Prince Ubong Etuk is the president of Akwa Indigenes Development Initiative (AKIDI). In this concluding part of the chat with CORRESPONDENT Andrew Utulu, he gives insight into the operations, prospects and challenges of the association. Excerpts:
In what other ways are you getting support?
As I said earlier, members are funding all you see here; some of us are not well employed. Our pay package is very lean, but because we are worried, we want to transform the society and human beings being the principal animal in the society, without human beings you will discover that the entire place would be deserted. The infrastructure you see everywhere is the ideology of human beings. And the only way human beings acquire that same sense of living in peace is how you can enjoy peace in the society. You can see bombings everywhere, there is no way a member of Akidi or someone who attended the lectures of Akidi would go and involve in kidnapping, bombing and so on. In the course of our lectures, he or she would realize what he or she requires to live together with others is peace.
What is your constraint so far?
Well, the constraint is that our government officials, people in the top political positions don’t want to be identified with this group because we are not singing ‘Vote for Mr. A or vote for Mr. B.’ This is because we are not a political group but we are socio-political and economic development group. We do not stand for PDP or any other party; we are neutral people so our emphasis is all about empowering the youth, it’s all about giving the youth what they require, which is counseling. That is what they require, what will reform their mentality.
What would you like to be remembered for at the end of your tenure as the president of AKIDI?
Well, it is about legacy; though the government nor anybody for that matter does not pay us, but we want to be known, we want to be reckoned with, we want to be remembered for our service to the people. This is because if your children are well taught, brought up and have the basic education and mentoring, it means that you would be at peace. This is because most of the robbery incidents that occur, some of those children involved may not have the privilege of a good background, I mean having parents or guardians to mentor them in a good way of growing up. That is why we are committed towards that direction. It is not by using fire-for-fire but one of the most things that these developed countries have achieved in the children is by consistently counseling the people.
Like I keep saying, the measure of an educated person is because you passed through mentorship, be it at the secondary school level, the university or any other provisional institution. Therefore to become a responsible and responsive human being, you must consistently pass through a mentoring process. It is not the one you say today, and you go back to sleep. That is why we believe that one of the strategies is to organize a public venture where people are not paying for.
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