Ondo Residents Oversubscribe BTO CARES In One Week As Medical, Education Needs Dominate

The BTOCARES humanitarian intervention in Ondo State recorded overwhelming demand within its first week, as residents sought assistance for costly medical treatment, school fees and other pressing welfare needs.

The programme, launched on October 1 by Ondo Community Connect and sponsored by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, attracted more applicants than anticipated, according to its coordinator, Mrs Iretidola Akinrowo Ojekhoa.

Ojekhoa said registration was temporarily suspended on Friday, October 9, following an unexpectedly large turnout that exceeded projections. The needs assessment also revealed numerous cases requiring urgent attention.

“Our BTOCARES registration was oversubscribed within one week. The registration came to an end on Friday when the turnout was unexpectedly huge,” she said.

Among the cases documented are residents requiring kidney dialysis, tumour removal and other major surgeries, alongside families struggling to pay school fees and prevent their children’s education from being disrupted.

One of the urgent cases involves a resident whose survival depends on regular kidney dialysis. Community members have contributed towards his treatment but say their resources are insufficient to meet his medical needs.

A community leader, Prince Alabi Adebowale Caleb, appealed for assistance, explaining that the resident requires about N800,000 for treatment, a sum the community has been unable to raise despite its contributions.

“We have been able to contribute our own quota to help the young man, but our little isn’t enough as he needs up to N800,000. We’ll be glad if you can help us facilitate his medical treatment,” Caleb said.

“I said ‘us’, not ‘him’, because he’s one of us and his well-being is our collective well-being as a community,” the leader added.

Beyond this case, the assessment uncovered several other residents requiring costly medical interventions, with some treatment needs running into millions of naira.

The cases span different communities across Ondo State, highlighting the financial difficulties confronting families who cannot afford specialised treatment and major surgeries.

The assessment also identified Pa Kolawole Familusi, a 60-year-old man popularly known as Kola Akewi, whose leg tumour has left him struggling to walk and unable to work effectively.

His condition has affected his ability to provide for his family and pay his children’s school fees. The programme’s team said it had received his request and was pursuing appropriate channels for medical and welfare assistance.

Similarly, 50-year-old Ige Ologe requires urgent surgery for a severe anal condition that his family says has worsened. The family is seeking help to meet the cost of treatment.

Another case involves a 57-year-old resident of Ijare in Ifedore Local Government Area, who lives with the effects of a partial stroke affecting his left arm, left leg and speech.

During a visit to his residence on October 14, the BTOCARES team provided food items, a cash token for immediate needs and repairs to his damaged mobile phone. The team said it would continue to follow up on his medical evaluation and seek to connect him with a partner health facility.

A further appeal concerns a 19-year-old with a large facial growth requiring medical evaluation and possible surgery. The assessment also identified a young girl with a growing tumour on her leg, whose family fears that delays in treatment could worsen her condition and affect her future.

Education support has emerged as another major concern, with applicants seeking assistance to settle tuition fees and keep children in school.

Among them is Ojo Taiwo, a physically challenged father and shoe cobbler in Akoko North-West Local Government Area, who is struggling to finance his son’s education while managing his own mobility challenges.

Taiwo is seeking N350,000 to pay his son’s outstanding fees at Western University, Iwo. He said the financial difficulty had already caused the final-year student to miss an examination.

“My son called me yesterday that he missed his exam because of school fees at Western University, Iwo. I told him I don’t have the financial capacity and he’s in his final year,” he said.

Taiwo added that he approached the chairman of his association for assistance, but only N50,000 was raised towards the outstanding bill.

The cases are among several requests recorded during the needs assessment across communities in Ondo State. The findings point to the difficulties faced by residents who cannot afford urgent medical care or meet the cost of education without assistance.

BTO CARES was established to address such needs through direct support for vulnerable residents. At its launch in Akure, Ojekhoa said the initiative would cover emergency medical assistance, education, skills and artisanship, business development, and the protection of vulnerable people and youths.

Under its education component, the programme provides for assistance with school fees, examination charges, books and uniforms. Its emergency support covers medical bills, referrals, food assistance and temporary shelter for disaster victims.

The programme operates a no-cash-at-centre policy, under which approved school fees and hospital bills are paid directly to the relevant institutions. Applicants are subject to profiling and verification before support is approved.

Its guidelines provide for emergency cases to be attended to within 48 hours, while standard applications are expected to be processed within seven working days.

Ojekhoa said the initiative was created to address personal hardships that infrastructure projects alone could not resolve, particularly among residents facing medical emergencies and financial barriers to education.

With registration oversubscribed within seven days, the needs assessment has brought into focus the scale of demand for direct humanitarian assistance in Ondo State.

The programme’s team said it was following up on the identified cases to determine the support required by applicants.