Defence
RESIDENTS of Sogunle community in Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area of Lagos State on Thursday came out en masse for a free medical outreach organised by the Logistics Command, Nigerian Air Force (NAF).
The Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Logistics Command, NAF, AVM Yaro Abdullahi, said that the medical outreach was in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of NAF, established in 1964.
According to Abdullahi, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, directed that the best way to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of NAF was to conduct a free medical outreach in host communities.
“Health is important and mandatory to all, so, we are organising a free medical outreach for our host community as a way of saying thank you for their cordial relationship over the years.
“We have been working together in unity and this has helped us in achieving our constitutional mandate given to us by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria,” he said.
The AOC said that the command had a hospital which was opened to everyone, stating that 60 per cent of the patients that made use of the facility were usually from the host community.
“As a result of this, the headquarters, NAF, is building a bigger hospital within the base to accommodate more people.
“The hospital we presently have has been existing since the 70’s and both the community and command has grown, so, a bigger hospital is being built to accommodate these changes.
“So, it’s not just about them taking advantage of the free medical outreach but they can also reach out into our base for more medical attention,” he said.
Abdullahi said that he was impressed by the turnout of people for the outreach in spite of the rains which did not deter them from coming out to participate in the healthcare programme.
“The turnout has been encouraging and we want to continue to tell the host community that we are here for them.
“We want to ensure that the health of the people we live with is in topnotch because we don’t live in isolation of one another.
“We marry from our host communities; we live with them; we go to school with them. So, the whole idea is for us to live together in a healthy environment,” the AOC said.
The Chief of Staff, Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area, Mr Leke Banjoko, who represented the council chairman, Mr Kehinde Oloyede, thanked NAF for the medical outreach.
“The community is grateful to NAF for the medical outreach because this will go a long way in helping to attend to various health issues experienced in the community,” Banjoko said.
Also, the Baale (community head) of Sogunle, Chief Rafiu Ajisegiri, said that the hospital in the base had contributed significantly to the improvement of his health.
Mr Samson Agbetoye, a beneficiary of the outreach, said that NAF had been carrying out free medical outreach every year in the community.
“This time around, the medical outreach is in a larger form and we appreciate them for their services. We only hope that they can do it more frequently every year,” Agbetoye said.
Mr Peter Nnadi, one of the community members, thanked NAF for being significant with assisting in the development of the community and not only in the area of health.
“They have helped our children to join NAF and we even have community members working in the hospital as staff. They also give out jobs to our artisans.
“These are long-lasting impacts they are making in the lives of the people in this community.
“I thank NAF for their time and effort for this. As they celebrate their diamond jubilee, I pray for more improvement across all their commands,” Nnadi said.
Another beneficiary, Mrs Kafayat Yusuf, said,” I am grateful because two of my kids were showing symptoms of malaria despite been treated for it.
“I was told to bring them to hospital in the base for further tests and was also given a recommended eyeglass to help correct my sight problem.” (NAN)
F.A
May 17, 2024
Tags: Free medical outreach NAF
