The federal government’s Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative Nigeria, also known as Jigi Bola 2.0, has distributed free reading glasses to about 1,444,581 Nigerians within one year, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Adekunle Salako, has said.
Salako disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing newsmen at the State House, Abuja, explaining that the initiative is implemented through the National Eye, Ear and Sensory Functions Programme (NESHP) of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in collaboration with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI).
According to him, the programme is part of the presidential plan to deliver five million free pairs of eyeglasses to needy Nigerians. He said that within one year, the initiative also screened 1,541,325 Nigerians aged 40 years and above for presbyopia across 16 states, describing the rollout as “one of the largest vision-care distribution efforts.”
He listed the states implementing the initiative as Lagos, Jigawa, Bayelsa, Delta, Ekiti, FCT, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Plateau, Ogun, Kwara, Benue and Sokoto.
The minister said the programme recorded a 94 per cent utilisation rate of donated glasses, adding that 65 per cent of beneficiaries received their first-ever pair. He also noted that the initiative helped to close gender gaps in access to care, with women accounting for 53 per cent of recipients.
Salako explained that the programme strengthened primary eye care delivery by training 2,216 primary healthcare workers and activating 811 PHC facilities. He said the facilities now provide basic eye services, including screening, counselling, first aid, dispensing of reading glasses and referral of advanced cases.
He further disclosed that three vision centres had been equipped under the sustainability arm to provide glasses at subsidised rates. According to him, the centres are located at Alimosho General Hospital, Lagos; Ijebu-Ode General Hospital, Ogun; and Idanre General Hospital, Ondo.
On monitoring, Salako said a real-time digital dashboard using Kobo Collect software was deployed to track screenings and glasses dispensed.
On funding, he said the Livelihood Impact Fund is supporting operations and covering the cost of one million pairs of glasses for 2026, while Founders Pledge funded Restoring Vision is to cover the cost of two million pairs, with one million already provided to NESHP and 200,000 to CHAN.
According to him, faith-based networks played a major role, noting that “the Christian Health Association of Nigeria alone dispensed 201,960 glasses.” He announced that the philanthropic arm would expand next year to Nasarawa, Rivers, Oyo, Enugu, Taraba, Osun, Ogun and Edo, while four new vision centres have been earmarked for Edo, Enugu, Nasarawa and Sokoto.
Salako said beyond Jigi Bola 2.0, the president’s commitment has attracted additional investments, including the €15 million Christian Blind Missions VisionQuest Nigeria programme and the $5 million Bloomberg Focus on Vision Project, expected to reach 1.6 million school-aged children, provide 81,000 glasses, and train 7,500 teachers and healthcare workers over the next two years.
