By Eric Elezuo

The main hall of the Saint Micheal, Raphael and Gabriel Catholic Church, Satellite Town, Lagos, and the entire premises were bubbly with humanitarian activities as the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation of Nigeria took it upon itself to reach out to Nigerians living with disabilities with various forms of mobility aids, ranching from crutches, wheelchairs and walking sticks.

The Foundation, which has in the last eight years, since 2016, been saddled with the responsibility of caring for the less privileged and other indigent persons, also conducted free eye tests as well as gave out free medicated eyeglasses for the virtually impaired.

Speaking at the occasion, and tracing the eight years journey of the Foundation, the Founder/CEO, Mrs. Tarela Aghanti, who is also the United Kingdom Ambassador for the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Europe Chapter, noted that she was motivated to embark on the journey, which has translated to pure selflessness and humanitarian, upon discovery that her own son was not only born with the Osteogenesis Imperfecta, but was not properly diagnosed and treated, until she was opportune to take him abroad, where he received better treatment and attention. She noted that it was the need to extend the privilege her son had enjoyed that prompted her to ensure that the processes are replicated back home in Nigeria.

“The motivation was purely humanitarian, and with me having gone through that issue of having a child with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, and with everything that I went through personally for the fact that there was no awareness about it, and I didn’t know what my son had, and there was no proper medication that was recommended for my son. That got to the bottom of my heart. And when I eventually got an opportunity to give my son treatment, I felt there was a need to come back home and give back to humanity. And the reason I felt that need was because I had an opportunity of a lifetime that changed my life and my son’s life.

“My son became a human being again; my family was intact. For me, family is very important, so I felt that need to go back and breach the gap where people with Osteogenesis Imperfecta can be human, and have their own family; be united with their family and be brought up by their own parents.

“I’m so grateful that the Foundation is doing just that, and we are able to achieve even more, bring in OI professionals and specialists from the United States to conduct surgeries for these children,” Mrs Aghanti informed.

She added that humanitarian-giving by the Foundation has been sustained in eight years, and in 2024 at the very event, a total of 314 mobility aids including wheelchairs, crutches and walking canes, were given out to various categories of Osteogenesis Imperfecta patients.

In her remarks at the occasion, the Ambassador of the Foundation in Nigeria, Yeye Adenike Agnes Shobajo, expressed her delight at the selfless efforts of Mrs Aghanti and her team in giving to Nigerians, what otherwise they would not be able to access, describing her as a superwoman, who deserves a national award.

“If there are few individuals in this country, who deserve to be honoured on the national scale, Mrs Aghanti qualifies to be one of them. She deserves a national honour and recognition for her selfless efforts,” Yeye Shobajo said.

The OI Ambassador proceeded to honour Mrs Aghanti by presenting her with a medal honour, thanking her for her efforts as well as pleading with her not rest on her oars in affecting the society positively.

While acknowledging the accolades, Mrs Aghanti called on the government at all levels to come to their assistance in reaching out to more Nigerians as funds required for the assignment are huge.

“The challenges are huge. In the first place, we’ve not had any funding in the Nigerian space. A lot of the funds we have used are from fundraising in the UK or individuals supporting us. But from the Nigerian space, we have not had any help.

“Again, we are in dire need of medical doctors for the children, who need a level of bone juice every six months to keep them going, and it reduces fracture among the children, who are very fragile and allergic to any form of stress. The juice and surgery can correct any deformity in the child. So funding and provision of medical personnel are highly needed.

“We certainly need the government to partner and work with considering more that we are working in the grassroots. We are actually locating families of children that have been abandoned, picking them up and giving them life again,” Aghanti said.

She further advised on the need to identify the Osteogenesis Imperfecta patients on time because the only record of loss recorded in the Foundation are those of children discovered after they have been seriously battered and rendered almost lifeless, noting that early discovery makes therapy and treatment easy and rewarding.

“It is my privilege to let our policy know that Osteogenesis Imperfecta do exist, and there are a lot of Nigerian children suffering from the disease. They need assistance, and more importantly policies that will enable them live their normal lives as human beings,” Aghanti added.

A major highlight of the event was the presentation of the wheelchairs and others to citizens who desired them. Among the first of recipients was young Tishe Ajayi, who presented emotional poems before receiving his wheelchair.

Other members of the public, who have benefited from both the generosity of Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation and Mrs. Tarela Aghanti as a person, were also on hand to express their appreciations.

The Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation is already eight years in the business of rendering humanitarian assistance to the special needs persons, and according to the Founder, they are not stopping any time soon.

“Our Foundation is in search of a country where the needs of people living with Osteogenesis Imperfecta are understood, respected and affected to fully meet their potential,” Aghanti concluded.

Osteogenesis Imperfecta, also known as Brittle Bone Disease, is a disease that causes weak bones, making it to break easily. The OI can also cause many other diseases such as weak muscles, brittle teeth and hearing loss.

Photos: Ken Ehimen