Nigerian industrialist and philanthropist, Dr Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, has acquired the Lifetime Achievement Award on the 2026 Best of Africa Awards in London in recognition of her contributions to enterprise, philanthropy and humanitarian growth spanning greater than 4 a long time.
The award was offered on the Best of Africa Awards Dinner held at The Peninsula Hotel, London, the place personalities from throughout Africa and the diaspora gathered to have fun management, enterprise and philanthropy below the theme, Unity.
Dr Lulu-Briggs, Executive Chairman of Moni Pulo Limited and Chairman and Founder of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation, has mixed enterprise management with sustained efforts to enhance the lives of underserved and susceptible communities.
Established in 2011, the Best of Africa Awards celebrates Africans whose skilled achievements have translated into contributions to society. Previous honourees embrace Mohamed Salah, Yaya Touré, Sir Mo Farah, Angélique Kidjo, Ozwald Boateng, Eniola Aluko and Luol Deng.
The 2026 version introduced collectively leaders from enterprise, leisure, sports activities and philanthropy, recognising Africans whose affect extends past private success to group growth.
Dr Lulu-Briggs’ choice for the Lifetime Achievement Award displays her management throughout a number of sectors of the Nigerian financial system and her philanthropic work throughout generations.
Her skilled profession started in 1981 on the Central Bank of Nigeria, the place she was among the many pioneer employees of its Computer Services Department. She later grew to become Head of Computer Operations, at a time when comparatively few Nigerian girls held senior technical and administration positions within the subject.
She subsequently labored in business banking, know-how, land and marine leasing, haulage, hospitality, manufacturing and vitality, constructing a profession spanning enterprise growth, institutional management and enterprise creation.
In the vitality business, Dr Lulu-Briggs has performed a management position at Moni Pulo Limited, one of Nigeria’s pioneering indigenous oil and fuel exploration and manufacturing corporations.
Having served as Executive Vice Chairman from 2005, with obligations protecting authorities relations, regulatory compliance and sustainability, she now serves as Executive Chairman, offering strategic course for the corporate’s operations and long-term growth.
Among her present priorities is an initiative to commercialise roughly one trillion cubic ft of pure fuel reserves, with potential implications for home vitality provide, industrial growth and Nigeria’s wider vitality sector.
Her profession has demonstrated the position of indigenous enterprise in financial growth and the capability of African girls to steer complicated organisations and construct companies.
Beyond enterprise, Dr Lulu-Briggs’ humanitarian work via the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation has remained central to her public service.
Established in September 2001 in honour of her late husband, High Chief Dr O. B. Lulu-Briggs, the Foundation initially targeted on the welfare of uncared for older individuals. It has since expanded into healthcare, elder care, schooling, social welfare and group growth.
In September 2026, the Foundation marked its twenty fifth anniversary, celebrating interventions throughout Nigeria’s Niger Delta and different communities.
According to its anniversary information, the Foundation’s humanitarian programmes have reached an estimated 2.12 million folks, with cumulative expenditure exceeding ₦3.52 billion.
Healthcare stays one of its main areas of intervention. Through its Free Medical Mission programme, the organisation has supplied medical providers to greater than 178,000 beneficiaries, together with consultations, surgical procedures, dental remedy, eye care and different important providers.
The Foundation has additionally distributed greater than 34,000 corrective eyeglasses to enhance entry to imaginative and prescient care.
Its fiftieth Free Medical Mission, held in September 2026 at Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, fashioned half of its silver jubilee celebrations, bringing medical professionals and volunteers collectively to supply free healthcare to underserved populations.
The Foundation’s Care for Life programme, established in 2001 to help older individuals, has enrolled 781 aged beneficiaries, offering meals, healthcare help, companionship and different important providers.
The programme has additionally supplied greater than 191,000 weekday meals to handle the dietary and welfare wants of older individuals who could lack sufficient help.
Dr Lulu-Briggs’ dedication to the dignity of older individuals was additional demonstrated in September 2026 when the Foundation, in collaboration with Peace Haven Foundation, convened the Dignity of Ageing Conference in Port Harcourt.
The convention introduced collectively consultants and stakeholders to debate mind well being, dementia, caregiving and the challenges related to ageing in up to date African societies. It additionally prolonged the Foundation’s work into public schooling, advocacy and efforts to enhance elder care.
Under Dr Lulu-Briggs’ management, the Foundation has expanded its interventions into social justice, mediation and the safety of susceptible girls.
Its initiatives embrace a devoted mediation facility and authorized help for girls dealing with abuse, dispossession and different types of injustice.
The programmes replicate an strategy to humanitarian service that addresses not solely fast wants but in addition poverty, exclusion and unequal entry to justice.
Following the loss of life of her husband, Dr Lulu-Briggs assumed better duty for preserving and increasing the charitable legacy related along with his identify.
Over the years, she has strengthened the Foundation’s institutional construction, broadened its programmes and sustained its humanitarian actions amid financial and social modifications.
The organisation’s work has advanced from occasional charitable interventions into sustained programmes with measurable outcomes.
The 2026 Best of Africa Awards additionally recognised different Africans and folks of African heritage for contributions spanning public service, enterprise, sports activities, leisure, philanthropy and social advocacy.
Among the recipients was Baroness June Sarpong, who acquired the Unity Award in recognition of her legacy of excellence and contributions. The award was offered by Kingsley Pungong.
