ELETA Eye Institute, in honour of the ascension of the new Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Rasheed Ladoja, has organized free eye screening and successfully restored sight to over 200 cataract-blind individuals and cases of pterygium through life-changing surgeries.
Chairman of the board of trustees of Eleta Eye Foundation, Dr Gboyega Ajayi, welcoming Oba Rasheed Ladoja to the institute, said the exercise to restore sight and give eye treatment was to bring joy to people as the new Olubadan of Ibadan’s reign begins.
According to Dr Ajayi, the eye screening, which is to run for two weeks, was to ensure that as many as require corrective eye surgeries are picked, and he urged interested persons to visit the oba’s palace in Oja Oba.
He said the institute that has trained over 150 people as eye care professionals announced the 1 million dollars’ worth of equipment it received to further train and retrain more professionals in eye surgeries for the restoration of more sights across the country.
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Dr Ajayi declared that the Eleta Eye Foundation is also developing an app that can afford to allow individuals seated at home to examine their eyes and get referred appropriately to an eye expert, if needed.
According to him, “We are offering free cataract and advanced pterygium surgeries. Surgeries cannot reverse blindness from glaucoma, so we are only taking surgeries to help retard the progress of eye damage from glaucoma.
“We will not be able to give free drugs, but we’ll be able to give free surgery for them. We will not be able to give free glasses, but we see them and do all the tests necessary for a glasses prescription. It is only where we get support that we give free glasses.”
Oba Ladoja, in a response, lauded the Eleta Eye Institute for bringing hope to many disabled by blindness.
According to him, “I wanted to come and see for myself and hear the testimony of people who were operated on. They confirmed that they were not seen before they came here. Can you imagine giving sight back to somebody? If you give sight, it means that that person is no longer handicapped. He can contribute his quota to the society.
“You can imagine the surgery that cost hundreds of naira being given free, provided for free by the institute recognised as a training centre for eye specialists in Africa. So we have to commend the promoters of this place.”
Oba Ladoja, noting that many cases of being unable to see can actually be reversed, urged Nigerians to prioritise yearly eye examinations and treatment from eye specialists.
He, therefore, pledged his support to the Eleta Eye Institute and urged philanthropists to support the institute in ensuring cases of reversible blindness are further reduced in Nigeria.
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