from the US to Nigeria. Well…six weeks ago, I relocated from the US to Nigeria. I took a leave of absence from my job at John Hopkins, sold my house, sold my cars, packed my bags alongside my lovely wife and beautiful children, and moved after 25 years of living in the USA,” he said in the video.
“I know at this point, some of you may call me delusional or even crazy but I am neither, I am just a man full of conviction. I happen to believe that Nigerian patients deserve great care too.
“As part of my mission, I have started DOC Medical Nigeria, which offers high-quality musculoskeletal care to the population. Part of my effort is to provide access to care so that people do not have to travel to access high-quality orthopedic surgery care.
“I am humbled to say that people are coming from near and far, near as Ghana and as far as the UK. There are many patients that will otherwise have travelled but now have access to quality orthopedic quality surgery on the ground.”
Sources however told SaharaReporters is that what Oni failed to mention was that Nigeria’s President was one of his patients while practising in the United States and that he helped to facilitate his return to Nigeria, making it easier than it would have been without his influence.
In August 2021, SaharaReporters exclusively reported how Tinubu underwent a second knee surgery at the John Hopkins University Hospital in Maryland.
The former Lagos governor subsequently left the US for the United Kingdom on crutches, a few days after the surgery.
Sources close to Tinubu had told The Bureau Newspaper that he initially wanted the surgery done in Paris, France but changed his plan over rumours of his death.
“Tinubu had his second surgery at John Hopkins University in Maryland recently. He was accompanied by a popular Nigerian doctor in Chicago. He had wanted the surgery in Paris but when rumour was rife about his death, he hurriedly left for Nigeria and went to John Hopkins,” one of the sources had said.
“He left the US for the UK on crutches,” another source had revealed.
Before this report, the newspaper published how Tinubu had a surgery two weeks earlier.
“Tinubu is hospitalised in Maryland, US. His health is failing. He couldn’t participate in launching his Arewa library, and he couldn’t participate in the Local Government Area elections last week. He could not attend today’s APC congress due to health reasons.
“He had a surgery last week,” an authoritative source disclosed in July 2021.
A few days after the report, photographs of Tinubu hosting then President Muhammadu Buhari in London, surfaced where he was seen leaning on a walking stick.
While Oni claimed on his Linkedln page that he was quitting his job in the US “to improve access to musculoskeletal care in lower- to middle-income countries, starting with Nigeria, where I was born and raised”, sources told SaharaReporters that the surgeon’s return to the country is because of President Tinubu.
“Do you know this person who has been going around saying he’s an orthopaedic consultant and returned to Nigeria because things are getting better; his video has been shared all over the place? It’s time we put the record straight and clear the grey and invisible bits to enlighten the people,” one of the sources told The Bureau Newspaper.
“He was Tinubu’s surgeon in America; he operated on his knees a few years ago, so definitely he’s been given a soft-landing to return to Nigeria. And if you look at his profile, he also has a portfolio of properties and assets.
“I won’t be surprised if he’s been looked after via back channels. Nigerians keep using his story and sharing it numerous times without knowing he has a links to Tinubu.
“He will be used to launder money via companies. He already has a soft-landing. Governors consent to the choice land he plans to use his real estate vehicle for,” a source said.
President Tinubu in 2022 disclosed that his ankle surgery was performed abroad by an Ekiti-born medical surgeon named Doctor Oni.
He said this while addressing stakeholders and delegates of his political party, All Progressive Congress in Ekiti State.
A statement titled, “Ekiti-Born Medical Doctor Operated My Ankle Abroad – Tinubu,” was also released by his media team.
“Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu has reiterated once again that his much publicized medical voyage abroad was only to repair his ankle, and that a Nigerian doctor from Ekiti state carried out the surgery on his ankle,” the statement read.
“Tinubu, who simply put the name of the Medical Doctor as Doctor Oni, explained that those peddling falsehood about his health are mere detractors who are out to malign his personality, noting that he is healthy and fit as ever to serve the country to the best of his ability.
“In his address, Asiwaju emphasized the importance of science and technology in the development of a nation, noting that his administration will engage the broad fields of technology in various sectors of the economy, of which agriculture and industrial production are paramount.”
When The Bureau Newspaper reached out to Dr. Oni regarding the allegations, he said his decision to return to Nigeria was driven by a long-held dream.
According to him, he had always wanted to “come back to Nigeria to serve my fellow countrymen and women after achieving my goals in the United States.
Dr. Oni emphasized that his return was a deliberate choice, motivated by a desire to contribute to the development of Nigeria’s healthcare system.
When questioned about the allegations made by sources suggesting he received favorable treatment due to his connection with President Tinubu, he said, “I didn’t receive any soft package from anybody. Every single dime or kobo I have spent on this effort thus far was my hard-earned income. Is it a crime to be relatively successful and wish to contribute to your country? This doesn’t mean that I won’t welcome any Nigerian who wishes to support my current efforts. The more help we can get in this effort, the more difference we can make.
“Please do your detailed research and you will find out that I, with my two partners, Leslie Awasom and Tenny Tolofari, started XSITE Capital in 2019 and grew the portfolio to 9 figures of assets under management over 4-5 years. We did that by raising capital from mainly US medical professionals and no one in Nigeria contributed to the success of that company in any way, shape or form.
