Taiwo Ajisebutu
From left to right,the chairman of Tede community, comrade Mustapha Salmon, , the director of the foundation, Dr SA Bello, and the secretary ,Elder Ogunrombi
Community town hall at Tede was a beehive of activities on the 22nd Nov, 2019, when the train of free dental treatment awareness program berthed at Tede in Atisbo local government are a of Oke-ogun, Oyo state. This was the second day of free dental treatment awareness programme across the ten local government areas of oke-ogun which was anchored by Cleft and Facial Deformity Foundation (CFDF).
Cleft and Facial Deformity Foundation is an Abuja based non-governmental organization that has been operating all over Nigeria in the past 10 years and populated by Nigerian professionals. It is headed by Dr Seidu Bello an Ago Are, Oke-ogun born dentist and a renowned maxillofacial surgeon.
Cross section of beneficiaries at Tede.
‘’This is an uncommon gesture. We have witnessed initiatives like measuring blood pressure and blood sugar level, doing cancer screening and carrying out eye disease awareness program but a dental awareness program is the first of its kind in this town.’’ Comrade Mustapha Salmon, the community Chairman, stated. According to Comrade Mustapha, it is a big relief for several people that have been suffering from tooth ache popularly called ’akokoro’ for several years but could not access a dental treatment due to lack of a dental clinic in the town and also the fear of the cost of the treatments at the few available treatment centres. Comrade Mustapha stated that many people are unaware of the presence of a dental clinic located in Saki and Iseyin which are about 10 km and 60 km respectively away from Tede. The crowd at Tede, the venue of the program was overwhelming. Mr Lawal Ismail who is the record coordinating officer of the organization however directed that patients not attended at Tede were free to catch up with the foundation at the subsequent locations of Saki and Ilero towns. A total of Ninety patients benefitted from the programme in Tede.