No fewer than 500 residents in the riverine communities in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Wednesday benefited from the second phase of the Ilaje Rural Development Advocacy Committee Initiative (IRDC) free medical outreach.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that residents of Awoye, Opoakaba, Molutehin communities and environs benefitted from the N7.5 million medical outreach organised by the IRDC and sponsored by NNPC/Chevron through the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU).
The IRDC Chairman, Mr Adeyemi Abiye, said that the outreach was a Corporate Social Responsibility by NNPC/Chevron to host Ilaje communities, which had also engendered cordial relationship and peaceful coexistence.
He commended the medical experts and the quality of drugs given to the beneficiaries.
Mr Elomena Akpoviri, the Project Review Committee Chairman of Morgan Smart Development Foundation, the mentoring NGO to IRDC, said that the outreach was to bring proper health care to the people because of absence of medical facilities in the riverine areas.
“Bringing free medical care and drugs to the riverine communities is a way of giving back to them; this has been sustained for 10 years now and can only get better,” he said.
Mr Nimbe Tawose, the Lead Consultant of Jokunbod Tunyat and Associates, told NAN that medical experts including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and medical attendants were deployed for the outreach.
He said that residents, including children, women and the aged were tested and diagonised of various health challenges ranging from malaria, typhoid, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, skin diseases, headache and body pains, among others.
“The turnout of residents is massive; they were diagonised of various health challenges and given drugs accordingly, but more serious cases were referred to the General Hospital in Igbokoda for further treatment,” Tawose said.
Chief Happiness Abiye, traditional head of Awoye community, who spoke on behalf of the riverine residents, lauded the outreach, describing it as a great blessing to the residents.
NAN recalls that no fewer than 700 residents in the riverine communities including Odofado, Akinsolu, Gbagira and environs benefitted from the first-phase of the free medical outreach.
IRDC is a community-based organisation established in 2005 under GMoU to bring succour to the Ilaje oil communities through various programme and projects sponsored by Chevron Nigeria Ltd. (NAN)
