In a show of compassion and poise to support efforts at health care provision for residents and indigenes of Finima Community in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, the Diriwari Tobin Foundation (DTF) has donated some medical equipment to the Primary Health Centre, Finima.

Wariopusenibo of the Sunday Tobin Burusu of the Konibo-Ye-Awanta (Tobin) Chieftaincy House of Finima, Golden Tobin, who is also Head of the Diriwari Tobin family, accompanied by the MAtriarch of the family and Chairman of DTF, Madam Eugenia Tobin, presented the medical equipment.

The items were received by the Doctor-in-Charge of the Health Centre, Nekabari Danbere, in the presence of Dr Samuel Mbaba-Mbatumu, the Primary Healthcare Coordinator (PHC), Bonny LGA, who was represented by his deputy, Jacqueline Allison.

Secretary of DTF, Dr. Maxwell Tobin, who is also the Director of the DTF Medical Outreach Programme, was present during the presentation of the donated items.

Earlier, Secretary of the family, Smart Tobin had informed that the gesture was in furtherance of the family’s decision to sustain the legacy of public service, social good and community impact of their father, late Gentle Diriwari Tobin, who has since passed on to the great beyond.   

He said the foundation was set up to drive their late father’s ideals of promoting Education, Health and Sports, hence the Foundation has been sponsoring the Finima Marathon, Boating Competition; donating medical equipment, educational materials, among others in pursuit of those ideals.

“We are Diriwari Tobin’s Foundation, it’s a non-governmental and public organisation, set up in honour of our late dad; our late dad, Wariopusenibo Gentle Diriwari Tobin. He passed on in the year 2006.”

“The foundation was set up two years later in 2008, just to keep his legacy alive. He is a man that is lover of Sport. He loves the education of his children and the young ones in his community.”

“He always preaches education and when he passed on, we felt we should do something to keep his legacy alive and the foundation was set up.” I am the .

“We organize sporting activities ranging from football competition, which we do bi-annually. We also sponsor marathon, the Finima Marathon, the Boating Competition, and any other thing that we feel is necessary to sponsor to bring the youths together.”

Tobin, who is also the Director of the DTF Education Programme, stated that Sports, Education and Health are the three focal areas through which the Foundation contributes to the development of society, stressing that the key purpose is to give back to society since its incorporation in 2016.   

“We also look at the education; giving of scholarships to indigent ones of the community to help them in their education and the medical outreach. So Sports, Education and Medical, those are the three focal areas that we are looking at, contributing to the society.”

“The aim is just to give back to the society and to keep the legacy of our late dad alive. The foundation was incorporated 2016, though it has been in existence 2008 but incorporated 2016.”

He disclosed that the Diriwari Tobin Foundation plans to sustain the drive to expand the scope of partnerships with a view to do more outreaches in order to touch more lives, expressing the optimism to keep up its partnership with Finima Health Centre to achieve more in the area of healthcare provision.

“Today, in keeping to one of our aims, we’ve been thinking of how to support the medical facility in Finima Community; we also plan doing some outreaches where we will also touch the lives of some person’s either in the diabetic surgery outreach and things like that.

“So, today, we are here to donate some auto filled oxygen bottles, which we consider to be very, very necessary and expedient in the discharge of your medical care to the Finima community. We also have nebulizer that we are also donating to improve the medical service delivery in the Finima Health Centre.”

“So, we look forward to partnering with you to ensure that we touch more lives. We hope that in the near future we will also partner in other areas as I have mentioned so that we will touch more lives and improve service delivery in Finima community.” 

Responding after receiving the items, the Primary Healthcare Coordinator of Bonny LGA, Dr Samuel Mbaba-Mbatumu, who was represented by his deputy, Jacqueline Allison, expressed appreciation for the items donated, noting that such will mitigate the loss of lives, praying that God Almighty replenish their purse.

“I’m standing in for the Medical Officer of Health, Dr Samuel Mbaba-Mbatumu, who is unavoidably absent, to say a very big thank you to our grandma, our great grandma and her entire family for making this noble donation to the hospital.”

“This is a very big task you’ve taken to do so that lives won’t be lost when they’re not supposed to go, we say a very big thank you. Oxygen is life and you know that oxygen is life and you’ve decided to give back life to the end users.”

“God will bless you abundantly, wherever it is that this has come out from, I pray that the Almighty God will replenish your purse, will replenish each and every one of you from the Diriwari Tobin family. You’ll never know hardship, amen! Favour will be yours, amen! May the good Lord guide and protect you, amen! I just want to say thank you on behalf of the PHC Coordinator of Bonny LGA.”

Speaking, the Doctor-in-Charge of the Finima Health Centre, Dr Nekabari Danbere expressed his appreciation for the items donated, promising to make judicious use of them to save lives, noting that the Diriwari Tobin Foundation’s objectives in Health tally with those of the Rivers State Ministry of Health.

“We appreciate your thoughtfulness, and we appreciate the effort put in to make this happen. It is one thing to promise to help; it’s another thing to actually help.”

“Thank you so much. We are indeed very grateful and we promise to make judicious use of these things and to ensure that they are put to use to save lives, that’s what they are for. It is very important. Thank you and we are indeed very, very grateful, thank you. We’re humbled by your display of generosity, thank you.”