By Mercy Aikoye
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, Wednesday kicked off a three-day medical outreach in Bende Federal Constituency, Abia State tagged: National Action Against Blindness (NAAB) project.
The foundation which is his brainchild in collaboration with Vision Saver Eye Care Ltd, was held in Bende LGA from 13th to 15th October, 2023.
In a statement, his Special Assistant, Press Affairs, Udora Orizu, stated that the outreach was essentially aimed towards providing free community eye care, treatment, and medical services to the constituents.
The exercise witnessed a massive turnout of constituents in need of eyes care issues with over 1,200 people receiving medication, medical eye glasses, and cataract surgeries.
The medical team, consisting of highly skilled opticians, doctors and other medical professionals, worked to ensure that each patient received the necessary treatment and care.
Speaking, after he had received the progress report, Kalu emphasized that the project was not just for Bende Federal Constituency, but for the entire nation.
While tasking on the need to double the impact during next session, he assured of his continued support, stressing that the outreach will be extended to other parts of the country.
The Deputy Speaker said: “The beauty of Nigeria is that a man from the North will identify with me in the South-East, abandoning his comfort in the north, relocating to the South-East, my place, spendung time with my people, to be able to solve their problem of blindness.
“It’s the type of Nigerian we are looking for, a Nigerian that knows that the pain in the South-East is the pain in the North, and that we are all connected to one another and we must be bothered with what is bothering one another.
“I’m proud of the vision savers, the cost analysis was good, their response time good, their professionalism, the impact is massive.
“We wanted to treat 1,000 people and you ended up treating over 1,200. And I want to thank my team from the office, Chief Daniel Akwari, for monitoring this from the start to finish.
“I’m promising you, because you left a lot of people unattended to, we have to go back, and we will keep going back until we resolve the issue of blindness in Bende, in Abia, in the South-East and in Nigeria generally.
In their separate remarks, beneficiaries of the three-day program appreciated the Deputy Speaker for the kind gesture and prayed for God’s protection and guidance as he continues to lead the constituency and also contribute to nation-building.
