After the orientation exercise last year, the young vibrant corps member was posted to General Hospital Kwali as her place of primary assignment.
She vowed that her service will not only end at treating patients in the hospital only, but will extend to people, who are not able to get medical help due to one reason or the other, in the communities.
This corps member’s passion to help people pushed her into organising a free medical outreach for the people of Kwaita, a community in the council, which saw over 200 people benefiting from the exercise.
Speaking during the free medical service at Kwaita Hausa Primary Healthcare Centre, Omonigho said that the exercise comprised of free medical check-up including free screening for HIV and Hepatitis, adding that 10 residents had minor surgery performed on them to correct their eyes problem.
"About 10 residents underwent a minor corrective surgery for their poor eyesight and also gave eye glasses to residents with minor sight problems. We also did medical check-up. About 200 people participated in this programme. We also did free HIV and Hepatitis screening. The people were also counseled on ways of managing some ailments correctly. We checked their BP too. Children were not left out as they were also examined by the medical doctors on ground. Those that had complicated cases, we referred them to the hospital," she said.
Omonigho said she was able to fulfill her dream of helping people in rural area through assistance from well-meaning Nigerians, who generously contributed to the success of the project.
She said, “we undertook a similar project in Ijah-Tampe, recently. The project was carried out in collaboration with an NGO but this particular project is different because we needed more of human effort than fund. So, I got other doctors to partner with me and It was more of humanitarian service. I got financial help from well-meaning Nigerians. When I went to Ijah-Tampe, the villagers complained of not only the distance to the hospital but also money. I decided to bring this very exercise down to Kwaita where I believe is a central location for the people from various villages to come participate in the exercise.’’
The optometrist called on the villagers to always take issues that concerns their health seriously, adding that she had always believed in the saying that ‘health is wealth’, as no sick person can go out to cater for himself.
"We had two malaria cases. About two of them tested positive to Hepatitis. I have always told the people to always take care of their health. Health is very crucial and poverty is not an excuse for neglecting health because no matter how poor you are, it is not an excuse for not getting good health care," she said.
Omonigho added that she will not stop contributing her own quota in improving the health of the people in the rural area, adding that she was planning on taking the outreach to another village before the end of her service year. Commending the corps member for the exercise, a staff of the NYSC, Adama Suleiman, who represented the zonal inspector, Mrs Esther Attah, praised Omonigho’s humanitarian spirit and called on other corps members to emulate her.
Also a staff of the health department of the council, Husseni Lawal, stated that Omonigho has succeeded in touching the lives of the people in the community, saying that the young lady and her team has succeeded in putting smiles in the faces of residents, who would not, ordinarily, afford the free treatment.
A 70-year-old resident, Tashi Adamu, who was operated on both eyes expressed gratitude to the corps member and asked God to bless and protect her.
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