Mr Tunde Thani, the initiator of the Thani-Oladunjoye Old People Centre.
By Babatunde Kaka
EDITOR’S PICK:
Mr Tunde Thani addressed the Old People Centre Ambassadors.
EKO HOT BLOG reports that the facilitator of Epe’s Old People Care Centre, Mr Tunde Thani has disclosed that the facility has catered for and treated over 1000 patients six months after it was commissioned by Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Sanwo-Olu on January 6th 2022.
Mr Thani who revealed this in an interview with EKO HOT BLOG at the facility in Epe, said the centre has successfully conducted cataract surgeries for fifteen beneficiaries.
”Six months after, it has been of tremendous achievement, a tremendous work. If I take it by statistics, as of today, we have over 1000 patients that we have treated for different kinds of ailments, especially in the area of High Blood Pressure, Hypertension, Diabetes, Arthritis and others. As we begin to treat them, we discover that some of them have visual issues.”
”Some of our patients recently had cataract surgeries, we did that for about fifteen of them. So far, that is the way it has been.
“Over the months, we have listed our patients; some of them were provided with glasses, some with cataracts and some glaucoma surgeries.”
“Recently, we gave about fifteen of them free medical glasses. I feel elated, I feel fulfilled. Whenever I come around and I see them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I see the old people, being happy, being treated, being fulfilled.”
“Some of them had sight problems, they were not seeing well and after the surgery, they could see. That gives me joy, it also gives this place some sense of fulfilment.
“These old people do not revel in their pains and solitude. You can see the joy and the happiness in them that they are being cared for,” he said.
Speaking further, Mr Thani allayed fears of discrimination among the two notable communities as regard benefitting from the facility, stressing that the dichotomy wasn’t a yardstick for caring for the ageing people.
”You know the dichotomy in Epe. When we started initially, we heard the rumours around town that the facility is meant for the Yorubas alone. It was also said that because of the location, the facility is meant for the Eko-Epes alone. But as time went by, they discovered that it was meant for everybody.
“We knew that such issues would surface and we considered them and prepared ourselves ahead to handle them. We counsel our members of staff adequately, stressing the vision of the facility which is for the poor and ageing to get succour, peaceful, painless and stress-free ageing process,” he disclosed.
The Coaster Bus donated by HE Akinwunmi Ambode.
He stressed that the over 1000 patients who have enrolled in the facility could not have been Ekos or Ijebus alone, adding that Igbos, Ijaws and even a patient came from Badagry to benefit from the facility.
Mr Thani added that for the smooth running of the facility, the Elders Council, comprising over 20 ageing people, have been inaugurated to be the ambassadors of the centre. He noted that this was necessary to float the committee to be the mouthpiece of the facility, spread the good news and interface with the community.
He said, ”We plan to get enlisted in the International Foundation Organisations. Once we are enlisted, we will begin to participate in some of their activities, some of which may be due for national and international tours. Part of the plan we have for them is that very soon, they will be going for tours both in and outside Lagos. This would be for those that are fit because we reckoned that most of them are in solitude and isolation and we believe if we give them the enabling environment both here and outside to recreate, they will improve their well-being and probably live a little longer.”
Mr Thani recounted some of the challenges experienced in the facility. He noted that he could not have envisaged the overwhelming number of ageing people who receive adequate care from the facility every week.
Also, he said that the facility has been working efficiently due to donations and support from friends, allies, and public-spirited and private individuals. These individuals have helped in the area of provision of drugs and other logistics.
”His Excellency, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was just passing by and he was impressed with the project; he made a contact and asked how he could be of help. He said he was going to give us a bus to move the ageing people instead of them moving around on Okada when coming here. Two weeks after, he brought a Coaster Bus and that was used to convey them to Ijebu-Ode for the cataract operation,” he disclosed.
According to him, the facility which boasts of two Medical Doctors, two Nurses, a Pharmacist, a Matron, and the Head of Administration gulps millions of Naira monthly with payment of salaries and other miscellaneous expenses alongside the replenishment of free drugs distributed to beneficiaries.
Some of the patients who received free medical glasses.
FURTHER READING:
Some of the beneficiaries who are still recovering from the cataract surgery who spoke with EKO HOT BLOG expressed heartfelt appreciation for the opportunity provided by the centre.
They shared their harrowing experiences as regards how they lived when they lost their sight, stressing that they were abandoned and neglected by family members.
See pictures from the event:
Some of the Ambassadors of the centre.
Some of the ambassadors of the centre.
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