By Cosmas Omegoh
Many under-served persons in Rivers State will be lifted this year as part of Lulu Briggs Foundation programme to marks its year-long 20th anniversary celebration.
Wife of the late O. B. Lulu-Briggs, Dr Mrs. Seinye Lulu-Briggs, who is the chairman of the foundation disclosed that she would continue to fulfil the foundation’s mission of implementing sustainable interventions that enhance the quality of life for under-served persons across the state.
She made the pledge during a special thanksgiving service held in Port Harcourt recently to commemorate and kick-off what will be a year-long 20th anniversary celebration.
The event coincided with her 63rd birthday and the 13th anniversary of the Chapel of God International Worship Center where she presides as senior pastor.
“It has been two decades of consistent and impactful interventions in the lives of under-served persons, across communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta is a milestone accomplishment. We feel honoured by God to have been able to bring hope to thousands of families and many communities, we otherwise may not have reached,” she said.
“Since 2005, through 34 Free Medical Missions it organized, the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation has provided high quality health services, including surgeries, to 132,591 men, women and children in rural and semi-urban Niger Delta communities.
“Inmates of the correctional facilities in Port Harcourt were among the beneficiaries of the foundation’s Free Medical Missions which, aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 that aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all age.
“So far, we have provided 10,450 households in 25 communities of the Niger Delta with access to potable water,” she said.
“In the last 20 years, through our interventions in the education sector, we have empowered 1,316 persons with scholarships for formal education and training programs from Nursery to tertiary levels, including the Nigeria Law School. We have also provided funding to 30 teachers and trainers and built an Information Technology Centre for learning.”
Mrs. Lulu-Briggs expressed gratitude to all who had contributed to the success of the foundation in the last twenty years.
“We are grateful and humbled that, today, we can look back at 20 years of programming and appreciate the impact that we have achieved in touching and improving the health, well-being, and livelihoods of people in several communities on account of the boundless generosity of my husband of blessed memory, High Chief (Dr) O. B. Lulu-Briggs, our grand benefactor.
“We wish to acknowledge and to thank, all the people and entities that have supported our work over the years. Your support has been crucial to our success!”
The presiding pastor of the Thanksgiving Service, Pastor Dubem Okwuosa commended Dr. Seinye Lulu-Briggs for her vision, and asked the O.B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation team to continue to draw strength from God.
Hilda Desmond-Ihekiare, chairperson of the Rivers State branch of the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA), one of the foundation’s institutional partners said the O.B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation had offered hope to many widows in the Niger Delta region.
According to a statement released by the media lead of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation, Barr. Oraye St. Franklyn, other activities lined up as part of the yearlong 20th anniversary celebration were a free eye clinic held on September 23, 2021, a free legal clinic is to hold on the November 24, 2021 among others. programmes to be unveiled in the course of the celebrations.