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Onedokita Simplifies Data Access, Transaction in Nigeria Health System- Folukoya

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Daniel Folukoya, founder & CEO of OneDokita Healthcare Limited
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An attempt to redefine Nigeria’s healthcare information management system and entrench seamless transactions is at the heart of Onedokita.com, Dr Daniel Folukoya, founder & CEO of OneDokita Healthcare Limited told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek.
Onedokita is a network of healthcare providers and the patients they provide the services to, with the patients as the hub and the providers as the spokes. It connects patients to providers via its front-end mobile app and providers inter-relate via its fluid, secure back-end web network.
Bred and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, he attended Kings’ College Lagos before moving to the United Kingdom for his medical training.
He graduated from the University of Cambridge with his Medical Sciences degree and completed his clinical training at the infamous Guy’s, King’s & St Thomas’ Hospital Trust in London.
Following that, he secured a prestigious Academic Training Programme in Sheffield Teaching Hospitals prior to working in Vascular Surgery at the Outer London North West Vascular & Interventional Centre, which he has done for the past 2 years.
He is passionate about healthcare delivery systems, improving workplace efficiency and empowering individuals to take ownership of their healthcare. He spoke to peter oluka.

The Name “Onedokia”
The name ‘Onedokita’ is culled from our vision which is ‘one’, a symbol of unity. It is wholistic; encompasses everything, every segment and strata of the society. So, we are bringing such vision to ensure the Nigerian healthcare system witnesses a different approach to service delivery. I grew up in Nigeria, trained in the West and back to the country with that vision to unite the Nigerian health system.
‘Dokita’ is an interesting cliché in the country. Even guests at the Medic West Africa conference were captivated by the name. Yorubas would come and say, ‘is that not Doctor’? Igbos would lay claim to the fact ‘Dokita’ is the right pronunciation of Doctor in their language. Hausas would also find a way to include it in their language. So, that is the idea- we are all together.
That is our motto: ‘we are better when we work together’. Onedokita entails that we need to unite in solving health issues in our country. We need to look beyond self or capital interest. Majority of the Nigerian population live in the rural areas. These are the people that need the services.

Nigerian Healthcare and Availability of Reliable Data
On the course of our research, the need for reliable data in the healthcare system actually informed the innovation- Onedokita. For instance, we may want to pick up cases for treatment like Diabetes; we know people in England have such cases at different levels, because statistics are there to assist your programme. But when we are looking at the Nigerian situation, digitally, there is very little data on that. What we actually is that there are data on HIV, malaria and tuberculoses (TB). But these illnesses come and kill quickly in terms of the worst case scenario. But what happens is that as you are treating HIV, malaria and TB, the life span of each person becomes longer, however the lifestyle diseases like hypertension, if you ask anybody about the data, we do not know.

Challenges Onedokita Tends to Solve
I was reading a post on LinkedIn with part of the quotes reading ‘a good person will also be beaten by a bad system, but a good system will always help a bad person to an extent’. There are many great doctors, nurses and auxiliary healthcare professionals, passionate about their jobs; they want to help the society.
But when the system is not working for them, everyone gets frustrated. It is not just about the patients, but all the providers in the system will benefit from Onedokita.com.
We are challenging ourselves to improve our system through better collaborations, shared information and workload. Onedokita will bring ease of life to practitioners by helping to schedule doctors’ workload
In Nigeria, by the time a doctor sees over 50 patients in a day; that is a very huge number and we are not taking cognizance of the quality of service rendered. By the time the 15th person enters the run the quality of services automatically reduces. As other patients are coming, the doctor would, probably, be concerned with making sure something is written on paper for such patients to ‘feel attended to’.
The doctors are actually making a lot of sacrifices. Some times, they feel agitated by the number of patients waiting for them, because he may not be aware that such number will be visiting that day.
Therefore, we can improve the system to care more for the patient at the same time, reducing the doctor’s workload. That way, we enhance the productivity and efficiency of the service providers and everyone benefits.

How Onedokita.com Works
The platform is structured like a hub and the providers as the spokes. It connects patients to providers via its front-end mobile app and providers inter-relate via its fluid, secure back-end web network.
The patient will be able to access the services via our mobile app; doctors, healthcare facilities, pharmaceutical centres; from that, booking appointment with the doctor, demand for drugs, book for scans, or perform all the healthcare transactions rather than making physical visitation to the hospital or other facilities before you can obtain services.
These are to make life easier for people and raise the productivity level of our healthcare practitioners. We are bringing in the telephone ‘advisory’ platform as well for Frequently Asked Questions, inquires or easier connection during emergencies.
For instance, few months ago I went mount-climbing at Cape Town. I had strains in my bone but I hadn’t time to visit the healthcare facility there, but I knew I needed an x-ray. So, if I was able to call a help line or chat, through that I could have booked for x-ray.
From that contact I would have known the slot and time I have been allocated to and it is added to my profile. If I have a personal or family doctor he can take that as reference information. We even have situation where medical reports are released immediately, it helps remove encumbrances in the system.

