Dr. Chisomaga Ezeocha, in the middle putting on red T-shirt and face cap with cross section of the patients.
From Everest Ezihe, Owerri
For 4 days within the 2025 Easter festive period, over 2500 Nigerians from more than 11 States of the Federation stormed Ogwa Anglican Mission Hospital in Mbaitoli LGA of Imo State as NICER Foundation in collaborative partnership with COPDEM and Helping Hands for Women and Youth Support offered comprehensive free medical eye clinic christened “The Blind Shall See”.
The free eye clinic which handle medical issues like consultations, cataracts, surgeries, sight correction with reading glasses, (eye medication) witnessed over 1000 patients regaining their impeded sights while thanking God for using the non governmental organizations to be blessings to them.
Dr. Kamshak Deyie Kuden , who’s an Optomologist by profession and leader of the team said, the 5 days eye clinic medical outreach came with a lot of nurses, Optometrists, Pharmacists, auxillary workers and described the patients response as “tremendously overwhelming”.
Kuden who also was one time Commissioner for Health in Plateau State, pointed out that the essence of the medical outreach is to help the less privileged members of the society and vulnerable persons who may not have had privileged in accessing medical services due to lack of funds or ignorance.
He said they did over 150 successful eye operations and recalled the issue of two minors, one about the age of 9 years and have been to Federal University Teaching Hospital, (FUTH) Owerri and was asked to pay N250,000(two hundred and fifty thousand, Naira) and the parents couldn’t afford it and this made them to go to a missionary eye specialist hospital, Mgberechi, Imo State, where they’re asked to pay 150,000 (one hundred and fifty thousand Naira, only).
“Though it was cheaper there, it took the family several months to access the money, the truth is that, as at the time they came here, they have not been able to get the money. Fortunately, when the mother heard of this free eye clinic outreach, she came down here with the child and yesterday (Wednesday), after fasting the child, he was successfully operated.
“In all honesty, there are needs to appreciate the efforts of NICER Foundation, because in Nigeria society today, it’s really shocking that an NGO in collaboration with others could be spending these fortune for humanities, considering the harsh economic conditions, not even Nigerian politicians that are stealing the people’s common wealth can do this. As a person, I can’t even afford to do this. I know the cost implications.
“Dr. Chisomaga Ezeocha and his collaborative partners, needs to be appreciated and honoured. Honestly, it’s not easy, at all, something Nigeria politicians, millionaires and billionaires can not do, a young man of less than 45 years old is happily doing it annually for the past two to three years now. God has really blessed him and he has the mind to give back to the society.He earns my respect.
“Am passionately calling on kind hearted wealthy individuals to philanthropically borrow a leaf from Dr. Ezeocha by touching lives of the less privileged, the poorest of the poor and the vulnerable in the society.
“You can imagining a child of 9 years going to school with eye impediment (s), naturally you don’t expect the best out of the child, because when others are copying on the board, he may not be able to see well because it takes the two eyes to operate optimally for the brain to work well.The eye impediment will definitely effect his academic performances. We’re quite sure that after the surgery, he will be able to see well and his performances in school is expected to be better than before” he assured.
In her speech, Mrs. Assumpta Njoku, the Matron of Ogwa Mission Hospital, expressed gratitude for the multi million Naira philanthropic humanitarian medical services, Dr. Chisomaga Ezeocha and his partners have been doing through his NICER Foundation, asking God’s blessings to be upon him and the non governmental organizations.
Njoku informed that the annual free eye clinic outreach since inception, about 3 years ago have helped over 4,000 Nigerians from different parts of the country to regain their sights and many of the patients have been giving testimonies of appreciation and commendation.
Adding his voice, Dr.Chisomaga Ezeocha, the founder of NICER Foundation, “the four days free medical eye clinic was tremendously a success as over 1,500 patients registered from all over the country. We had over 150 successful eye surgeries, over 1,000 patients seen, medicated and reading glasses freely giving .
“We are spurred to help humanity because of our love for mankind, fulfillment of God’s philanthropic directives and basically working with the footsteps of our parents, Late Mr Benaiah Ezeocha and Mrs Rhoda Ezeocha.
“The programme started as a memorial for their death and the impacts they made in the life’s of people and society at large. Honestly, they were blessings to humanity. Both of them were primary school teachers, that definitely tell you how rich they were, but despite their lean resources, we were always sharing our food with children from other families.
“While growing up many children survived in our area due to their philanthropic magnanimities. They taught us, their children that if you can not share one Naira with others, definitely you can not share one million with them. This was their stock in trade and this is exactly what we’re doing, myself and my siblings.
“The truth is that we are not doing these things because we’re rich, we are simply doing them because there are absolute needs to give hope to the hopeless in the society. We are equally seriously doing this, because the government we have, does not care for the people. Nigerians are suffering and our leaders doesn’t care at all.
“People are dying, due to poverty and penury. Let tell ourselves the gospel truth, all the levels of government in Nigeria have failed the people in their expected social responsibilities. Thus why, people like me and my siblings, what ever little we have, we are sacrificing it, just to help and better the lives of others.
