The Sokoto State Zakkat and Endowment Commission, in collaboration with Qatar Charity and Future Leaders, on Saturday commenced free eye treatment for 1,000 patients in the state.
Inaugurating the exercise, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Ali Inname, said the gesture was deemed as highly beneficial to the present administration in the state.
Inname expressed appreciation to the commitment of the Zakkat commission and the Qatar foundation for embarking on various projects that were of direct benefit to the people of the state.
“It is indeed a great honor to have the Qatar foundation in Sokoto, being one of the leading charity groups that engage in supporting the less privileged in the society.
“There are no enough words to express our appreciation for the foundation’s support to us, however we will sustain our fervent prayers for you to excel in all your required needs, as only Allah will reward your sacrifices to the people”, Inname said.
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He added: “Moreover, today over 1,000 eye patients will be attended to for free treatment and drugs, and from the number, 100 will be selected for eye surgery.
“I want to assure the good people of Sokoto state that even after the 100 patients selected for the surgery, we will keep a record book for others that need surgery for further intervention by the government.”
The commissioner added that all the patients that were present for the exercise would be attended to even if they surpassed the targeted 1,000.
In his address, Dr Zain Mukhtar, the Qatar Foundation Representative, said that the gesture was in recognition of the founding fathers of the Sokoto Caliphate in promoting Islam in Nigeria and across the African region.
“Moreover, Sokoto state deserves more than what the foundation is doing for the state as an appreciation of its contributions to Islam and the entire Muslim world.
“Today, we are here as one society to support ourselves, without any discrimination, we are one and all from Allah as human beings,” he said.
He thanked the people and government of Sokoto state for their hospitality and for giving the foundation the opportunity to serve God in this capacity.
Earlier, the Chairman, Sokoto State Zakkat and Endowment Commission, Mallam Muhammad Maidoki, had commended the foundation’s multiple interventions in the state.
He announced that the commission had reserved a transport stipend for each selected patient from the 87 districts of the 23 Local Government Areas in the state.
The Chief Medical Director, Specialist Hospital, Sokoto, Dr Nuhu Maishanu, thanked the state government for securing the opportunity to support needy patients in the society.