A Non Governmental Organization (NGO), Ramatu Ibironke Babalakin Foundation, has offered free eye screening and surgery for over 10,000 Nigerians afflicted with Cataract and Pterygium, as well as distributed spectacles to patients in Zaria, Kaduna State.
A team of dedicated doctors with expertise to treat eye problems, arrived the state ten days ago, for the exercise which was held at the palace of the Emir of Zazzau.
Young children, women and the aged all trooped out in large numbers to benefit from the philanthropy.
The free eye treatment which was sponsored by the Foundation was in commemoration of the 40 years anniversary of the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris, on the throne.
The Founder of the NGO, Dr. Wale Babalakin, while presenting eye glasses to some of the patients who have been operated upon, said that the gesture, asides being for the celebration of the Emir’s 40th year on the throne, was also in remembrance of his mother who was born in the ancient city of Zaria.
Having traveled far and wide, interacting with various organizations abroad and also worried over the high rate of blindness in Nigeria, Dr Wale Babalakin saw the need to offer this eye service to Nigerians irrespective of their tribe or religion.
Dr Babalakin said blindness is a major health disaster and urged Nigerians to come out in mass to benefit from the exercise.
He also promised to assist the people of Zaria in other areas of infrastructural and human development, aimed at touching the lives of the people positively.
In his remarks, the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris commended Mr Babalakin for his tireless efforts towards assisting humanity and prayed that God will continue to assist and uplift him.
Cataract and Pterygium surgeries cost N100.000 to N150, 000 respectively in private hospitals. The Founder disclosed that similar exercise took place in Osun State, his home town, where over 4,000 patients benefited from the exercise.