Get Guardian on GoogleWhat began as a routine visit to Abibat Mogaji Market, popularly known as Sunday Market, Ogba, Lagos, turned into an unexpected health intervention for Yemisi Araoye, who benefited from free medical care and other support provided by Asiwaju-KOH-Faleke Connect.
Araoye, who had gone to the market to purchase essential items, including fish and other goods, expressed excitement and gratitude after encountering the group’s medical outreach.
She was among traders who benefited from the free medical, dental and eye care services organised by the group to improve access to healthcare among small-scale business owners.
The outreach, held under the theme, ‘Renewed Hope Medical Outreach and Market Storm’, offered free medical consultations, blood pressure and blood sugar checks, dental examinations, oral health assessments and vision screening.
Elderly beneficiaries also received prescription glasses, while participants were given health education and professional advice on disease prevention, personal hygiene and healthy living.
Speaking during the exercise, the convener of the group, Tolu Dada, said the initiative was informed by the challenges market traders, particularly women, face in accessing routine healthcare while attending to their businesses.
He said many traders often neglected their health, not necessarily because they could not afford medical services or lacked access to public hospitals, but because of the demands of their daily activities.
He explained that the group decided to take healthcare services directly to the market to enable traders to check their health status without abandoning their businesses.
Dada said the initiative was also aimed at improving grassroots welfare, strengthening community engagement and mobilising support for President Bola Tinubu, House of Representatives member, James Faleke, and other All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He, however, stressed that the outreach was driven by concern for the people rather than electoral considerations alone.
“We are not doing this because of votes alone. We are doing this for the love of the people. This movement is driven by the love for the betterment of our people,” he added.
The head of the medical team, Dr Sunny Olumide, said the exercise was designed to help beneficiaries identify possible underlying health conditions and receive professional advice on managing their health.
He said the intervention went beyond medical consultations, as participants were also educated on preventive healthcare, environmental cleanliness and basic hygiene practices.
Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement, South-West, Moremi Ojudu, said the Market Storm initiative provided an opportunity to engage directly with grassroots communities and sensitise residents about government programmes.
She said the engagement focused particularly on the agricultural component of the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, while also highlighting interventions in infrastructure, education, healthcare and the power sector.
