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Skipper Eye-Q Rolls Out Plan to Improve Eye Care in Nigeria
The nation’s health sector, has received a major boost, as Skipper Seil Group in partnership with Eye-Q, unveiled a state-of-the-art facility, known as Skipper Eye-Q Super Speciality Eye Hospital in Lagos, aimed at providing a world class diagnostic, medical, surgical and optical ophthalmic services in Nigeria.
The facility was commissioned in Victoria Island by Prof. Ben Ayade, Cross River State Governor.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Dr. Ajay Sharma, founder, Eye-Q Eye Super Speciality Hospital, India, who rolled out various plans of the hospital to improve eye care services in Nigeria, said the hospital was established to assist Nigerians with visual impairments regain their sight and to also save them the trouble of travelling abroad for treatment.
Sharma, one of the most renowned eye surgeons in India, said having such a facility in Nigeria was long over due considering the fact that 4.5 million adults in Nigeria aged 40 years and above, were visually impaired or blind, based on the National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey conducted in 2005-2007.
He said: “In a bid to enable more people to access medical care, the JV-Skipper Eye-Q Nigeria-aims to improve medical services in the region. It is committed to deliver its services using the most advanced, progressive and highest standards of quality eye care at affordable price and we have a team of highly qualified and experienced ophthalmologists to provide the best possible service.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 285 million people are estimated to be visually impaired worldwide: 39 million are blind and 246 million have low vision.
WHO also says that about 90% of the world’s visually impaired live in low-income settings like Nigeria. Sharma therefore, said the hospital will invest $20 million dollars in eye services in Nigeria through the establishment of 30 eye centres in the next few years, which will further help the country to achieve the global eye health action plan 2014–2019, which seeks to reduce avoidable visual impairment as a global public health problem and to secure access to rehabilitation services for the visually impaired.
Already, he said Skipper Eye-Q Super Specialty Eye Hospital had started partnering with four states in the country; Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Cross River to improve their ophthalmology clinics and upgrade their facilities.
According to him, the hospital will be involved in the training of Nigerian doctors with ultra modern facilities on surgeries and different eye care so as to enhance their performance and services. Apart from offering Corporate Social Responsibility services, Sharma also noted that the hospital will be creating jobs for Nigerians.
Commissioning the hospital, Ayade said Nigerians will be happy to see this as it will help in reducing medical tourism. “We have intelligent and smart doctors, but the equipment are not there. Now that we have this state-of-the-art facility in place, it is an opportunity for our doctors to learn and upgrade their knowledge in eye care services”, he said. To enable the people of Cross River state access quality eye care at a very affordable price, the governor said he had already signed a MoU with the hospital.
He said: “Vision is important. Without vision, you are nothing. My responsibility after the commissioning is to take the innovation and technology home. I have given a contract to the management of the hospital to replicate same in my state.” In his remarks, Dangote who expressed delight at the establishment of the facility, said his foundation will work with the hospital to provide free eye care services to the poor, stressing that provision of effective and accessible eye care services is key for effectively controlling visual impairment including blindness.
He added that the foundation will also support the training of doctors. Group President, Skipper Nigeria, Mr. Jitendra Sachdeva, said Nigeria has an alarming number of visually impaired people and therefore, needs such specialized state-of-the-art hospitals that can treat all kinds of eye ailments.
“With the launch of this centre, we look forward to catering for the country’s population and provide best eye care facility to the people. As a community healthcare provider, our main focus will be on the primary and secondary eye care needs of local people of Lagos and its neigbourhoods,” Sachdeva said.
Also, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, said having Skipper Eye-Q Super Speciality Eye Hospital in Lagos remains a plus for the state as it will boost the state’s services on eye care. Apart from improving eye care in the state, Idris pointed out the hospital will assist in building capacity locally and also update the knowledge of eye care professionals in the state.
He said, “We have shortage of human resources in all specialties and eye care is one of them. Establishing the hospital in Lagos state is more like a plus to us. “It is a positive thing because they have compact equipment that will help boost our services in eye care.”
He therefore, urged Nigerians to carry out regular eye check to help prevent glaucoma which causes irreversible blindness if detected late.
IHS Nigeria and its implementing partner, the United Nations Child Education Fund (UNICEF) has expressed satisfaction that the Oxygen Plant recently donated to Rivers State is helping to bridge the health Gap in the state and its environs.
This observation was made recently when officials from IHS Nigeria and UNICEF, carried out a project inspection visit to the plant located at the General Hospital in Eleme, Rivers State.
During the handing over of the oxygen plant to the Rivers State Government in 2024, the facility was reported to have a production capacity of 123 oxygen cylinders and 720,000 litres of oxygen every 24 hours.
The plant was built under a Public-Private Partnership involving UNICEF, the Canadian Government, IHS Nigeria, in partnership with the Rivers State Ministry of Health through the State Hospital Management Board.
Speaking during the visit to the facility yesterday, the Director of Sustainability at IHS Nigeria, Titilope Oguntuga, noted that the oxygen plant has saved lives and is helping to bridge health gaps in the eight other states where similar plants are located.
She further explained that the visit reflects the organisation’s commitment “not only to create opportunities for impact but to also continue supporting the healthcare industry by carrying out such interventions that directly impact individuals and saves lives. This plant is one of the nine oxygen plants we have built across the federation,” she said.
“We are particularly excited that it is helping to bridge health gaps—not just in Rivers State and its environs, but in all the states where the plants are currently located.”
Oguntuga informed that in terms of sustainability “we focus our intervention sustainability on four pillars; ethics and governance, education and economic growth, environment and climate change and finally, people and communities”.
