By Yetunde Fatungase
The NNPC Foundation says it has offered 1,000 free cataract extraction surgeries to residents of Ogun.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who monitored the exercise, reports that while the screening of patients began in December 2024, the surgeries were performed in January.
A Consultant Ophthalmologist at Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abeokuta, Dr Peter Abikoye, said on Friday that the surgeries, which also included children, were carried out in four designated centres.
Abikoye, listed the centres to include: FMC, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta; Lukosi Health Centre, Mosimi; FMC, Joga-Orile and FMC. Ajebo, described the exercise as “successful, all-encompassing and all-engaging”.
He told NAN that three of the beneficiaries were children, who had successful cataract extraction surgeries performed on them.
The consultant said that the foundation met its target of extracting 1,000 cataracts within a three-week period.
He further stated that 110 surgeries were carried out at Mosimi centre; 51 in Joga-Orile, with the remaining done in FMC, Abeokuta.
Abikoye, however, decried low turn-out at Joga-Orile centre, saying that while 90 cases were recruited, only 51 of the patients showed up for surgery.
“In Ajebo, we had to mobilise patients to travel to the FMC in Abeokuta for their surgeries.
“Unfortunately, the local facility lacked the necessary resources to accommodate our team at that time, and postponing the surgeries wasn’t an option,” he said.
According to him, enrolling children in such programmes is unusually rare, as pediatric eye care requires highly-specialised expertise.
“Ordinarily, the children would have been referred but the foundation insisted on their care, hence their recruitment,” he said.
The consultant stated that a consultant peadiatric pphthalmologist had to be recruited from University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital for the surgery.
“Primarily, in this kind of exercise, we don’t normally enroll children because eye care for children is a sub-specialist care.
“Eye care itself is a specialist care but for children, it’s a highly-specialised care.
“We give glory to God for the success of the surgeries, and as you can see for yourself, one of the children who came for after-care today has regained her sight,” he said.
Abikoye urged other organisations and kind-hearted individuals to emulate the foundation’s gesture so as to restore hope to the common man.
Mother of one of the beneficiaries, Mrs Adebisi Aliu-Odunuga, thanked the foundation for assisting the less-privileged to actualise their goals.
She also commended the staff members of FMC for accommodating her excesses and frustration when she thought the exercise was a joke.
Aliu-Odunuga counted her fingers in a gesture while her daughter also counted along with her to assure onlookers that her sight had truly been regained.
Another beneficiary, Folasade Adeleye, told NAN that though her daughter could now see with just one eye, she expressed hope for the restoration of the second one soon. (NAN)
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