It was excitement galore in Kano as some individuals who were at the verge of losing their sights got a relief after the state government and two private initiatives came to their aid. BASHIR MOHAMMED reports.
Rendering humanitarian services by two reputable international organisations like Albasar Foundation and king Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre had been a laudable gesture widely adored and applauded most especially by those who were on the verge of losing their respective sights.
The two organisations, out of their character to serve humanity with vigour, cutting across different human strata also spread their tentacles within the global sphere to stamp their authority. One thing however spectacular about them is that for all the humanitarian services they render, no one is charged a dime. They are rather preoccupied with the business of saving humanity from the bondage of premature blindness. This was what they brought to Kano recently.
In the country their services were rendered, tens of thousands of citizens have immensely benefitted from their exceptional humanitarian gesture. Nigeria has become one of their launch-pads of having their mission accomplished with notable beneficiaries expressing kudos for the effort put in place to save people with eye defects out of blindness. Their free eye treatment programmes have been the prevailing issue with the two organisations praised to high heavens.
The arrival of the two organisations
It is therefore an indisputable fact that Kano and Bauchi states have undoubtedly benefitted from the two organisations’ laudable humanitarian gesture as indicated by the huge number of those earmarked to be treated for the ailment. Of utmost concern is that the ailments were found to be an age-long one as the victims had been living with them.
Bearing the fact that Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje is a true champion of healthcare giver which is attested to by his catalogue of giant strides in that sector, he choose to forge a close alliance with these two prominent organisations in order to cater for the needs of those who had their respective sights abysmally affected. This he did by honouring the invitation to preside over the formal launch of the 2,800 free eye surgeries in Kano.
The governor, who recently formally commissioned the 2,800 free eye surgeries in Kano sponsored by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, in collaboration with Albasar Foundation and support of Kano state government, left no stone unturned in telling anyone who cared to listen that health care is one of his cardinal objectives.
Ganduje speaks
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Governor Ganduje described healthcare delivery as part of his major cardinal thrust in the present democratic setting. He added that his administration had chosen to place high premium on healthcare as encapsulated in the year 2021 budget due to its indispensability.
According to him, rendering humanitarian services as regards the issue of conducting free eye surgeries has been considered as a gesture worth taking into cognisance by his administration and that the effort put in place by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre in collaboration with Albasar Foundation has positively impacted on the lives of the less-privileged people.
Ganduje who was represented by the secretary to the state government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji said the issue of one jetting out of the country in search of eye cure does not arise as one needs not to travel to either Dubai or Saudi Arabia for such. He affirmed that with the services rendered by the King Salman Centre in collaboration with Albasar Foundation, eye problems can be treated locally.
He said,” Even I myself has undergone an eye surgery conducted on my person by Albasar Foundation in collaboration with the King Salman Centre here in the ancient city of Kano and the result was spectacular. “The surgery on my eye was professionally conducted to my satisfaction. I see no reason why one must go to either Dubai or Saudi Arabia for an eye treatment.”
Foundation rep speaks
Shedding more light on the giant strides effected by Albasar International Foundation over the years, the foundation’s regional supervisor in charge of Sudan and Nigeria, Dr Zeyad Al-Suwaidan said the foundation had spread its tentacles to 29 countries across the global sphere, rendering such humanitarian services most especially in the area of fighting cataract.
He said the foundation’s major cardinal thrust is to ensure that humanitarian services are rendered to those who are on the verge of losing their sights in countries noted to have been bedeviled with such a problem. He pointed out that its current target in Kano and Bauchi states is well up to 4,000 people.
Speaking earlier, the state commissioner for health, Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, stated that the Ganduje administration had signed a memoradum of understanding with Albasar Foundation aimed at preparing a formidable ground on ways to treat patients grappling with various forms of eye problem.
Beneficiaries applaud the gesture
With the two organisations arousing considerable interest and highly revered by those who benefitted from their humanitarian services, beneficiaries of such services have expressed their respective appreciation for what was done to bail them out of the grueling predicament they had faced.
According to Aisha Bunkure, the humanitarian service she benefitted from had exposed her to the good side of notable humanitarian organisations while adding that she almost completely lost confidence in using her sight in the near future.
She said,” At the time I found myself in a terrible eye situation, I began to lose confidence that a possible cure is not within reach. I began to pray to Almighty Allah for succour.
“Allah in His infinite mercy came to my rescue with the coming of these two humanitarian organisations. It is good for one to have an unfettered confidence in Allah, because He is the most knowing.”
“In Kano, we have a responsible leader in the person of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje who is compassionate and ever-ready to assist the less-privilege. One must be very grateful for the laudable gesture. We must rise in unison to support him at all costs. The Albasar Foundation and the king Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre deserve to be highly commended.”
Speaking in the same vein, one of the beneficiaries, Malam Sani Kura, said he is short of words in expressing his utmost appreciation having his sight successfully operated with no traces of dotes blocking his vision. He pointed out that he would have been left in total despair, misery and anguish, if nothing was done to come to his rescue.
He said, “I was in serious eye pains for years having no one to come to my rescue. I must be utterly grateful to Albasar Foundation and King Salman Centre. I must also be grateful to Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje for striving to foster synergy with these two organisations without which our dreams would not have been a reality.”
From all intents and purposes, the two humanitarian organisations according to the beneficiaries have blazed the trail in the field of humanitarian services and the effort they put in place to support victims of eye ailment across the global arena has emboldened one’s belief that with credible leaders in respective positions of authority, nothing would be left to chance in supporting the less-privileged.
