On Friday, President Bola Tinubu approved the provision of five million pairs of eyeglasses for Nigerians with vision impairments through a partnership between the Federal Ministry of Health’s National Eye Health Programme and the Peek Vision Foundation.
The President made this announcement during a courtesy visit by Andrew Bastawrous, the CEO of the foundation and co-founder of the Vision Catalyst Fund.
President Tinubu explained that his motivation to support this initiative stemmed from his personal experience with eye health. He recounted how his mother, after receiving a pair of glasses, was able to regain clear vision and had expressed concern about others in similar situations without any support.
In a statement released by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu stated, “My first experience was with my mother of blessed memory. She was ill and she could not recognise me. When I intervened, she was treated and given a pair of glasses. The next question she asked me was: I have you, and you are able to do this for me. What about those other women and their children who may not have somebody like you to intervene for them?”
He continued, “So I made a promise to her that I would pursue the mass provision of eye care vigorously and that I would provide free eye screenings and surgeries to people because of that question my mother asked me and because of her passion to see others healed. We eventually impacted the eye health of millions of people in Lagos, and you could see their joy over the immediate sight enhancements when they were given a pair of glasses. I am in support of this initiative, and I will encourage the mobilisation of further commitment to see this through and to reach vulnerable people all across our country.”
During the visit, Bastawrous shared his personal journey, highlighting how access to vision care enabled him to achieve his academic and professional goals. He emphasized that eye care is significantly under-resourced in many countries, including Nigeria, where only a small fraction of the health budget is allocated to eye health.
Bastawrous added, “The good news is that President Tinubu has an excellent team in the health sector, and some of them have demonstrated tremendous leadership in the sector. What we would like to offer is to bring our Peek Vision methodology and platform to Nigeria to help unlock resources from multiple sources. In the countries where we have worked, Peek in Botswana unlocked 10 million dollars for the school programme, and in Kenya, 17 million Euros. Through the Vision Catalyst Fund, we have secured a donation of 200 million pairs of glasses, and we would like a significant proportion of that to come to Nigeria.”
