The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has launched a Foundation aimed at providing relief to the vulnerable members of the society.
Chairman of the Foundation, David Ahakiri Owan, disclosed this during a visit to the Karshi and Bwari general hospitals in Abuja,
“PENGASSAN aims to improve the welfare of our members. We then discovered that to have a greater impact on the lives of Nigerians truly in need of assistance, there is a need for the association to establish a Foundation that will be dedicated to assisting the needy,” he explained.
Owan disclosed that the rationale behind physically visiting the medical facilities was to ensure that only the targeted population benefited from the initiative.
He added: “After undertaking a rigorous assessment, we concluded that hospitals are a place to find the most vulnerable people. In hospitals, some people do not have the financial capacity to pay the bills. Some people find themselves in the hospital by sheer circumstance.
“We could have contacted the chosen hospitals to provide us with a list of those in need on their premises, but we decided to conduct an on-the-spot assessment to see things for ourselves and choose those that we know need help.”
Owan said that although the Foundation had a three-million-naira budget for the Karshi general hospital, there was a provision to make more money available if needed.
“This is not the only hospital we plan to visit. We are going to visit BwariGeneral Hospitalwhere medical bills of most of the vulnerable persons will be settled.”
He insisted that the Foundation was not looking for individuals who can afford hospital bills but rather the indigent people who are handicapped.
A patient, Obasi Comfort, whose bills were settled, was overwhelmed as she narrated her story amid tears and appreciation to the PENGASSAN Foundation.
“I am so happy right now because I never dreamed a day like this would ever come. I did not have an idea when I would leave the hospital because of a money issue. I am very grateful to this wonderful group of people. They are God-sent. God is indeed a miracle worker.”
At the Bwari General Hospital, the PENGASSAN Foundation spent about N2.7 million on the settlement of people who could not pay their medical bills.
Meanwhile, the Foundation visited the paediatric, female and post-natal wards. In the maternity ward, it was like a miracle as a woman whose bills were just settled gave birth a few minutes after the payment to the delight of the visiting Foundation members.
Owan added that the Foundation would also visit Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps and public schools in Benue State as well as the Niger Delta region.
“Vulnerable groups are not limited to hospitals. They are in IDP camps spread across the country. The situation of Nigerians in Benue State is very dire. We believe we should confront the risks involved and go to Benue State to contribute our small quota by making the people in the camps a bit happier. We will visit schools in the state.
From there, the Foundation plans to go to the Niger Delta to identify with the vulnerable people,” he stated.
However, Secretary of Bwari General Hospital, Mohammed Sirajo, lauded the PENGASSAN Foundation for providing relief to the needy, calling on organisations to emulate the philanthropic gestures of the PENGASSAN Foundation.