“The greatest appreciation and thanks, l feel we can receive, is when we see most of the people giving testimonies and thanks for what Almighty God have used us to do, in their lives. I was emotionally touched when a woman who said she has been blind for over 10 years. She did glaucoma surgery and when the plaster was removed, she started shouting and jubilating that she can see. The blind and persons having sight problems are literally seeing here.
“My prayer is that they don’t only see the beauty of God’s creation, but they see, the God that created the beauty Himself. That’s both spiritual and physical emancipation of their lives. These are the things that motivated us and that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing, and that’s why, we continued sacrificing as God gives us life and whatever resources we have to help people in any way that we can, we will never hesitate”.
Ezeocha also canvassed the need for members of the public to live the life of sacrifice and love to one another as well as sharing God’s love with people around them.
“Just render little kindness, definitely it will go a long way, there are two touchy stories that happened during the program, a boy of 9 years have challenges in his eyes, the parents took him to Federal University Teaching Hospital, FUTH, Owerri. They were given a bill of N250,000, the parents could not afford the money, they were advised to take the child to a mission hospital, Mgbirichi, Imo State, there, they were asked to pay N150,000= yet the parents could not afford that.
“This child due to his circumstances could not go to school. How many people in Nigeria today can conveniently afford 250k or 150k, this is the dilemma of a nation known as giant of Africa. It’s annoying that Nigerian political leaders due to selfishness and unpatriotism have subjected her citizens into abysmal lacks.
“These are generations their future are been truncated due to lack of visionary and purposeful leadership, when I heard the little boy story, one thing that occurred to my mind is the story of Ben Casey, the American Neuro Surgeon, he was in life faced with similar eye challenges while young. One day he was in the classroom, all of a sudden, he could not read, he could not copy his notes until his mother took him to his doctor, cataract was diagnosed in his eyes and they did Surgery on him and he started seeing.
“Today, the world was blessed with his skills. He is the man that wrote the book called ” The Gifted Hands”. Then, the ultimate question is, who knows if there’s any Ben Casey in our communities and society that’s going blind ? No body is seeing him or her and neither the government nor any body is helping him or her. That’s one of the things that motivations us, I mean, me and my siblings.
“We’re committed in doing things we can do so that the next generations of the Ibos, the next generations of Nigerians, can be saved and better off.We’re poised to bring succour to the next generation of people. This child after the surgery is seeing. He is happy. He will go back to school, who knows if his kind could be the person that will discover some break through for humanity ? He may be the next Senator, Governor, President of Nigeria etc, who knows? But if you give them sight, you have opened a total vista and frontiers for them that would not ordinarily be available to them if otherwise” he stated.
Ezeocha further said that,he would loved to be remembered as that young man from the smallest community in Ogwa called Umuishi Abazu, just like Jesus Christ was born in a little town called Bethlehem, that came and tried his level best to help as many people as he could, and also liberated many people as he could out of poverty.
He however reiterated that, “this is not only for me, but all my brothers and sisters are deeply involved, that is the way we wish to be remembered, just to justified the immortalization of the legacies of our beloved deceased parents. All our philanthropic and charitable gestures, we learnt from them. They shared the lest of their treasures, even though as teachers of the old, they brought us up with children of other families” he revealed.
The Project Engineer in Nigeria Oil and Gas industry further advised on the need for collaboration in human endeavours noting that collaboration brings collective positive effects.
This programme, he informed is being executed by NICER Foundation in collaboration with Helping Hands Foundation that came all the way from Abuja and Jos, and brought all the Medical Personnels that participated in the hectic programme in coalition also with, Support for Democracy in Nigeria, an NGO that advocates for good governance and good leadership in the country and of course the Ogwa Mission Hospital which is the venue and owned by Nigeria Anglican Communion, Owerri diocese.
He solicited to eminent but philanthropic Nigerians, on the need to collaborate with them noting that they have a mutually benefitting collaborative template.
Ezeocha noted that the programme has been successfully executed for three times and over 4000 Nigerians from most of the States of the federation benefitted.
“Last year, I noticed that people from over 11 States of the Federation participated and tremendously benefitted, the States are Imo, Kano, Kaduna, Abuja, Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Rivers, Bayelsa Edo, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Kogi etc and the same this year.
“Last year we did over 250 successful surgeries out of which 49 were fibroids. It’s an obvious truth that as at then, fibroid operation in any Nigerian hospital costs nothing less than N3m, but here they got it free because of collaborative partnership. Not one person can do this. We did 103 hyennia surgery operations and the lest any hospital can charge you for that is N500k each, we did 49 appendicitis, 9 goiters, 124 tooth extractions and replacement, glaucoma was around 15 persons, over 200 cataract surgeries and we gave out 250 reading glasses.
For this year program our target was 200 cataract surgeries and free 650 reading glasses. It’s our convinction that God elevated us and we are yeliding our selves to God to use in answering the prayers of many others.
Ezeocha said it point blank that his vision in life is that the moment he finished his assignments in Oil and Gas industry, that he will contest for the Presidency of Nigeria or be a Traveling Evangelist, basically helping the people through human empowerment, liberation and emancipation by healing the sick, demonstrate the love of God by providing food on their table and tell them that the kingdom of God is coming soon. Definitely, they will listen and obey, once their welfare is guaranteed.
