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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Dr. Chetachi Ecton Dikko is the founder of When In Need (WiN) Foundation. She is a philanthropist with special interest in the empowerment of women and children.
In this interview, she disclosed that she left her comfort zone in the United States to return to Nigeria in order to better the lives of Nigerians.
You have championed a cause for improved life for women and children in Nigeria. Why did you choose that line of intervention?
I have a deep passion for the welfare of the needy in society. Unfortunately, the number of these class of people is significantly increasing due to worsening socioeconomic indices that have pushed many more people into poverty. From where I was living in the United States, I could see and hear the cry of the less privileged in Nigeria asking for food, shelter, health care and other basic needs that make life worth living.
Was that why you set up When In Need Foundation?
It was one of the reasons. For the record, the When In Need Foundation is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and, as the name implies, it was established to assist the needy. We reach out to people who are in need with the necessary things to improve their life. Aside from the periodic medical outreach that we do, we pay school fees for children of the poor who cannot afford it, provide food and other interventions to better the lives of people. We rebuild schools and do other agricultural empowerment programmes for farmers. But, generally, we are interested in the welfare of the people. I had wanted to see more people at our recent outreach but they didn’t show up as expected. We would, therefore, repeat the medical outreach again in two weeks’ time, maybe in a different location.
What do you suggest the Nigerian government should do in the face of huge humanitarian crisis prevalent today?
I am a great resource material in that regard. The government needs to reach out to people who have experience in managing humanitarian crisis. In that case, I have offered myself to assist the government solve the humanitarian problem. All the government needs to do is to reach out to me so I can provide them with what they need to solve humanitarian crisis in Nigeria. It is not about the money as has been the case over the years. I have realised that most of the NGOs in Nigeria are after what they can get. That is not the target of When In Need Foundation. We are in it for a cause that would better the lives of the people. I am ready to support government to tackle this humanitarian crisis, if I am contacted.
Why did you leave your comfort zone in the U.S. and return to Nigeria to attend to people’s needs?
It boils down to the passion I have for a better society in Nigeria. For instance, in the United States, things are working normally. Systems are functional and everyone has and knows the role to play for the growth and development of society. But here in Nigeria, the reverse is the case. Evidently, 90 to 95 per cent of Nigerians lack the basic things needed for good and quality living. It was for this reason that I left my comfort zone in the U.S. back to Nigeria. My desire is to see how I can make a difference in the lives of Nigerians. When I do or achieve my dream of a better Nigeria, I will be happier and fulfilled. At the end of the day, I will go home smiling and happy that I have touched lives.
Were you scared when you took the decision to return to Nigeria?
No, I wasn’t scared at all, even though the news space about Nigeria was saturated with reports of killings, kidnapping, attacks and several other criminal activities. I wasn’t bothered because my hands are clean and my heart is pure towards the people. I haven’t wronged anyone to be afraid of being attacked, neither have I taken what belongs to someone else. In fact, if I have my way, I will visit the Boko Haram camps to educate and enlighten them on the dangers of their actions and encourage them to have a rethink and embrace peace. I will also give them medical attention, education and other assistance that I can offer them. In a nutshell, I am here in Nigeria to make a difference in the lives of Nigerians, irrespective of their religion, ethnicity, political and economic status.
Do you have any plan for exchange of knowledge and capacity between your contacts in U.S. and Nigeria?
Yes, I have been doing that and will continue to do that in various areas. If I can prove to my contacts in diaspora that there’s so much need here in Nigeria and I need some things, they won’t hesitate to respond to the request. For instance, my colleagues in Order of Saint George are great people. They are so interested in supporting my NGO, When In Need Foundation, in the task of reaching out to people. They help us to source for medications and other relief items that would make a difference in the society. But I need more support and collaboration so we can reach more people with relief items that would improve their standard of living.
Are you thinking of convincing them to return to Nigeria to join your intervention?
Yes, I am doing that. I am speaking to some of them on the need to join me here in Nigeria to make life better for my people. However, it’s difficult to convince anybody until they see things for themselves. From my observation, it’s easier to convince non-Africans to actually see what is happening here than to convince Africans or Nigerians themselves. This is the honest truth.
What was the reason for your recent medical outreach?
It’s my passion and what I love doing. I am committed to helping the needy and less privileged. In our midstty are people who are cannot afford good and quality health care, not to talk of good and quality food that would help them to be healthy and contribute to the socioeconomic development of the society.
What areas did you cover?
We covered all areas of medical attention, ranging from blood sugar level, eye checks, with glasses, consultations of different kinds and several other interventions. The only area that we didn’t touch was surgery of any kind. Maybe, going further, we would include that in our medical outreach.
Apart from the medical outreach, what about the other empowerment programmes you have had in the past?
I had to focus on women and children because they suffer poverty the most. Most of the women that came for the medical outreach came with malnourished children. So, we provide them with necessary vitamins and other nutritional information that they need for quality growth and development. From all indications, most of these women, particularly pregnant and nursing mothers, don’t have access to the vitamins that would help them. For the malnourished children, we have made provision for them to get some supplements that would help them to grow and develop, physically and mentally. A few weeks ago, I distributed seedlings to several communities across the country, preparatory for 2022 farming season.
Do you have any plans of organizing a class for these women to educate them on basic things of life and health?
Yes, but you have to know that we live in a country where there’s so much poverty and deprivation. Before we get to the point of education and enlightenment, there must be opportunity for them to eat and be healthy first before any other thing. We have to get to the root of what the problems are in Nigeria before we talk about solving them using different areas that work. One of my main aims is to engage them in agricultural classes, teaching them the modern ways of growing food for improved yields. But for now, my concern is to take care of them, providing food and drugs to people that need them. Diabetes and high blood pressure are the major killers; unfortunately, many don’t know they have it.
What is your relationship with traditional rulers, because you are always around them?
They are always around me because I am one of them. I am a high chief, a princess and daughter of the soil. I am around traditional rulers because they are closest to the people. They know the people very well, and they help me in terms of my outreaches. They are the people that would help me in the humanitarian interventions. They know who is who in the communities, their social and economic status. So, each time I want to get the job done, I use them because I believe they are the right people to help me do that.
