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By Funsho Arogundade
Foremost entrepreneur and philanthropist, Dr Seinye O.B. Lulu-Briggs has proven that privileged people need not wait for the government to fix what it has long neglected. For over two decades, Seinye, the widow of oil magnate and statesman, High Chief O.B. Lulu-Briggs, has been consistent in service and commitment to the well-being of the underserved and vulnerable in Rivers State, the South-South region and Nigeria generally.
Through the O.B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation —established in 2001 in the name of her beloved husband— this woman has been equipping, empowering and enabling people to live full, purposeful, and dignified lives. But the most profound of her philanthropic deeds is the annual free medical mission. Seinye has built the medical mission programme into one of the most sustained community health interventions in the Niger Delta. This year’s edition is the 45th.
For five days —March 16 to March 20— the Ogu Community in Rivers State was a beehive of activities as the foundation’s free medical mission produced the programme’s most striking numbers yet. The model primary healthcare center in Ogu saw a total of 5112 patients treated with 149 surgeries performed —from hernia repairs and appendectomies to hydrocelectomy, lipoma excisions and a range of other procedures that in urban centres would require appointments, insurance and out-of-pocket payments most rural Nigerians cannot afford. But she delivered these at no cost to the people who needed them. A total of 109 volunteers, consultants and support staff were brought to a community that rarely sees specialist surgical care walk through its doors.
The Ogu outreach pushes the programme’s cumulative total past 195,000 beneficiaries, spread across Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. But beyond the numbers lies a deeper story. A story of legacy, love and promise kept. Over the years, the foundation has expanded its footprint beyond healthcare, venturing into education, scholarships, water projects, and entrepreneurial support. Yet, it is this medical mission that remains its most visible expression of purpose.
