Foundation organises free surgeries, legal services for Lagos communities

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A faith-based Non-Governmental Organisation, Liberty International, has commenced an empowerment programme to offer free surgeries, legal services, scholarships, skill acquisition, and other support to residents of Ikorodu, Lagos State.

Speaking with our correspondent at the opening ceremony held on Wednesday at the Ikorodu Town Hall, the National Director of Liberty International, Prof Uvie Onakpoya, said a NEEDS assessment conducted in the community informed the empowerment initiative.

According to Onakpoya, the lack of access to education among Nigerians, alongside limited medical aid, prompted the organisation to organise the programme.

He lamented the high number of inmates awaiting trial, which he claimed has contributed to congestion in prisons across the country.

In his words: “What we do is provide free surgeries, including eye, knee, and dental surgeries, as well as general medical checkups.

“We also run two schools in Oyo State that cater to primary and secondary education, and we have a skill acquisition centre where we train individuals in various skills.

“Today, we aim to attend to as many people as possible who attend this empowerment. We started offering legal services after realising that many inmates were in correctional centres simply because they could not afford legal representation. Since last year, we have been able to secure the release of ten inmates.”

The United Kingdom Director of Liberty International, Kayode Adewumi, stressed that the UK branch of the organisation provided human and capital resources to ensure beneficiaries received quality support.

“The UK and US teams complement the efforts of the committee in Nigeria in terms of people, processes, and resources, and we have developed synergy to make this empowerment a success.”

In his remarks, the National Overseer of New Covenant Church, Oladipo Abimbola, urged religious organisations to consider empowering the public as a way to support government efforts in strengthening the economy.

He emphasised that the decline in productivity among Nigerians contributed to hardship in the country, and that empowerment was essential for self-sufficiency.

“Religious organisations that are not currently involved can also join so we can achieve more, especially in Nigeria. It is not by choice that we are converting warehouses to churches; it’s because these warehouses are unused that we repurpose them as religious centres.

“We are encouraging people to become self-sufficient, innovative, and productive. As Nigerians, we must innovate and produce so that Nigeria can be self-sufficient, and our naira will not continue to lose value.

“While corruption exists, our currency is also losing value because we are not producing anything that can attract foreign exchange. The government cannot do it all, so religious organisations must also contribute,” he concluded.

The empowerment will be held between Wednesday, October 30 and Sunday, November 3, 2024.

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