OJUDE OBA: ‘I LIVED EACH DAY AS IF IT WERE MY LAST’ – FAROOQ OREAGBA RECOUNTS 10-YEAR JOURNEY LIVING WITH CANCER

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A Nigerian businessman and managing director of NG Clearing Limited, Farooq Oreagba, has shared how he has been living with cancer of the bone, which is incurable, for 10 years.

Oreagba spoke on the Arise TV Morning Show on Sunday, days after he was crowned “King of Steeze”, for captivating audiences with his style at the 2024 Ojude Oba festival, an annual event in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.

Revealing that he was diagnosed with cancer of the bone in February 2014, Mr. Oreagba disclosed he had a transplant in August of the same year, adding, “I did chemotherapy 21 days a month for eight years. I don’t do chemotherapy anymore because I’ve put in a lot of weight.”

While sharing the impact of his diagnosis on his life, the investment banker said the diagnosis made him set his top priorities.

He added that being diagnosed with cancer was the best thing that happened to him, adding that it changed his view about life.

“From the moment I was diagnosed with cancer in February 2014- it’s an incurable form of cancer- Your priorities change,” said Mr Oreagba.

He continued, “You don’t know how much time you’ve got; you line up your list of priorities. For me, family first because I don’t know how long I’m going to be alive. By God’s grace, I’m 10 years and counting.

“I’m 58 and I say to you now, if I could live another 20 years, I would say being diagnosed with cancer was the best thing to ever happen to me. It changed my perspective on life. I don’t sweat the small stuff, what I’m there for, I’m there for it. Counselling cancer patients, trying to improve access to better healthcare, I’ll do that all day long.”

Reflecting on his long-standing involvement with the Ojude Oba festival, Oreagba said, “Ojude Oba has evolved, and I’ve been doing it for 15 years. My father was the main rider, going back to the early 1960s.”

He emphasised the importance of his primary job in affording the medication necessary for his treatment, stating, “I have a primary job which is important because that allows me to afford the medication that I’ve been using.”

Oreagba also recounted how his social circle reduced following his diagnosis.

“I was a senior executive at the exchange back in the early 2000s, and prior to that, let’s say I had five million friends. When I left the exchange in 2010, my friends went down to like, let’s say, one million, and went down to a hundred when I was diagnosed with cancer,” he stated.

When questioned about his tattoos, Mr. Oreagba raised his sleeves to reveal the messages inked on his skin. One tattoo read, “I live each day as if it were my last, so don’t judge me. Carpe diem (meaning seize the day).”

He explained that other tattoos represented his children and a time when he had numerous friends.

Mr. Oreagba was born in July 1966 in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria and attended Ijebu Ode Grammar School and Kings’ College, Lagos, before pursuing higher education in the United Kingdom.

He earned degrees in Combined Engineering Studies from Coventry University and Business and Finance from the University of East London.