Information Management/Data Privacy
As the saying goes, health is wealth. The same way we guide our bank account is the same way our health records need to be safe-guided.
The only access-right to that health information is the authenticated user-right. You can add your doctor on your profile; thereby giving him access to your information.
You may decide to create a group and these are people you are permitting to access the information. How will this be helpful? Health tourism is huge in Nigeria. Instead of travelling to India or Germany to supply needed information you can stay here access the facility, sharing email with them on your experiences before embarking on the journey.

Internet Connectivity and Ease Access to Data 
From the front end, the mobile app, which is the interface used by the patient, we profile it for a pre-test; in that way you test-run the process. And the kind of information feed-on the platform, it does not require much megabyte of data and it is hosted on secured service. That means the backend is secured.

Target Market: Private or Public Hospitals?
Our primary target market is the private health institutions. As our vision is ‘unity’, public health providers are taken care of under the government umbrella.
Though, we may not all agree that the public sector is united as should, but there is an oversight assessment.
The private healthcare providers are the ones we want to bring into the system. For instance, the country has this new national (health) ICT framework that applies primarily to government facilities, but the private sector does not have the policy guide. The realty: it has to be financially beneficial to all parties.

Subscription Plans/Download
The patient is key. When I mention patient I actually allude to everyone. A healthy man today could be ill the next few hours.
At the moment it is a free app, downloadable in Goole App Store, but not everybody would want to download, therefore we have the web version.
Meanwhile, we are making the platform available to the providers too. Our vision remains to unite all in the ecosystem by eliminating entry barrier. So, the pricing model is low cost to encourage as many people as possible.

Sustainability Plans
Our plan is, first, to have a robust application, tested and satisfactorily customer-induced, we will then begin to scale up.
The next thing is we want to educate people on some prevalent illnesses, most times, that are treatable but people are not usually aware. We want to open the app and involve organisations in that regard. There are so many health programmes going on; if we tap into that, we will get more people involved. As these are going on more, people will adopt the platform.

Verification of Healthcare Providers
The first thing we did was to approach the Lagos State Government to obtain the list of certified healthcare practitioners.
We are going to other States as well to validate the information we have. We also engage the practitioners on face-to-face discussions. We are also working with NAFDAC to ensure it is only the certified pharmaceutical outlets.
The essential thing is that every facility that wants to enlist on our platform, we visit them, verify and documents every piece of information.
Also, there is a robust feedback mechanism on our platform. Everyone is encouraged to leverage that too.
On our side, we are working on incentives to encourage people to share their healthcare experiences. It might not be that the practitioner is quack but the method of practice might augur well with the people.

How Prepared Is the Market to Embrace Onedokita?
We are optimistic about our positioning, because Nigeria is economically in recession, but technologically we are turning a corner reaching a threshold where will ‘burst’ and expand which will trigger a turnaround in the nation’s economy. Due to our optimism we are building relationships and trusts in the market.

Innovation Summit 2016: Onedokita’s Participation
We really feel grateful to the Emerging Media and partners, the organisers of the Summit for giving us opportunity to showcase our fresh approach to healthcare in Nigeria.
Innovation is not just about new medical device, but also involves new ways/approach to doing solving the same problem or something that has never been done.
The Summit is a big opportunity to present our new ideas with regards access, infrastructure, processes, clinical governance, etc.  

 

 


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Tech-driven Solutions Receive Commendation @ Maiden Insurance Week Hackathon

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Mrs Yetunde Ilori, President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), has commended the innovative and technology-driven solutions presented during the institute’s maiden Insurance Week Hackathon competition.

Ilori gave the commendation after the completion of the competition on Thursday in Lagos, held at the College of Insurance and Financial Management in Asese, Ogun, as part of the Insurance Week organised by the CIIN.

She described the solutions as crucial to the industry’s transformation and relevance in the digital age. “This shows that the future is bright for the Nigerian insurance industry.

We are transforming as an industry, and digital innovation is at the heart of that transformation,” Ilori said. She noted that 19 teams initially applied for the competition, but only six were shortlisted.

The competition, which targeted young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 29, engaged six finalist teams over a fourweek intensive innovation process, culminating in a demo day on Wednesday in Lagos.

The hackathon focused on real-world challenges in the sector, such as inclusive insurance, fraud detection, risk management, and improving customer experience.

