By Stephen Adeleye.
The Kogi State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology (MOEST), Mrs Rosemary Osikoya, has offered free medical services to indigent people in four communities of Ogugu ward one in Olamboro Local Government Area.
The commissioner offered the free medical services through her NGO, Ladi Memorial Foundation (LMF), and also visited four schools in this area and I am happy that we are able to de-worm all the children in those schools.
Osikoya, inaugurating the outreach at Emagaba in Ogugu, noted that the communities had no access to medical care, saying “the people are very poor and had no functional health facility except at Ogugu”.
According to her, the idea is to go back to our communities and see how we could mobilise stakeholders to give medical support to our people and that is what we are doing here today.
She said that the communities had responded with different kinds of support including the local church that gave chairs and also mobilised their people from across Ogugu ward 1 to come out and benefit from the programme.
“Essentially for this medical outreach, we have divided Ogugu ward 1 into four locations, which are: Emagaba, Ofode, Ikem and Ikelekwu.
“Many people have come from all the four communities to participate in the flag-off and that is why we have these unprecedented high turnouts here today at Emagaba.
“We have earmarked two outreach locations in each community for easy access by the beneficiaries due to long distance and health challenges of the people.
“The outreach started on Wednesday and will continue tii Saturday” Osikoya said.
She noted a team of volunteer doctors were also around to attend to people who would need expert care including Pediatricians.
She said that they had drugs for different category of people and ailments, noting that a provision had been made to cater for over 2,000 beneficiaries across the communities that would access free healthcare depending on individual’s ailment.
The commissioner added that they had provided free drugs such as hypertensive drugs, blood spectrum antibiotics for children and adults, a variety of injections, pain relieve drugs for elderly, skin ointment, among others.
“Today, we have also visited four schools in this area and I am happy that we are able to de-worm all the children in those schools.
“I think it is good to give something back for free to the people without paying for it; I also thank the media for going the extra mile to travel down here to cover the event,’’ she stressed.
She thanked Gov. Yahaya Bello for being a health and education friendly governor and for making Ileke Emonoja community to getting a standard healthcare facility through the CSDA World Bank project, while appreciating the other appointees from the area for their support especially Hon. Edward Onoja and KSSH CMD, Dr Ahmed Attah.
“Basically, I am thanking God for the opportunity to serve the people and thanking everyone who had contributed their little quota in one way or the other in achieving this, including the staff of LMF and MOEST.
“We are happy because this gesture is in line with the GYB sustainability healthcare agenda of the new direction government for Kogites.
“But only God, in the end can heal the people. All the drugs and medical services that would be offered all through the five days period would be 100 per cent free.
“I do hope before the end of this year we should be able to record another round of medical outreach and subsequently give support to the health centres that government is establishing in this area,” she said.
Pastor Sunday Onaji, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health Matters, said that the governor had been so much concerned about the health of the citizens especially the sick people.
“Since we came this morning, many people have been trooping out to benefit from the outreach, as you can see the unprecedented crowd yourself.
“We have attended to several ailments and gave out free drugs such as antimalarial, deworming, peptic ulcer, cataracts, while some 18 critical cases had been referred to hospitals.
He thanked the commissioner and her NGO for taking the lead in reaching out to the indigent communities.
One of the community leaders, Mr Benjamin Adejoh, thanked the commissioner and his team for taking care of the health of their people and for the free drugs.
Also speaking, Pastor Friday Oguche of United Evangelical Church (UEC), Emagaba, eulogise the commissioner and her NGO for the free healthcare, while urging other spirited individuals, organizations to emulate the gesture.
A beneficiary, Mrs Agnes Amegu, thanked the commissioner for the gesture, saying she was giving antimalarial drugs and her four children were also dewormed.
The drugs distributed include: antimalarial, multivitamins, antibiotics, ointments, ciproxamed, ulcer and hypertensive drugs, among others.
