Eko Club International (ECI), a global body of Lagos Diaspora indigenes, has offered free medical check-ups, medications and treatment for over 6,000 indigent residents of Lagos State.
The President of ECI, Chief Saheed Olushi stated this while addressing journalists at the dinner organised at the palace of Elegbeda of Egbeda, Oba Abdul-Hammed Oorelope-Laka, after the club’s 2024 Medical Mission, held in some Lagos communities.
According to reports, the intervention in Egbeda in Alimosho Local Government Area, was carried out in partnership with the Omo Adugbo Egbeda Association, a community-based group.
He noted that the club, with 25 Diaspora chapters including Canada, UK and US, finds it necessary to come together regularly to provide resources and channel them back to their state of origin, for the benefit of the people.
Olushi said, “This project is something that we have been doing since 2007, giving back to the community. Our intervention in the community spreads across a few cadres,
“Healthcare is the primary one and that is why we are here this time for our 2024 medical mission. During this mission, we have visited five different locations to provide free healthcare services, free medication, free eyeglasses, free dental services and others.
“We’ve also offered free cancer screening for the women, prostate screening for the men. We’re also sponsoring paediatric limb deformation surgeries- the children who have some type of bone deformation in their legs.
“We’re doing corrective surgery for the first 10 now ongoing at the General Hospital in Lagos as we speak. We’ve reached out to about 6,000 people in this 2024 intervention,” Olushi said.
The president added that medical equipment and supplies valued at millions of US dollars were also brought from abroad to Lagos for donation to Lagos State Hospitals, in conjunction with the Lagos State Ministry of Health.
He listed communities touched in the 2024 medical mission to include Oko faaji community in Lagos Island, Egbeda and Ipaja-Ayobo areas in Alimosho area, Ikosi- Ejinri in Epe and Ipakodo in Ikorodu since Nov. 2 it started.
Olushi stated that the club would also distribute some palliatives to various groups and indigent residents on Friday before returning to their various nations of abode.
Apart from the mega medical mission that requires bringing a good number of medical practitioners and nurses every other year into Lagos, the club has similar outreach that holds every three months for people, according to him.
While estimating money spent on the exercise, Olushi said that the budget for the 2024 ECI Medical Mission in Lagos was about N150 million and the fund has been exhausted.
He said that that didn’t include the value of the equipment and supplies brought from abroad as well as the cost of shipment, the cost of cleaning among others.
The president listed other interventions by the club to include scholarships for many school children and food palliatives.
He said that as a social organisation, the club would continue to support the government’s efforts to alleviate suffering of the people, especially in various underserved areas.
Olushi applauded members of ECI in the UK, Canada and in the United States of America, “who continuously give of their money and their time to make sure that we are able to serve different locations.”
Chief Sunday Obisesan, the Atona-Odo of Egbeda Kingdom and President of Omo Adugbo Egbeda Association, a community-based group, applauded the organisers, saying the gesture aligned with the association’s objectives of alleviating sufferings.
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