By: Our Reporter
When Engr Sunny Idiku, the President of Yala Community Association in the United States of America avers that “Health care is a fundamental human right and the provision of quality healthcare services is crucial for the development of any community,” he obviously knows what he is talking about, coming from a place where healthcare occupies the front burner of human needs.
And when he goes further to declare that “Distance does not diminish our love for our homeland and our people,” one can be too sure that something good is in the offing, beyond grandstanding, and certainly beyond mere rhetoric.
Walking his talk, and putting the association’s money where its mouth is, the Okpoma-born Idiku, for and on behalf of members of the association and their donor friends, recently donated 120 high quality, customized hospital mattresses for distribution across the eight wards of Yala 1 constituency, spanning from Ebo-Yahe through Okpoma, Okuku, Imaje, Echumofana, on to Gabu and even beyond.
The mattresses were formally presented to the Primary Health Care coordinator of Yala local government area, Mrs Augustina Okem, in the presence of the Director-General, Primary Health Care Development Agency (PHCDA), Dr Vivian Mesembe Otu, who was represented by the Director of Administration, Mrs Cecilia Ayim Odo, and other dignitaries made up of traditional rulers, the clergy, youth and women groups, at the Comprehensive Health Centre, Okpoma.
Represented by Ms Elizabeth Idiku, the President of Yala Community Association USA informed that the group recognized the challenges besetting health care facilities in the area, especially the inadequacy of essential medical equipment and consumables, and therefore decided to bear some of the burdens on their shoulders, hence the outreach.
According to him, “The Yala Community Association USA is committed to continuous support and collaboration to enhance health care delivery in our communities,” recalling that in 2018, the association had distributed blood pressure apparatus as well as other medical equipment to health centers in the area.
Idiku, who expressed gratitude to members of the association and their donor friends for supporting a worthy cause, also lauded the health workers for their ” tireless efforts and dedication to health care delivery.”
Receiving the mattresses, the PHC coordinator, Mrs Okem, applauded the donors for looking beyond their personal comfort to meeting the needs of people, especially people who are not in a position to repay them for their kind gestures.
She said a needs assessment analysis was done to arrive at the distribution pattern for the mattresses, so that the felt needs of the health facilities can be met in line with the demands and desires of the Yala sons and daughters in the USA.
On her part, the PHCDA D-G said the association’s gesture was in line with the People First agenda of the Cross River State Governor, Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu, intimating that the donation “will further strengthen the primary health care facilities in Yala, whose core mandate is to deliver quality and effective services in communities.”
She assured that “the mattresses will be put to good use for the benefit of the people accessing medicare in our facilities,” and implored other community-based associations in the Diaspora to emulate the YCA-USA, remember home, and endeavor to meet some pressing needs of the people as government alone cannot meet every need.
Describing the presentation as “an inspiring contribution to community development,” the Community Relations Officer for Hon Godwin Offiono, member representing Ogoja-Yala constituency at the House of Representatives, Dr Raphael Ogar Oko, opined that it was “a wake-up call” by the Yala sons and daughters in the USA because “it is good to have such thoughts about where we were born as we have nowhere else to go to.”
He made a case for the judicious use of the items, emphasizing that “the mattresses were not donated for use in homes but in the health centers by patients.”
Lending his voice to the gesture, the clan head of Ugaga, Ogamode Ogar Ipuole, who was represented by Chief Oduma John Oleje, said it was heartwarming to realize that Yala sons and daughters in the Diaspora still remember home, as demonstrated by the Yala community in USA.
He charged other Yala community associations across the globe to also reach out and make life better, easier and more meaningful for their brothers and sisters back home.
82-year-old Pa BEO Oluohu who spoke on the development, said “I am not surprised that Sunny is impactful in leadership, far away in the United State. He has always been a focused, selfless and altruistic young man who gives without consideration for personal gains..I am impressed and wish him well.”
To Onyeje Wonah, “This is what we expect from our people whom God has blessed with better life. It is good to eat alone, but it is better to remember those without food and other nice things and reach out to them. God bless every member of YCA-USA and all those who supported them.”
High points of the occasion included the blessing of the donated items by Rev Fr Michael Asim Ekwok, formal presentation of the mattresses, and distribution to benefitting health centers, with their conveyance borne by the association.
All said and done, the gesture of the Yala Community Association in USA can best be captured in the postulations of Coretta Scott King: “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members,” and Timothy Pina’s averment that: “Philanthropy is not about money.. it is about feeling the pain of others and caring enough about their needs to help.”.”
