“Every family deserves to feel safe inside their own home. That is not a luxury. That is the standard we set — and refuse to lower.”
— Joke Afolabi, Founder & CEO
A Gap Nobody Was Fixing
In Lagos, finding a trustworthy caregiver for your elderly mother, your newborn, or your home was — and still largely is — a word-of-mouth gamble. A friend recommends someone. You take a chance. Sometimes it works. Often it doesn't.
Background checks were unheard of. Contracts were non-existent. Training was whatever the previous employer taught. And for the tens of thousands of Nigerian families managing this challenge every year — including the vast and growing diaspora trying to care for parents and relatives from thousands of miles away — there was simply no professional alternative.
This was the world Joke Afolabi looked at in 2018. Not as a sociologist or an NGO worker. As a Chartered Accountant — someone trained to see systems, identify risks, and ask why a problem this widespread had no structured solution.
Joke Afolabi
Founder & CEO, COHCASEL · Chartered Accountant
The Accountant Who Chose People Over Spreadsheets
Joke spent over a decade in financial services and corporate consulting. She understood risk, process, and accountability at a level most people in the domestic staffing space had never encountered.
But it was a personal experience — watching a close family member's carer situation deteriorate for lack of proper oversight — that moved the question from academic to urgent. She began mapping the problem the way she would map a business risk: What are the failure points? Who bears the cost? Where does accountability sit? What would a professional system look like?
The answer she arrived at was COHCASEL. Not a staffing agency in the traditional sense. A professional placement firm with audit-grade vetting, structured certification, and ongoing quality management — for the most important environment anyone occupies: their home.
One Placement. One Promise.
COHCASEL made its first placement in June 2019 — a certified caregiver for an elderly client in Victoria Island, Lagos. The caregiver had passed a police background check, held first aid certification, and had been personally interviewed and assessed by Joke.
The client's daughter, calling from London, described the experience as "the first time in two years I slept properly." That sentence became the north star.
Word spread the way it always does when something genuinely useful exists in a market starved of it — quietly, then quickly. By the end of 2019, COHCASEL had made dozens of placements. By 2020, despite the pandemic, hundreds of families were relying on the agency for essential care.
Six Years of Building Trust
Numbers don't capture every story — but they show a pattern of families choosing to trust us, again and again.
Families Served
Households trusting COHCASEL
Staff Placed
Certified professionals placed
Years Operating
Founded in Lagos, 2019
Areas Covered
Across Lagos & surroundings
CHMC Certified
Every staff member certified
Six Years. One Mission.
Every milestone earned, never assumed — built on trust, one family at a time.
Founded in Lagos
First placement made in Victoria Island. The standard is set from day one.
Essential Through the Pandemic
COHCASEL continues operating through COVID-19, providing critical household support for Lagos families during lockdowns.
CHMC Certification Launched
Nigeria's first professional domestic staff certification standard — created, owned, and administered by COHCASEL.
Diaspora Service Launched
300 active placements crossed. Nigerians abroad can now manage care for loved ones at home through a single trusted partner.
Nationally Recognised
Featured in Punch Newspaper as one of Lagos's most impactful social enterprises.
500 Families Milestone
Operations expand to Abuja and Port Harcourt. Quarterly training programmes formalised for all placed staff.
Digital Platform Launch
The COHCASEL platform goes live — seamless matching, real-time updates, and diaspora management tools for every family.
The Principles Behind Every Placement
These aren't marketing statements. They're operational commitments that shape every decision we make.
We verify before we place.
Every person who enters your home through COHCASEL has been background-checked, reference-verified, and personally assessed. No exceptions.
We certify our own standard.
The CHMC certification doesn't exist anywhere else because we created it. It is the minimum bar for every COHCASEL placement.
We stay after the placement.
Monthly performance reviews, spot checks, and ongoing account management mean we're not gone after the contract is signed.
We serve families everywhere.
Whether you're in Lagos or London, your family deserves the same level of care. Our diaspora service exists because distance doesn't diminish responsibility.
Our Vision
To be the standard-bearer for professional home care in Africa — where every family, regardless of location, can access verified, compassionate, and accountable domestic staff.
Our Mission
To restore peace of mind to Nigerian families by placing rigorously trained, certified, and supervised home managers — while creating dignified, well-compensated careers for domestic workers across Lagos.
Our Core Values
Integrity
Every caregiver we place has passed rigorous background verification. We never cut corners on trust — because your family deserves certainty, not probability.
Excellence
CHMC certification is our baseline, not our ceiling. We invest in continuous training so our staff arrive prepared for anything your home demands.
Compassion
Behind every placement is a human story — an elderly parent, a newborn, a family stretched thin. We approach every match with empathy at the centre.
Community
We create dignified livelihoods for domestic workers while elevating the standard of care for Nigerian families. When both sides thrive, everyone wins.
Accountability
Our ongoing supervision, check-ins, and performance reviews mean you never have to wonder how your caregiver is doing — we track it so you don't have to.
Partnership
We stay with you beyond placement day. Our team is reachable, responsive, and invested in making the relationship work for the long term.
Lagos
Built for
Every Nigerian Family
Diaspora
The Story Through Their Eyes
Every family we serve is part of the story. These are a few of their words.
“COHCASEL gave us something we didn't think existed in Nigeria: a caregiver we could trust completely. The professionalism, the vetting, the ongoing support — it's in a different league.”
Mrs. Oduola-Bello
Ikoyi, Lagos
“I'm in Toronto. My mother is in Abuja. COHCASEL manages everything — the carer, the reports, the updates. For the first time in years, I feel like a present daughter even from this distance.”
Adaeze N.
Diaspora client, Toronto
“When Joke started this, I thought it was ambitious. Five years later, she's changed how this entire sector works in Lagos. COHCASEL is the proof that professionalism belongs in every home.”
Dr. Emeka Okeke
Victoria Island, Lagos
Continue Exploring COHCASEL
Join Our Mission to Transform
Home Care in Nigeria
Whether you're a family seeking peace of mind, a caregiver ready to build a professional career, or an organization that shares our values — there's a place for you at COHCASEL.