ADADA EDUCATION FOUNDATION: A NON-PROFIT, APOLITICAL ORGANIZATION – SAYS BOT CHAIRMAN

From Chris Ugwuja, Nsukka

The Chairman, Board of Trustees, Adada Education Foundation, Chief Chinedu Onu has disclosed that Adada Education Foundation is neither a political nor business oriented organization.

Speaking on Wednesday during an ‘Uncommon Conversation’ program on Signature TV in Enugu, Chief Ọnụ stated that Adada Education Foundation is an initiative designed by the people of Nsukka cultural zone to make robust attempts at accelerating human capacity building through the concept of Igwebuike (unity is strength) as against individual efforts.

Onu, maintained that the initiative is a multi-sectoral and sub-national approach to end illiteracy, youth idleness and make the best use of talents in the zone to enhance development. He stated that no one pays attention to any political interest once it comes to the Adada Education Foundation. He further stated that those occupying the organization’s board of trustees which is the apex structure of the organization were mostly religious leaders like the Roman Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Prof. Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, the Anglican Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Rt Rev. Aloysius Eze Agbo, the Chairman, South East Traditional Rulers’ Council and the Chairman, Enugu State Traditional Rulers’ Council, His Royal Highness, Igwe Samuel Ikechukwu Asadu and host of other world-known entrepreneurs from Nsukka cultural zone.

“Adada Education Foundation is never a political organization neither is it a profit-making organization. It cannot be a political organization when we have top religious leaders like the Roman Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Rev. Prof. Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, Anglican Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Rt. Rev Aloysius Eze Agbo, the Chairman, South East Traditional Rulers’ Council and Chairman, Enugu State Traditional Rulers’ Council, Igwe Samuel Ikechukwu Asadu and other illustrious sons of Nsukka as the members of the board of trustees.

Meanwhile, all the political leaders we have in PDP, Labour Party, APC and what have you are all in support of this initiative because they were all consulted and they know that what we have binding us together supercedes political interests. “We are talking about developing the human capacity we have in the cultural zone. We have seven professors drawn from the seven local government areas that make up Nsukka cultural zone namely, Igbo-Eze South, Igbo-Eze North, Uzo-Uwani, Udenu, Igbo-Etiti, Isi-Uzo and Nsukka LGAs. They are the advisory council. We want to build in our youths the courage to dare. We want to equip and energize them to compete favourably with their peers in other climes. We have the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in our place but some of the youths don’t like going to school. We need to maximally utilize the opportunity of the UNN and other institutions of higher learning to make our people have their own destinies in their hands. The foundation had also gone to meet with the National Board for Technical Education to certify the center we have designed for skill acquisition. So, we are not leaving anyone behind,” Onu said.

Also speaking on how the organization will be financed, the Chairman said they tend to get their finance from a pool of funds to be contributed by the financiers, who by the virtue of their commitment shall be called Adada Development Ambassadors, stressing that every development ambassador will make an annual contribution to the project fund which will be monitored by every donor through an application designed to show how every fund is being channeled.

On his part, Wordshot Amaechi Ugwuele who was also a guest in the program while speaking about the organization said that when pressing issues come on, the people of Nsukka cultural zone always speak in one resounding voice without minding who comes from which political party, stressing that Adada Education Foundation transcends every other pedestrian consideration or partisanship.

According to Ugwuele, considering the kind of politics we practice in Nigeria, it was never good political strategy for any zone to have its people positioned in only one political party as it amounts to one putting all his eggs in one basket.

He further maintained that he is a Labour Party member, but he is occupying an important position in Adada Education Foundation as the Head of Documentation, stressing that the organization is not interested in politics but thinking on how to utilize a meager resources to achieve a maximum result through education and other empowerment.

“When matters come to the head, Adada is one. It transcends every other pedestrian considerations, partisanship, etc. When it comes to politics, we shouldn’t expect that everyone will be in the same political party. It’s not even auguring well for us that we put our whole eggs in one basket. We aren’t talking about politics here in Adada, but we are talking about education, utilizing the meager resources we have to achieve a maximum result” Ugwuele insisted.