The pursuit of daily bread in Nigeria is a struggle. It is an exercise reserved only for the strong and the healthy – a survival of the fittest phenomenon. This is because resources remain scarce while the people’s needs keep growing. The competition is always demanding, sometimes gruelling. That is why only the fittest survives, with little or no chance for the weak and the sick.

Senator Austin Akobundu of Abia Central Senatorial District very well understands this challenge. He acknowledges that although everybody deserves a chance to scale through and have a chance at making ends meet, there are some who can not meet up with this responsibility both for themselves and their loved ones because they have been impeded by one illness or the other.

Some of these illnesses can be common and easily treated, and others are rare conditions and complicated. Whether common or complicated, what has held most of the sick down is not just the scarcity of medical care but more the absence of resources to access the ones available.

Moved by this sad and widespread phenomenon, especially as it affects the needy, the downtrodden, the old, and the infirm, Senator Austin Akobundu made a decision to intervene. He sponsored the first phase of a three-day free medical outreach that covered three LGAs of Ikwuano, Osisioma Ngwa, and Umuahia North, respectively.

To cut out any half measure in the services provided by medical personnel engaged for this all-important exercise, the Senator engaged experts from one of Nigeria’s most advanced medical facilities, the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu.

In the three days that the outreach lasted, many constituents benefitted from the medical outreach, and they confirmed that not just the services but also the quality of tests and drugs dispensed was top notch.

Patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, rheumatism, malaria, typhoid, chronic pains and aches, eye challenges, etc, were among those attended to. Appropriate tests and diagnoses were carried out before medical advice was given and related drugs dispensed.

Perhaps one of the high points of the outreach was the ophthalmological services availed those in need of it. Appropriate eye glasses in their different specifications were given to those who presented with one form of eye disease or disorder. They were tested and checked with the modern ophthalmological equipment deployed for the exercise.

Moved by the organisational excellence and quality of service and drugs dispensed at the venues, beneficiaries of the outreach were full of praise for Senator Austin Akobundu for the initiative which they said had helped them overcome one of their lives’ daunting challenges.

Describing him as a truly caring, considerate and compassionate leader whose works of charity are aimed at the wellbeing of the masses, they prayed earnestly for him and promised to not only support him in his aspirations but to also work towards their full attainment.

The second phase of the medical outreach will cover the remaining LGAs of Isiala Ngwa North, Isiala Ngwa South, and Umuahia South, respectively.

In 2026 alone, Senator Austin Akobundu has already sponsored skills acquisition and empowerment programmes for youths and women from the six LGAs of Abia Central Senatorial District, on paint manufacturing, cosmetics production and free medical outreach, with more of such initiatives and other projects expected to be executed across the constituency soon.

#SenatorAkobunduIsWorking