Veteran broadcaster, Arise News talk show host, and founder of the Oseni Centre, Rufai Oseni, has said that with his fame, public recognition, and humanitarian work, he wants to leave a legacy of reaching out to people.
He said this in an interview published in Saturday Tribune that encapsulates the humanitarian and community work his non-governmental organisation (NGO), The Oseni Centre, is doing in his hometown, Odogbolu and its environs, and across Nigeria.
The Oseni Centre, the broadcaster revealed, was established after his father died in 2022. He added that though he has always had a passion for giving back to society, the demise of his father further inspired and propelled his passion for humanitarian work.
“I felt the need to do something concrete back home. So we decided to build two centres, a library and an outreach centre, where we would reach out to people,” he said.
Before the Oseni Centre, he said he had platforms on most of his shows and online platforms where he reaches out to people in need and gives back to society.
According to him, the centre caters to the less privileged with the aim of helping them move from poverty to prosperity, and it achieves this through empowerment and education.
Some of their programme and initiatives include library services in Odogbolu and its environs, debate activities for primary and secondary schools, medical and community outreaches, online and tech training, business and SME empowerment, among others.
“We aim to bring people out of pain and penury into a place of grace, health, and wealth,” he said.
Oseni further stated that they assess the impact of their programmes and events by examining the long-term effects on the lives of their beneficiaries.
He stated that though they face challenges running the centre and organising events, they manage the challenges through internal donations from the centre’s board members and partnerships with other organisations.
He noted that they are expanding the scope and reach of their work across the country and globally through online platforms and partnerships, adding that in five years, they see the Oseni Centre doing great work.
Oseni revealed that his pedigree as a broadcast journalist has impacted his humanitarian interventions by helping to enhance the conversation and bringing a level of agency to what they do.
“The legacy I want to leave behind is a legacy of reaching out to the other person. We are not perfect. There is a need in all of us. But if we can try our best to meet the other person’s needs, then we would have solved many problems in the world,” he said.
He further said that the privilege, influence, fame, and public recognition that God has given him are for him to use them to help others, adding, “That is the essence of the foundation of all that we have done and are still doing at the Oseni Centre.”
