Blessing Okoro, also known as Blessing CEO, a self-described relationship and mental health specialist, has maintained that she owes no one an apology for her contentious announcement of breast cancer.
Okoro made the comments in an interview with Lagos-based social media influencer Egungun, which was posted on Saturday. In the interview, Okoro disputed receiving a stage four diagnosis and acknowledged that she had only raised N13 million in public contributions rather than the N100 million that had been widely reported.
“For what? Who did I hurt?” she said when asked to apologise to people who felt misled by her stage four claim.
“I think I’m not a doctor and maybe I just passed the message that a doctor gave to me.”
Additionally, she blamed a potential misunderstanding for the stage four assertion. “Maybe there was a misunderstanding because that’s what I was told, but I’m also trying to have different options and be sure of what I’m doing when you do your biopsy,” she remarked.
Okoro stated that her oncologist had not yet given her a conclusive cancer stage evaluation.
“I’ve completed every test, but I’m not sure what stage I am at the moment. I’ll see my oncologist again in a few days, and they’ll be able to tell me the precise stage,” she remarked.
She described the biopsy as the most recent operation and stated that she had not started treatment.
She linked the health fear to a tumor she says she found last year, which medical professionals first declared to be non-cancerous before a follow-up test contradicted that conclusion.
It was a lump. At first, they said it wasn’t malignant. When I tried to remove the tumor after a few months, they informed me that it was malignant,” she stated.
She was as uncompromising when it came to disclosing her medical results. “I am unable to share my results online. It’s private matters,” she stated.
She denied the widely circulated rumor that she had received N100 million in donations, stating that the actual amount was N13 million. She claimed, “I never reached N100 million.”
“We are hoping it doesn’t get to that point, but if it gets to that point, the most important thing is let me be alive,” she stated in reference to the potential for a mastectomy.
She also urged women to perform daily self-examinations in an effort to raise awareness of breast cancer.
Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer among women. Therefore, please try to check your breast every morning when you wake up to see if there is a lump,” she advised.
As the controversy surrounding her diagnosis intensifies, she takes a rebellious posture.
Fans and other prominent figures first expressed sympathy for her news, but doubts soon grew due to the lack of solid medical proof.
A woman named Deborah Mbara accused her of altering her medical records in order to mislead the public, leading to accusations of medical report fraud.
Businessman Alafaa Kariboye-Igbo, also known as Oil Money, posted a legal demand letter on Instagram on Thursday, claiming to have given N20 million. The letter instructed Okoro to return the money within seven days or risk legal action, including a referral to police enforcement.
Okoro has been involved in controversy in the past, such as when she falsely claimed to be the owner of a luxury home in 2019, which resulted in her arrest and subsequent public apology.
