Elections: Ex-corper needs N14m for surgery

 

When in 2010/2011 Daniel Adeigba was posted to Yobe State for the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps, his joy knew no bound. His thought was that after the service year, he would pursue a career in line with the History and International Relations he had studied in Kogi State University, Ayingba.

But tragedy struck during the preparations for the 2011 general elections when Adeigba and 17 other corps members had an accident along Potiskum Road in Damaturu, in Yobe State. They were going for training for the election duties.

Only Adeigba and another lady survived the accident but not without a price. Today, he is not only blind, he also has irons in his limbs. This respite is coming after he and other family members had spent all their savings.

To worsen his case, the Kogi State native said he did not receive any kind of help or assistance from the NYSC management. According to him, the NYSC authorities claimed they were not aware of his case.

Adeigba, who belonged to the Batch C 2010/2011 set with registration number YB10C0610, is nonetheless paying less attention to the past. The immediate concern of Adeigba, whose parents have since passed on, is how to raise N14m needed for his surgery in the United States.

He said, “I became blind when we were preparing for the election in January. As corps members for the election in Yobe State in year 2011, we were going for training on how to use the Direct Data Capturing machine at the Government Girls College when the accident occurred on Tuesday, January 4, 2011.

“We were 18 passengers in the vehicle and I know that we were only two that survived after remaining in coma for many days. The other lady is Chukwudinaka. We received initial treatment at the General Sani Abacha Hospital before the authorities referred us to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. But despite this medication, my two optical nerves have been damaged.”

Adeigba said the team of medical doctors handling his case had assured him that he would regain his sight if he could get the required finances for the treatment.

“With my findings, I need about N14m to treat myself.This will make me come back to my normal life, I am calling on Nigerians to help me.

“In trying to find a cure to my problems, I have been to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and other hospitals. I have about nine consultants headed by Prof. Yau.

“The impact of the accident also broke my right hand. What I had inside my left arm is just iron, I don’t have bones anymore.

“There was no government intervention, no NYSC intervention. There was no INEC intervention also. I have been the only one looking for means to survive. I sold all my property in order to receive treatment in the hospital. I have spent over N2m to be where I am now. I sold not only my landed property and my car; I also have given up all that I have in life. Even my plea to the NYSC leadership did not receive any blessing. There was also no response from anybody in the organisation. The only thing I got from the NYSC is just my discharge certificate.”

But those who know Adeigba say he has a never-give-up spirit. True to type, despite this tribulation, Adeigba has moved on with life, getting married even as the relation has produced a son.

“I have decided to move on with my life and I am not going to resign to faith. Some non-governmental organisations have come to take my story but no help has come.

“So, I am calling on the government, President Goodluck Jonathan and the people that matter, politicians, well-meaning Nigerians, rich and common Nigerians to come to my assistance.

“I need compensation and rehabilitation. I cannot continue like this. I was on a national assignment when I fell to this calamity. Therefore, my country should take care of me. As I speak to you, I did not receive allowance for 12 months in Yobe State.

“When it happened, I left Maiduguri because there was a threat by Boko Haram that they were coming to bomb Maiduguri. They referred me to another office in Sagamu and Igbobi. I remember I did this surgery when we were about to pass out. When I returned to the state around October, I asked the NYSC coordinator why the organisation abandoned me. Of course, I did not get a satisfactory response, as I was asked to go to the national headquarters in Abuja.

“When I got to the headquarters, they told me that they were not aware of my problem. I was the one who went there to lodge the complaint. After that, they gave me all manner of promises. For instance, they asked me to go and get a hospital, which would give me a referral letter to travel for treatment, which I did. They told me to bring the documents of all I have spent which I gave to them. Up till now, I have not received any response from them.”

Efforts to get official response of the NYSC management as of the time of filing this report were not successful.

A senior member of staff of the organisation’s information department said enquries on the issues could not be answered over the telephone.