First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and its implementation partner, the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation (TCF), has celebrating 15 years of the “Priceless Gift of Sight” programme, which has provided free eye care to over 400,000 Nigerians. The programme, highlighted by a recent outreach event in Calabar, Cross River State, provides testing, optical services, surgeries, and disease management to combat preventable blindness.

“The intervention by First City Monument Bank and the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation is laudable. Both organisations have demonstrated a genuine concern for humanity. We are pleased that thousands of people across Nigeria, including many from Cross River and the neighboring States, suffering from one form of eye defect or another, can now go back to their normal lives and pursue their aspirations,” said wife of the Cross River State Governor, Reverend (Mrs.) Eyoanwan Bassey Otu.

FCMB’s Group Head of Corporate Affairs, Diran Olojo, stated: “Our collaboration with the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation has been instrumental in delivering critical eye care services. The Priceless Gift of Sight addresses a critical need, as 90 per cent of blind people globally live in poverty-stricken areas. Blindness often leads to loss of income, social isolation, and limited access to information. This initiative is crucial in breaking the cycle of poverty and blindness,” Olojo said.

Beneficiaries have also expressed their gratitude. “I haven’t seen properly in six years,” said Thomas Olekama, who travelled from Lagos for the free surgery. “I thank God, FCMB, and the Foundation for allowing me to see again.”

He added that the FCMB Group, with The Priceless Gift of Sight programme, has shown how serious the Bank is about helping people and positively impacting the lives of Nigerians.