Tina Amanda
A Consultant Obstetrician Gynecologist University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Professor Rosemary Ogu, has praised late Scholar and Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Nimi Dimkpa Briggs as a man of diligence and hard work.
Professor Ogu disclosed this during a Day of Tribute organised by UPTH and the Department of Obstetrics and the Gynecology University of Port Harcourt, in honour of the late Professor Nimi Briggs, who started the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Port Harcourt and a one-time Vice-Chancellor the University of Port Harcourt.
She described the late Professor Briggs as a man who was dedicated to his work, noting that despite him being retired in 2009, he was still active in service, which gained him the Emeritus honour in 2012.
“Professor Briggs was the person who started the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Port Harcourt. He was the first head of the Department, so we are celebrating him.
“He retired in 2009, yet he was still active in service; in 2012, we gave him the Emeritus honour; between 2012 and 2023, before his demise, he was much busier than in active service.
“He was diligent and hardworking; everything good was late, Professor Briggs. He was punctual to a fault; he did his task well and had lots of responsibilities because he could deliver well on his given task”.
Professor Ogu, the Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology UPTH, advised other medical personnel to live their lives well, and give their best by doing the right things, adding they would only be remembered by good works just like the late Professor Briggs.
“Be diligent in all your doing, be dedicated and do it well. Be good and do the right thing and give your best because you will only be remembered for what you have done”.
Also, a student of the late Professor Nimi Dimkpa Briggs, between the year 1982 to 1989 and a family physician based in the United Kingdom, Abiye Hector-Goma, described the late Professor as a legend while urging the public and Nigerian leader’s in all spheres to always do the right thing.
“I have had a close relationship with him since 1985 till his demise; he was like a father to me, and that is why I came for his funeral because of our close relationship. There are ten (10) lessons l learnt from Professor Briggs; the most important is to do the right thing.
“Nigeria is in a terrible place in health, development and every aspect of life because we have leaders and followers who do not do the right thing. In his lifetime, Nimi Briggs was an embodiment of always doing the right thing.
“The important message I will leave for the people of the hospital, University, Rivers State and Nigeria is, where ever you are, whether at the floor, the middle or top level of the society, please do the right thing.”
Boma Briggs, Daughter of late Professor Nimi Dimkpa Briggs, said her late father lived his days serving humanities, a lesson for them to emulate as children.
“In all the tributes that came up, one thing kept striking: in all he did, he gave his all; he did it one hundred per cent with empathy. He did not believe in half measures; he gave his best, and I am glad he touched so many lives.
“He has finished his race and given the baton to each of us, his children. He has shown us the way; he has shown us it is possible; let us go out there and make an impact in our own way”.
Late Professor Nimi Dimkpa Briggs was on 22 February 1944 and passed on to glory on 10 April 2023.
