Health workers learn to conduct near-vision screening at a training in Plateau State, Nigeria.
In 12 months, Nigeria’s presidential initiative screened 1.5 million people and distributed over a million free reading glasses—with CHAI and partners contributing 800,000 pairs across 10 states
Mrs. Enebrayi Teks-Daniel stands at the market in Delta State, squinting at the naira notes in her hand. She’s a 55-year-old teacher and mother of four, but right now she can’t count her own change. She has to ask a stranger to confirm the amount. It’s humiliating.
At home, she hands her phone to her daughter. “Read this text for me,” she says. Again. Her life—built on reading, writing, teaching young people—feels at risk, all because she can no longer see up close.
Mrs. Teks-Daniel isn’t alone. Ten million Nigerians live with this same struggle. Tailors can’t see their stitches. Parents can’t help with homework. People can’t follow along with the prayer book at church. The solution is simple and inexpensive: reading glasses. But in Nigeria, as in much of the world, these glasses have been out of reach.
Nigeria shows what’s possible in only a year
This year, something changed. The Nigerian government launched a free eyeglasses program, the “Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative Nigeria,” a presidential initiative under the “Jigi Bola 2.0” project. In the last 12 months, the initiative has screened 1.5 million people across 16 states, with more than one million Nigerians receiving free reading glasses. Remarkably, 66 percent of beneficiaries received their first-ever pair of glasses.
The program is aimed at providing free spectacles, conducting eye screenings, and training healthcare workers to deliver basic eye care at primary health centers—the backbone of the country’s health system where most Nigerians receive health services.
The approach is straightforward. A person reads text held at arm’s length. If they struggle, they are offered reading glasses on the spot. When facilities aren’t enough to reach everyone—particularly men and older adults less accustomed to visiting health centers—workers take the screenings directly into communities, partnering with village mobilizers and religious and traditional leaders.
CHAI’s role in supporting Nigeria’s vision
The program is implemented in partnership with organizations including CHAI, Livelihood Impact Fund, and RestoringVision. Together, we have facilitated the distribution of almost 80 percent of all reading glasses in the campaign. Since January 2025, 2,000 Nigerian primary health workers, trained by CHAI and partners, have distributed more than 800,000 pairs of glasses in 10 states.
Dr. Oteri Okolo oversees the program as inaugural National Coordinator of the National Eye, Ear and Sensory Functions Health Program. For Dr. Okolo, the decision to scale up through primary health centers was clear: “We have to go where people are. And people are in the communities; people are at the primary level of the health system.”
Dr Oteri Okolo, Director and National Coordinator of the Nigeria National Eye, Ear, and Sensory Functions Program speaks about the government’s program to expand primary eye care services.
“These glasses carry a very big blessing”
Mrs. Teks-Daniel received her glasses earlier this year. Now she’s back to mentoring students independently. She reads her Bible again. She sews clothes for her children. She counts her own change.
“I can’t explain the joy I feel,” she says. “These glasses may look small, but they carry a very big blessing.”
Her story multiplies across Nigeria more than a million times over. That’s more than a million people who can suddenly do their jobs again, help their families, participate fully in their lives. If they stood in line, they’d stretch from Lagos to Abuja.
The path forward
Globally, 800 million people struggle with age-related near-vision loss that reading glasses could solve. Most adults experience it by age 50. Nigeria has the fifth highest unmet need in the world, but they’ve now proven what’s possible when you make the solution accessible and affordable.
The presidential initiative, is being scaled up to deliver at least five million free spectacles and 25,000 cataract surgeries by 2027. In support of the government’s ambitious plans, CHAI aims to scale the primary health center model that’s proven highly cost-effective and launch a new program through private pharmacies to complement public distribution with affordable options for those able to pay.
We’re also taking lessons learned from Nigeria to new countries.
The global impact of unaddressed near-vision loss is staggering: an estimated US$25 billion in annual lost productivity. But those billions represent something more human—families struggling because parents can’t do their jobs, children missing out on help with homework, communities losing the contributions of their elders.
Nigeria proved this works. The glasses are inexpensive. The screenings are simple. The infrastructure exists.
Now we need partners to bring this to other countries where millions struggle the same way Mrs. Teks-Daniel did—unable to count change, read messages, or do the work that defines them.
The glasses may look small. But they carry a very big blessing.
