- Takes free medical services to 500 residents
- Spends N4m on medications
From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The National Association of Seadogs (NAS) has called government at all levels to pay attention to the health conditions of people living in rural communities.
NAS, also known as Pyrates Confraternity, Olympus Marino Deck, made the call in the Ido community, Asari-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, on Monday, where the group carried out free medical services and treated about 500 people with various ailments.
Addressing reporters, Olympus Marino Deck Capoon, Kennedy Barango, said the outreach was not just a charity, but an advocacy, adding that NAS used the occasion to draw the attention of the government to the needs of the people in rural communities, particularly in the area of healthcare delivery.
Barango said: “This outreach is not just a charity, but an advocacy. It means knocking at the door of the government at different levels, to draw their attention to the need to rise up to be more conscious of the cries of the people.
“We are not just going to stop at this level of providing charitable materials or palliatives, we also go to the point of advocating, creating awareness to government.
“Our advice should be that the government should wake up, maybe for those who appear to have woken up, to increase the attention that they give to all the communities. We hope that our cries to them will get them to help.”
Speaking further, the Olympus Marino Deck Capoon, disclosed that they spent about N4 million on the outreach, adding that their collaborators also brought materials free of charge, which they (NAS) were not able to place monetary figure.
“We made provisions for between 300 and 500 patients. We engaged the local government council to reach out to neighbouring communities like Buguma and Abalama.
“We spent about N4 million on the outreach. But, our collaborators also brought materials free of charge that we are not been able to place monetary figures on. But, if we have to do that, it will be averaging about N5 million.”
He explained: “This commemoration has been on, especially for Olympus Marino Deck, for the past five years. We endeavour to take it from location to location, depending on the information available to us.
“Last year, we took the medical outreach to Isu-Etche, the previous year we took it Joinkrama. And so we move from communities to communities under our jurisdiction. Of course, Asari-Toru Local government area is under the Olympus Marino Deck.
“We decided to come this way somehow because of the relationship we have with the collaborators.”
“Whatever community or village you go to with any form of intervention, it is not going to be out of place because we know how it can be there.
“We can see that the venue for this outreach is a primary health centre. But, when you take a tour around it, you will all see the inadequacies of the centre, ranging from the very basic power supply to other more serious issues.
“There is no community in Nigeria, even in Port Harcourt metropolis, that you will go that does not need intervention such as this.”
Representative of the council and Supervisor on Health, George Ipalibo, lauded the gesture by NAS, by choosing Ido community for their free medical services.
Ipalibo expressed: “It is a very welcome outreach knowing the challenges of health in the rural areas. Health is an expensive enterprise so to speak. The promotion of health, prevention of health diseases, maintenance of good health, and the cure of diseases, are all very expensive.
“For rural community dwellers, who mostly feed from hands to mouth, they, having a set of people that comes to attend to their health, is something they will appreciate.”
He assured that the council would appreciate any group or organization that indicates interest in supporting the LGA.
