-By Victoria Opeyemi
Oriental Energy Resources Limited, in its 2021 Community Health Outreach for the people of Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State provided free medical services in its area of operations. The 5-day outreach was a demonstration of its long-term commitment towards contributing to sustainable development.
In his welcome address, Mr. Mustafa Indimi, Managing Director, Oriental Energy Resources Limited, revealed that in the company’s records, more than 4,600 people, including children, from various communities in Mbo LGA benefited from its last health outreach held from 24th – 29th June 2019 at the Primary Health Centre in Enwang, Mbo LGA.
Similarly, during the 2018 outreach which held from 17th – 21st July also at the Primary Health Centre in Enwang, a total of 4,012 people received free medical attention.
“Regrettably, as you are all aware, in 2020 we were unable to deliver this free annual medical outreach as planned due to COVID-19 pandemic. However, being fully aware of the negative impacts of COVID-19 and the subsequent effects on your livelihood systems, we delivered some food items (i.e. rice, beans, garri and vegetable oil) as COVID-19 Palliatives for distribution to all the communities in Mbo LGA.”
Indimi added that despite the setback in 2020, the company used its proactive stakeholder engagement strategy and started early consultation with Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Health for approval to proceed with its plans for the 2021 outreach.
“The work done by the Ministry yielded very positive outcomes and good results. This is the reason we have been able to gather here today to flag-off the 2021 outreach as planned.”
As in previous years, the main objective of the 2021 outreach is to improve health outcomes by addressing unmet needs for various aspects of health care delivery. This year, Oriental Energy Resources Limited made arrangement for several health services to be provided during the 5-day outreach. These include:
- Health Talk;
- Laboratory tests and treatment of malaria;
- Laboratory tests and treatment of typhoid;
- Vitals and treatment of hypertension;
- Eye care including diagnosis and treatment of infections; refraction and provision of prescription eyeglasses;
- Distribution of treated mosquito nets;
- Distribution of ante-natal kits;
- Treatment of infections and other diseases;
- Diabetic care including laboratory tests and treatment;
- General medical care, including dermal, arthritis and rheumatism, etc.
He stated further that the company considers the communities in its areas of operation as critical stakeholders in doing business. Therefore, “We will continue to do so through proactive stakeholder engagement and strategic social investment as evident in our recently completed projects and programs for the general benefit of people from Mbo LGA. These include the completion and commissioning a state-of-art science laboratory at Community Grammar School, Ebughu in March 2021; Capacity Building on Sustainable Community Development Planning and Management for Effiat and Mbo Community Representative Committees in April 2021 as well as the Refurbishment of Mbo LGA Paramount Ruler’s Palace in June 2021. The 2021 University Scholarship award process is ongoing and beneficiaries will be announced by December 2021.”
Indimi thanked the community and government stakeholders for the support the company received in the process of planning the health outreach.
“We are particularly grateful to His Excellency, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State and the Ministry of Health for the timely approvals. We also appreciate the medical team from Faith Optical and Medical Services Limited for working diligently with us to ensure procurement and delivery of all the required items. We commend the management and staff of Primary Health Centre, Ebughu for their acceptance to host the outreach.”
He also appreciated Community Representative Committees who worked tirelessly for the health outreach program which is a clear demonstration of their readiness and capacity to partner with Oriental Energy Limited for the purposes of sustainable community development in Mbo LGA.
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