Emerald Elderly Care and Development Foundation in Collaboration with National Council of Women Socities (NCWS), National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC), and Wama Care Foundation held a program tagged “Elderly Prayers for the Nation and Medical Outreach”, held at Arts and Culture, Area 10, FCT Abuja on the 28th of March, 2024. The program was borne out of the need to address the current state of our Nation affecting the entire populace. Also, a medical outreach was conducted to assess the health of the elderly persons from the Six Area Councils in Abuja.
The program started with registration of the participants from the Six Area Councils which include; Abaji, Gwagalada, Kuje, AMAC, Kwali, Bwari and the Disabled Community Karomagiji. 140 Participants between the age ranges of 65 – 97 years were in attendance. Upon completion of the registration, all participants were seated according to their different Area Councils.
The opening prayer was rendered by a member of the Bwari Area Council, this was followed by a welcome address by the President of the Foundation Amb (Dr) Becky Ogonnaya, who warmly welcomed all participants, she expressed her joy to see the elderly gathered in one accord to pray to God on behalf of the Nation, she stated how passionate she is about the elderly because old age is a blessing, she informed all the participants that the program was the first of many other programs to come especially the upcoming Emerald Senior Citizen’s Conference 2024, which is our annual event.
This was followed by a health talk by a Dietician, who educated the elderly about their diet and its impact on their health. Afterwards, the first prayer session was conducted by Imam Adamu Salihu who led the participants in Prayer for the Nation. There was a Cultural Dance Presentation by a Cultural troupe from Bwari Area Council after the prayer session.
At the end of this presentation, Dr. Ruqqayya Wammako, the Director at the Primary HealthCare Board (FCT-PHCB), addressed the participants and expressed her delight to be a part of a great initiative by Emerald Care and Development Foundation and the importance of regular medical check up for the Elderly persons in the community.
The second prayer session for the Nation was conducted by Pastor Sydney Diala (who is also a Nollywood Legend) and a short exhortation was also delivered by him. The third and final Prayer session for the Nation was conducted by the wife of the Ona of Abaji in the company of the Leader of the Disabled Community Karonmajigi.
The Medical Outreach kicked off in full gear, with various medical checks by medical personnel from the FCT-PHCB. The various test carried out include: Blood Pressure, Malaria test, Diabetics test, etc.
Finally, there was presentation of souvenir and palliative by the Emerald team to all participants who received them with excitement and gratitude. The program ended with a closing remark by the President of the Foundation, who presented a cash gift to the oldest participant, Talatu Adalkhali, a 97-year-old woman from Kuje Area Council. This was followed by a dance session with the participants and the President of the Foundation and group photographs.
