Radiographers in Borno State have extended a hand of compassion to orphans in Maiduguri as part of a weeklong activity marking the 2025 World Radiography Day.
The initiative, organized by the Nigerian Association of Radiographers, Borno State branch, includes community outreach, health awareness, and free medical scans for pregnant women.
Chairman of the association, Abubakar Goni Bashir, said the donation to the Maiduguri Orphanage House was part of their effort to give back to society while celebrating the global event scheduled for November 8.
“We are here at the orphanage house in Maiduguri as part of our contributions in commemorating World Radiography Day, which is coming on the 8th of November,” he said.
“As part of the day, we chose here to donate food items to those people. From Monday to Saturday, we are calling it Radiography Week. We started activities on Monday, where we visited schools to create awareness for them on their health and our profession.”
He said the group is also conducting free ultrasound scans for pregnant women across selected primary healthcare centers in Maiduguri.
“We are to scan nothing less than 200 to 300, and we are doing that tomorrow, Thursday,” Bashir said.
Center manager of the Maiduguri Orphanage House, Hajiya Bawa Gana, expressed gratitude to the association for the donation and urged others to follow their example.
“We are very grateful to the association of radiographers, Borno State Chapter, for the food items because today is part of the commemoration of the World Radiography Day 2025,” she said.
“The way they thought and brought these items here, no one would ever think of that. We are grateful for that. We are also calling on people that they should reach out to those orphans.”
She explained that the number of children in the orphanage fluctuates.
“There is no fixed number of people here because sometimes it will be more than 70 while sometimes below,” she said.
“Any missing person here in Maiduguri is brought here. Some who have problems with their parents or mental illness are also brought here. That’s why I can’t tell you the exact figures because sometimes we discharge 10 or more than that.”
Radiographer Elizabeth Aden Medugu said the association’s outreach programs have become an annual tradition.
“We visit orphanages, sometimes prisons, schools, and many other places before the particular date, which is the 8th of November every year,” she said.
“Year in, year out, these are the activities we usually do. So today, we are here in the orphanage. We paid a visit to them and presented some food items and snacks for them. Tomorrow, we are having a community outreach at some primary healthcare centers where we will attend to all the patients free of charge.”
Intern radiographer at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Muhammad Ahmed Sanda, said the event was also an opportunity to promote the radiography profession.
“Today, we came out in commemoration of the upcoming World Radiography Day to share among our community and show them they are part of our celebration,” he said.
“We shared a few food items and communicated with the caretakers of the home, and we look forward to doing more of these activities moving forward, insha’Allah.”
He said the interns had earlier visited schools to sensitize students about the profession.
“We went to enlighten SSC students in Maiduguri Capital School about the radiography course and the profession,” he said.
“They asked a lot of questions, and we were happy to entertain them. They were excited to hopefully join radiography and propel it forward.”
Sanda described radiography as an essential part of medical diagnosis and patient care.
“Radiography is one of the most important professions in the hospital setting because even in trauma cases, the first thing you do is to see what is wrong with the patient before moving forward for any treatment,” he said.
“So x-rays and scans are very vital, and we are advocating for more professionals in this field to come forward and help improve healthcare services in Nigeria.”