She added that “the visit to the Rivers State oxygen plant is to have an assessment of how well the plant is functioning, the impact it is currently making and to generally understand how the operation is going”.
On his part, Chief of UNICEF Field Office, Port Harcourt, Dr Anslem Audu, stated that the plant has been very functional and useful to the people of Rivers State. According to him, “During the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of patients needed oxygen and oxygen was not available. So many children will come down with pneumonia and it will become an emergency, they will need oxygen, but oxygen is not available in the hospital. But with this plant now available no child will die because of lack of oxygen in the hospital. The era of lack of oxygen is no longer there.
Audu added that “You can practically visit any of the hospitals in Port Harcourt and find out that they have oxygen and the product is from this plant all thanks to IHS Nigeria, the Canadian Government and UNICEF”.
The UNICEF field officer, who confirmed that the plant is functioning optimally, said it is producing enough oxygen for the state’s needs.
In his words, “The partnership between these three organizations and the Ministry of Health in Rivers State has really worked, and we are reaping the benefits of the partnership.
He urged the implementing partners, especially the government, to also invest in the sustainability of the facility by providing a source of electricity for the plant to be more functional.
Earlier, the Medical Director Eleme General Hospital, Dr Leechi-Okere Clarabelle, noted that since the day of the unveiling, the plant has been functioning very well. Commenting on impact he noted that “We’ve had success stories whereby oxygen is distributed to public hospitals in the state, including the two teaching hospitals in the state and then we have also extended distribution to some private hospitals within the state.
“We have two hubs that serve as storage and distribution points because of the location of the plant. We produce here and store somewhere in Port Harcourt so that people who come from a far distance can get oxygen from these hubs.
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has accused a 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate of manipulating his identity and engaging in online blackmail.
Fabian Benjamin, head of public affairs, JAMB, issued a statement on the matter on Thursday.
He said one Chinedu Okeke, currently a 400-level Medicine and Surgery student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), gained admission in 2021 while claiming to be from Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos state.
JAMB said Okeke’s national identification number (NIN) records from 2021 confirm his Lagos origin.
The board stated it does not alter candidate information provided through NIN.
The board, however, said the 400-level student, who is facing potential challenges for incorrect credentials, is now claiming that it retrieved the wrong details for him from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in 2021.
“[This] is unequivocally false, aimed at fabricating a defence for his case,” Benjamin said.
“The evidence suggests that Chinedu altered his records as filled in 2021 before registering for the 2025 UTME, a fact confirmed by even his advocates.”
The board questioned why a 400-level medical student would seek to study mechanical engineering in 2025, especially with “inconsistencies in his claims.”
JAMB alleged that Okeke “took advantage” of Lagos state’s quota in 2021, thereby obstructing the admission opportunities for other deserving candidates from the state.
It added that he then “attempted to manipulate his details with the NIMC” to unjustly claim representation from Anambra state in 2025.
The board criticised “online advocates” for “actively reaching out to Chinedu’s parents to extract emotional narratives rather than factual clarifications, neglecting to seek information directly from the university.”
JAMB affirmed its commitment to maintaining accurate records and preventing candidates from exploiting loopholes.
It warned that if UNN confirms any inconsistencies, it would notify the Medical and Dental Council to consider delisting Okeke.
“When a nation trivialises illegalities, it breeds a future fraught with potential criminality,” Benjamin’s statement concluded.
Africa has become the most targeted region globally for cyber-attacks in the first quarter of 2025, according to new research from Check Point Software Technologies. The company’s Q1 2025 Global Cyber Attack Report reveals a steep rise in malicious activity as the continent continues to accelerate its Digital transformation.
Ethiopia emerged as the most targeted country in Africa during the reporting period. FakeUpdates ranked as the most common malware, while 80% of malicious files across the continent were delivered via e-mail. In contrast, 62% of threats in SA were distributed via the web.
On average, organisations in Africa faced 3 325 cyber-attacks per week – a staggering 72% above the global average of 1 938 attacks per organisation.
Check Point Software unpacked the findings at a media roundtable in Johannesburg. Eli Smadja, global research group manager at Check Point, provided a detailed overview of Africa’s evolving cyber threat landscape, which he said is increasingly defined by AI-powered threats, ransomware, infostealers, edge device vulnerabilities and cloud-based risks.
Among the most concerning developments was the discovery of a previously undocumented multi-stage backdoor, dubbed Stealth Soldier, currently being deployed in cyber operations targeting North African government entities. The malware forms part of a broader command-and-control infrastructure used in spear-phishing campaigns.
Smadja noted a growing trend in malware designed to bypass AI detection systems.
“These aren’t aimed at advanced large language models (LLMs), but rather at lower-level ones,” he said. “It’s about LLM evasion – fooling the AI and manipulating prompts.”
Despite the increasing use of AI in cyber security, Smadja cautioned against over-reliance on AI-driven defence systems. “AI still requires human prompting.”
Check Point is advocating for a zero trust model and a holistic, automated and consolidated approach to cyber security. This includes centralised threat visibility and simplified controls to protect against ransomware, phishing, data theft and vulnerabilities at the edge.
“Just having something at the perimeter isn’t enough,” Smadja said. “Cyber-attacks are not just targeting PCs or servers anymore. For instance, we’ve seen state-sponsored attacks aimed at fuel pumps to disrupt national supply chains.”
He highlighted the importance of understanding external risk – threats originating outside the organisation – especially as AI-driven ransomware and attacks on third-party service providers continue to rise.
“Printers, for example, are a major attack vector,” he added. “They’re often network-connected, and threat actors can exploit them to gain broader access.”
Credentials, Smadja noted, are also a lucrative commodity on the dark web, often selling for around $500.
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