By Adewale Olajide
In February 2025, the Executive Secretary of the Osun State Health Insurance Scheme (OHIS), Dr. Rasaq Akindele, announced plan by the agency to conduct a comprehensive eye screening and examinations for students of public schools in the state.
It was the first of its kind, and to address curiosity, Dr. Akindele explained that the initiative tagged “Imole Eye Health” was borne out of the fact that quite a good number of students have challenges with their visions which make them not to be able to see what the teachers writes on the board or even demonstrates in front of the class.
By the time the exercise held, a shocking development was uncovered. Out of a total of 345,000 pupils that their eyes was examined, more than 42,000 students of public primary and secondary schools across Osun state were found to be suffering from different sight problems.
That was overwhelming but the OHIS under Dr. Akindele was not going to allow the situation to continue. This is because a bad sight will naturally weigh down on students, causing them not to only struggle in their studies but also making it extremely difficult for them to pursue their goals in life. This is bound to have a negative on the society, yet received no serious interest to address the challenge in the past.
It took the coming of Governor Ademola Adeleke, who through Dr. Akindele see the challenge as unacceptable and do something about it. “This discovery– showing that more than 42,000 pupils have eye challenges– is enormous. It will impact their education and overall well-being,” Dr. Akindele noted, and then went on to add that “We are committed to providing them with everything they need.”
And the OHIS did exactly that. All pupils diagnosed with eye problems received help as treatment and even, corrective glasses were given to them. Speaking at the event where corrective glasses was distributed to the affected students, Governor Adeleke noted that the intervention in public schools was just a pilot phase and assured that “we will soon extend it to private schools, ensuring that no child is left behind.”
Providing more insights on the initiative, Dr. Akindele pointed out that “the idea of the Imole Eye Health is targeted at bringing relief and comfort to the students of public primary and secondary schools. Many students perform poorly in the school, not because they are not intelligent but because they have problem with their sight, a lot of them do not see what the teacher write and demonstrate on the board.”
So far, the intervention by the OHIS has proven to be a good investment in not just the well-being of the students but also the future of Osun state. At this pivotal stage of their lives, students need a good sight to do better in their studies and be able to fulfil their potentials, which will invariably contribute to Osun state meaningfully in the future.
Some of the early benefits of the intervention is the increase in attendance of students in classrooms. Pupils who deliberately avoided classes due to their situations are now turning up, participating without hindrance to studies.
A typical example is Master Michael Daramola, a Junior Secondary School II pupil in a public school in Osogbo, the state capital, who is not regular in classroom because his bad sight proved too difficult for him to study until the intervention of OHIS. He said that although his parent were aware of his situation but inability to raise the require fund for treatment and procure corrective glass put him in a difficult position and reason why he usually stay away from classes so as not to be punished by teachers for doing poorly in school. But that problem is now gone, as according to him, the “Osun State Government through the OHIS came to his rescue by providing the required treatment and also providing him with correct glass.”
His story is not any different from that of Miss Kazeem Kafayat in one of the public high school in Ejigbo. Narrating how her eye problem nearly forced her to quit as she was struggling hard to cope with the challenge, said the “(Adeleke) administration was her saving grace by helping to fix her bad eyes.”
Testimonies like the above abound across Osun state. The OHIS under Dr. Akindele did not only saved sights but also saved future of the many promising kids who would have strayed away from their real purpose in life. This is because a bad sight impairs functionality, hinders academic prospects and adversely affects performance of students.
Clear enough, the OHIS is not leaving anything to chance in facilitating a healthy living in Osun state. Whether young or old, the OHIS is putting in place measures and support to fight off existing challenges of the people and also guide against new ones. The goal seem to be a healthy population and by all indications, the OHIS under Dr. Akindele is working to achieve just that. The success with the “Imole Eye Health” is a perfect example.
- Adewale Olajide is a social commentator and writes from Ejigbo, Osun state.
