By Emily Umble, Assistant Director of Programs

Offa Descendants Union of North America, in 2025, entered its 10th year of operating annual medical mission trips to Offa, Nigeria. Brother’s Brother Foundation has been donating healthcare supplies since 2017 in support of their missions via the BBF Med-Surg program.

ODUNA was established in the US in 2001 to provide care for the people of Offa and immigrants from Nigeria. For several years, the organization was led by Adegboyega Abdulkadir, a certified pediatrician and neonatologist at the Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center in Maryland, and he continues to lead the medical mission trips. Abdulkadir is a longtime and well-known partner of Brother’s Brother, and I have had the pleasure of nurturing our partnership for the past three years.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with an average life expectancy of 63.4, faces many challenges within their healthcare system, including a shortage of healthcare facilities and healthcare workers as well as inadequate funding. Many healthcare facilities, especially in rural areas, lack basic infrastructure, and the doctor-patient ratio is about 1 doctor to 2,500 patients. The cost of medicines in Nigeria is very high, and most Nigerians must pay out of pocket for their medicines. The donations of medicines from Brother’s Brother over the years have been essential for ODUNA in delivering accessible and affordable medical care.

Most recently, BBF gifted 12,000 Penicillin V Potassium tablets to ODUNA for use in their January 2025 medical outreach clinics with the potential to treat primary care, surgery, and dental patients. Clinics took place in both the ODU Hall and Offa General Hospital where approximately 3,300 patients received care. These clinics continue to grow with an increased variety of services provided and raising awareness. Each year, the number of patients seen at the clinics is on a steady incline, and it’s wonderful that BBF can serve as a constant support for ODUNA, Abdulkadir and staff, and the people of Offa.

So far in 2025, BBF has supported more than a dozen Med-Surg trips in 9 different countries. Groups represented by a 501c3 organization and plans to hand-carry donated medicines from the US to the destination country by a minimum of 1 medical professional are welcome to apply for BBF Med-Surg Aid.