“I have worked hard, achieved some success both in medicine and in business, and I had come back to help contribute to my country; and all these anonymous “sources” of yours are just hell-bent on discrediting me. My response is: Good luck to them. While they are busy peddling rumors about me, I will be busy making a difference in the lives of Nigerian patients who deserve to have the best of care right here at home.
“By the way, there is nothing really special about what I have done in coming back. Many other great doctors have done so before me, and good examples are Dr Yemi Johnson, Prof Wale Suleiman, Dr Hammed Ninalowo, Dr Ike Nwachukwu, Dr Modupe Elebute Odunsi, Dr Seyi Oyesola and so many more.
“They have all made great strides in their specialties and I will do the same for mine. Was it someone that gave them a soft-landing too before they decided to come contribute? And if they all did get a soft landing, are they not making a great difference in the lives of many Nigerians? Should they not be celebrated for that?
“I’d challenge anyone to present any evidence of soft-landing package from anyone in Nigeria. This sounds simply like an effort to discount my sacrifice. I don’t have to be here; I am choosing to be here and I don’t regret it. Maybe all of these rumors will actually encourage some folks to give me a softer landing than I have been able to give myself, I’d certainly welcome it.
“I love this country and want to see it become better. I will continue to do everything in my power to make a difference and I welcome all the help I can get from all strata of society. In the same vein, I believe that all of us as Nigerians should be looking for ways to improve our country in our own little ways. That’s my humble submission.”
“I had my fears and doubts too given the tough landscape of the country, but I just decided that I’d rather face those fears than regret not trying at all when reflecting in the far future,” he said.
Regarding the allegations that he performed surgery on the President during his time at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Oni said he doesn’t disclose information about his patients, regardless of their social status.
Dr. Oni stressed that he is bound by a strict code of ethics that prohibits him from discussing his patients’ personal health information, whether they are rich or poor.
He said, “Don’t believe these rumours that people continue to say but even if I was the one, in the US, you cannot talk about patients you have operated on whether ordinary citizens or political figures. So I’m not at liberty to talk about any patient even if it was you.
“But even having said that, people are saying all kinds of things about me, trying to understand my motivation for coming back to Nigeria.
“I personally love this country, I came back to serve my people. The Nigerians I have taken care of cut across all backgrounds; from the poor (through my non-profit Operation Stand Walk Run) to the wealthy, and across political spectrum from PDP to APC to LP and PRP.”
He continued, “I am telling you that you can’t believe half of the things you hear, and most of the things you see, people will always come with a rumours.
“So I don’t think it’s fair for you to be putting words in my mouth. I have never said that I operated one person or the other – I have been taking care of people like personalities from the House of Representatives in the US, Senate in the US, I have treated people from Saudi Arabia, Qatar; I have been taking care of people from Nigeria, from Ghana. I was busiest, I was a top surgeon in the US before I came.
“I was seeing dignitaries and personalities from all over the world, so if I take care of one governor in Nigeria or one House of Reps or senator or anyone in Nigeria or anyone at all, even the president, it doesn’t matter, I take care of them and I move on. It doesn’t make a difference if I take care of one personality versus the other.
“And also, I didn’t say I don’t want to talk about my patients; I said I was bound by rules of confidentiality and will never disclose the details of any patients that I have ever operated on. And that is true for patients who are rich and famous and for those who are poor and unknown.
“I think the suggestion that ‘Oh! That’s the motivation,’ that’s the insinuation that I’m hearing. For me to come to Nigeria, it doesn’t really have legs because if you talk to the people closest to me for the longest time, they will tell you my goal entirely has been to come to Nigeria to make a difference. You guess what, there are hundreds and hundreds of surgeons and doctors, and nurses, clinical therapists all over the world who want to do the same thing, to reach out.
“The key thing is to continue to encourage those people because we need them, we need them to bring their skills, and combine theirs with the local therapists, nurses so that we can move our healthcare forward. That should be the focus, not rumours. If I operated on you, nobody on earth will come to me and ask, ‘Did I operate on that guy?’ I will never answer yes or no because it will be against my medical ethics to do that.”
“If you ask my wife when we had our first date 11 years ago after I became an orthopedic surgeon, I told her that she would come to Nigeria with me at some point in our lives. So, that should tell you how long I have been planning for this,” he said.
“That was like in my early years of practice. I am 12years in practice right now, and I have decided, you know what, I have achieved a lot of the things I want to achieve in US, it’s time. By the time I turn 80, I don’t want to regret that I didn’t give it a shot, that I didn’t try.”
“So for me it is important and as we all complain about this country, there’s a lot, a lot to things to complain about but if none of us are doing the work, and we all sit back and complain, nothing will get better.
“But in the small area that you are in control; my duty as a patriotic citizen will be to make sure that I am doing everything in my power to make a difference. I believe that if we all have that mindset and try to make a difference at our level and corners of expertise, yes it will take some time but Nigeria will honestly get better.”
Regarding doctors and other professionals who want to leave Nigeria in search of greener pastures, Dr Oni said, “Yes, if you are still compelled to leave; please, don’t forget about your country. Still keep the country at the mind as you go and find a way to contribute back to your country in one way or the other, that is my plea.”
“Whenever I talk to Nigerian fans, we talk most negatively about Nigeria but when I talk to other people that are not necessarily of Nigerian origin, they see opportunities. I think because of the problems in Nigeria, we are so blinded to the opportunities that just exist. But when you talk to strangers, when you talk to people that are looking at problems and how to solve them, they will tell you there are opportunities for them even within the country.”