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Popular Nigerian music video director ThankGod Omori, better known as TG Omori, has opened up about the enormous financial and emotional toll of his battle with kidney failure, revealing that even someone earning ₦1 million monthly could struggle to afford regular dialysis.
Speaking during an interview on the Afropolitan Podcast, Omori said dialysis at some Nigerian hospitals costs between ₦50,000 and ₦70,000 per session, while treatment at the private facility he used cost between ₦150,000 and ₦200,000 per session.
According to the award-winning director, he sometimes underwent dialysis three times a week, pushing his weekly treatment bill to around ₦500,000.
“So, automatically, if your salary is even one million naira a month, it can’t serve you,” Omori said while explaining the financial pressure faced by kidney patients.
Omori also disclosed that he spent about ₦31 million during his treatment and transplant journey, excluding some of the additional costs associated with tests, medication and complications.
His account also revealed the emotional trauma surrounding an unsuccessful kidney transplant involving his younger brother. Omori said the search for a donor lasted about nine months before his brother eventually volunteered.
The transplant was performed at St Nicholas Hospital in Lagos in August 2024, but complications emerged when the donated kidney failed to function properly. Doctors subsequently had to remove it, according to Omori’s account.
Omori said the failed transplant was particularly difficult because his brother had already undergone surgery and would continue living with one kidney despite the transplant not succeeding.
Following the failed procedure, the music video director returned to dialysis while preparing for another transplant. He said the experience transformed his understanding of the importance of financial resources during a serious health crisis.
“Even though money can’t buy happiness, money can still buy some time,” Omori said.
His revelations have renewed attention on the cost of managing kidney disease in Nigeria, particularly for patients who require multiple dialysis sessions every week and do not have the financial resources available to high-income earners.
For many Nigerian families, Omori’s experience raises a wider healthcare question: if a person earning ₦1 million monthly can struggle to fund dialysis, how accessible is sustained kidney treatment to an average Nigerian?