It was designed to cultivate the next generation of insurance innovators, deepen insurance awareness, and promote financial literacy among Nigerians.

The teams that participated in the final stage of the competition were: Ifokanbale, Insurbridge, Insurvate, Team Aegis, Team Phoenix, and The Assured Team. Team Aegis developed “Hustle Guard,” a microinsurance solution for tricycle drivers covering health, life, and income, in an effort to demystify micro insurance in Nigeria.

The Assured Team presented “Kolo Plus by Card,” an unstructured savings plan with payment and interest features tailored to low-income earners. Team Insurbridge created “Smarter Claims,” a solution aimed at improving the insurance claims process.

Team Phoenix introduced “HerShield,” a solution focused on empowering women and building trust in the insurance sector. The Assured Team also developed additional ideas to drive insurance penetration in underserved and informal communities.

After an engaging pitch session before a panel of judges, Team Insurvate emerged as the overall winner with its solution, “Claim Central”, an end-to-end digital platform designed to streamline the insurance claims process from policyholders to insurers.

Team Aegis secured second place, while Team Phoenix came in third. The panel of judges included financial sector experts such as Norah Igwe, Tunji Andrews, Diana Mulili, Sakeenat Bakare, Ibraheem Babalola, and Prince Adeshina Adeyemi-Doro.

Also speaking, Mr Eddie Efekoha, Chairman of the Insurance Week, said the hackathon demonstrated a conscious effort to explore how technology can help distribute insurance products to all parts of the country.

“We believe this initiative will spark more interest among the youth to engage with insurance, not just as consumers but as creators and innovators,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the winning team, Mr Odunayo Ojeremi, leader of Team Insurvate, described the competition as highly competitive and rewarding. “We are excited and grateful for the opportunity.

“We didn’t expect to win, but we are glad our solution was recognised. We hope to improve ‘Claim Central’ and make it a platform that ensures seamless claims processing,” he said.


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Enugu Air Commences Operations Today

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Enugu State-owned commercial airline, Enugu Air, is set to officially launch its operations today Monday, July 7, 2025. The launch ceremony will take place at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, with the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, expected to attend alongside other dignitaries, according to a statement from the airline.

Dr Obi Ozor, Commissioner for Transportation, Enugu State, said Enugu Air is a key component of Governor Peter Mbah’s vision for a modern, integrated transportation system, aimed at positioning Enugu as a major aviation hub in Nigeria.

The airline will begin operations with a fleet of three Embraer jets, from the E170 and E190 series, chosen for their performance, passenger comfort, and suitability for regional routes.

The airline’s inaugural routes will form a strategic triangular operation connecting Enugu, Abuja, and Lagos, with plans to expand services to Port Harcourt, Owerri, Benin, Kano, and other key cities across Nigeria and beyond.

Ozor said, “With a strong foundation built on innovation and sustainability, Enugu Air is poised to transform regional air travel, boost state pride, and raise Enugu’s profile nationally and globally.”

The launch of Enugu Air is expected to have a significant impact on the aviation industry in Nigeria, providing more options for air travel and promoting economic development in the region.

With its modern fleet and strategic routes, Enugu Air is set to revolutionize air travel in Nigeria and establish Enugu as a major player in the country’s aviation sector.

 


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Cybervergent Selected as World Economic Forum’s 2025 Technology Pioneer Company

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In affirmation of its global standing, Cybervergent, a Pan-African technology company that leverages artificial intelligence to transform how organisations manage risk, governance, privacy, and cybersecurity, has been selected as one of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Technology Pioneers for 2025—a global cohort spotlighting companies transforming industries through breakthrough technologies and responsible innovation.

The WEF, an international organisation committed to improving the state of the world through public-private collaboration, brings together global leaders to shape economic, technological, and societal agendas. Cybervergent now joins this global community.

The company is recognized for its innovative approach to building digital trust, reimagining how organisations manage cybersecurity, risk, privacy and governance.

Commenting on the company’s milestone, Adetokunbo Omotosho, CEO of Cybervergent, said, “I am honoured that Cybervergent has been named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. This is more than an accolade — it’s a validation of our commitment to redefining cybersecurity, privacy, and risk management to build true digital trust.

“What makes this recognition even more meaningful is the fact that Cybervergent demonstrates innovation in AI and infrastructure can emerge from any region, challenging conventional perceptions.”

Some past recipients of the Technology Pioneer recognition, including Google, Spotify, and Airbnb have gone on to fundamentally reshape global industries.

As a member of the 2025 Technology Pioneers community, Cybervergent will be contributing to discussions shaping cybersecurity, AI, and cyber resilience across industries and the global digital economy.


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