For some Abuja residents, a routine visit to a free medical outreach became an unexpected health alert.
Prisca Nwemo arrived with her mother hoping to get treatment for an allergy. But after undergoing routine checks, medical personnel discovered that her blood pressure was high and promptly provided medication.
“I came because of an allergy, but when they checked my blood pressure, they discovered that it was high and gave me medication for it,” she said.
Prisca’s experience captures the wider purpose of a free medical outreach organised by Ti’Bilon Healthcare Foundation in collaboration with the Anchor Men’s Fellowship of Family Worship Centre (FWC), Wuye, which took healthcare services to six communities across the Federal Capital Territory.
The Saturday exercise, held simultaneously in Gwagwalada, Wuye, Nyanya, Kubwa, Karu and Lugbe, was designed to bring basic healthcare closer to residents who may otherwise struggle to access or afford routine medical checks.
At the Wuye centre alone, organisers projected that nearly 3,000 people would benefit, while the combined outreach across the six locations was initially expected to reach between 10,000 and 15,000 people, according to the ANCOR 2026 Planning Committee.
The intervention offered more than just consultations.
Residents received blood pressure and blood sugar checks, vital-sign assessments, medical consultations, eye examinations, dental services, cardiovascular tests, medications and referrals for cases requiring specialised treatment.
For beneficiaries with eye problems, eyeglasses were also provided, while those requiring basic dental care could receive treatments such as scaling.
But behind the numbers was a more human objective: identifying health problems that residents may not know they have.
Prisca’s high blood-pressure reading illustrates how seemingly routine screenings can uncover conditions requiring attention before they become more serious.
Bringing healthcare beyond the hospital
Programme Director of Ti’Bilon Healthcare Foundation, Olugbenga Falusi, who represented the Chief Executive Officer of Ti’Bilon Construction Ltd., Dr Toochukwu Nnamoko, said the outreach was part of the foundation’s broader commitment to improving access to healthcare, particularly in underserved communities.
Falusi said beneficiaries would receive consultations, blood pressure and blood sugar checks, eye examinations, eyeglasses and essential medications without payment.
He explained that partnering with Family Worship Centre and its men’s fellowship was deliberate, allowing the foundation to use an established community network to reach more people.
“We need to partner and collaborate with organisations that can get the people for us because they have the numbers,” Falusi said.
He added that such partnerships were consistent with the broader goal of expanding access to healthcare.
The foundation, he disclosed, attended to more than 5,000 patients through its medical outreach programme in the previous year and has continued similar interventions with other organisations on a monthly basis.
According to him, Ti’Bilon has also taken its healthcare interventions to communities in Kwali Area Council and other parts of Abuja over the past two to three years.
A community response to limited healthcare access
The outreach comes against the reality that access to healthcare remains a challenge for many households, particularly where the cost of consultation, tests, medication and specialist treatment can discourage people from seeking care.
For some residents, therefore, a free screening can become an important first point of contact with the healthcare system.
Falusi urged government to recognise that improving healthcare access requires a collective effort involving the public sector, foundations, non-governmental organisations, donors and development partners.
“We want the government to know that they are not alone in helping Nigerians get quality access to healthcare. We are here to support them and strengthen the healthcare system as a whole,” he said.
He also appealed for greater support from local and international donors, development agencies and other stakeholders to enable the foundation to extend its interventions to communities where healthcare services remain difficult to access.
“We cannot do it alone. We need donors and partners to support and strengthen us to go to places they might never get to, but we can get there,” Falusi said.
Not just for church members
At the FWC centre in Wuye, organisers were keen to stress that the outreach was not exclusively for church members.
Chairman of the ANCOR 2026 Planning Committee, Ambassador Elijah Onyeagba, said residents were welcome regardless of their religious affiliation or relationship with the church.
“Today we’re having this outreach, and we are open to everybody. Christian and non-Christian alike. Church members and non-church members alike. Matter of fact, we expect more non-church members to come,” he said.
The programme combined healthcare with food distribution, counselling and prayers, reflecting the organisers’ intention to respond to what they described as the physical, social and spiritual challenges facing residents.
According to Onyeagba, people arrived at the outreach centres for different reasons — some because they were hungry, others because they were sick, while some sought emotional or spiritual support.
“Some come because they are hungry, some come because they are truly sick, some come because they are spiritually sick as well,” he said.
For the organisers, the initiative was therefore not simply a medical exercise but an attempt to build a stronger relationship between the church and communities around its locations.
‘Government cannot do it alone’
Onyeagba acknowledged the responsibility of government to continuously improve Nigeria’s healthcare system but said community interventions could complement public-sector efforts rather than replace them.
“The government’s resources are quite limited. The country has over 200 million persons. Problems are infinite, but resources are finite,” he said.
He called on individuals, churches, businesses and non-governmental organisations to increase their contribution to community welfare.
The message from the organisers was clear: while government remains responsible for healthcare delivery, the scale of Nigeria’s needs requires complementary interventions from the private sector and civil society.
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For Prisca, however, the broader policy debate was less important than what happened at the screening point.
She arrived looking for relief from an allergy.
Instead, she left knowing that she had a blood-pressure concern that required attention.
“My experience today has been awesome. I came here with my mum and we were promptly attended to,” she said.
Her experience is a reminder of the value of preventive screening: some health problems announce themselves through symptoms, while others are discovered only when someone takes the time to check.
As medical personnel, volunteers, ministers and counsellors attended to residents across the six Abuja locations, the outreach provided more than free drugs and consultations.
It provided an opportunity for people who might otherwise postpone medical attention to check their health, discover potential problems and receive immediate guidance.
And for the organisers, that is the larger ambition taking healthcare beyond institutional walls and into the communities where people live.
In Abuja, the measure of the outreach may ultimately be more than the thousands counted as beneficiaries. It may be the conditions discovered early, the patients referred for further care and the residents who leave knowing more about their health than when they arrived.
Esther Ososanya is an investigative journalist with Pinnacle Daily, reporting across health, business, environment, metro, Fct and crime. Known for her bold, empathetic storytelling, she uncovers hidden truths, challenges broken systems, and gives voice to overlooked Nigerians. Her work drives national conversations and demands accountability one powerful story at a time.