EMPOWER 54 FOUNDER, MODUPE OZOLUA, IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF PROVIDING SUCCOR TO THE MILLIONS OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS IN CRISIS HIT NORTH-EAST NIGERIA. HER LATEST EFFORT ADDRESSES THE MEDICAL NEEDS OF THESE VULNERABLE NIGERIANS IN WHICH MEDICATIONS WORTH MILLIONS OF DOLLARS HAVE BEEN SHIPPED INTO THE COUNTRY FOR ONWARD DISTRIBUTION. IN THIS INTERVIEW WITH OUR DEPUTY EDITOR, NATION'S CAPITAL, YOMI ODUNUGA, SHE SPEAKS ON HER PASSION AND DESIRE TO ETCH SMILES ON THE FACES OF THE IDPS SCATTERED ACROSS THE NORTH-EAST AND OTHER PARTS OF AFRICA. EXCERPTS:
IT HAS BEEN QUITE A WHILE SINCE YOU LEFT FOR THE UNITES STATES, WHAT BRINGS YOU BACK TO NIGERIA THIS EARLY IN THE YEAR?_
I am on a working trip in Africa because we are conducting humanitarian activities in three African countries in 2017; Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia.
Nigeria is my first stop because we have a program called, “Empower 54Gives” through which we are donating six 40 feet containers of medication worth over $18m, each container is worth $3m to the countries we work in, with each country receiving two containers each.
Amongst our humanitarian activities in Nigeria, we decided to continue supporting our programme for malnourished children in Borno State by taking one of the containers there. The container has been cleared and the Governor of the state, Kashim Shettima, was very gracious to take care of the logistics associated with clearing and transportation it to Maiduguri which we greatly appreciate.
The items are currently in the warehouse of the Ministry of Health where the staff are busy collating the data and taking inventory. When we finish, we will put together a distribution road map based on areas of need for nutritional and health support with information obtained from the Borno ministry of health and Nigeria army.
We will consult with our partners in the humanitarian group which will also work with us identify any additional areas in dire need of what we have brought, then review the communities, identify those we will distribute to and commence distribution. On February 4th, we did a small distribution at the Muna IDP camp in Maiduguri during which we gave the IDPs some specialised nutritional meals, given to us by one of our partners. It has combination of rice, vegetables and very rich in nutrients that helps rebuild the immune system. We gave out some of those and some multivitamins including clothing donated by people for the IDPs.
One is curious to know why medications worth that huge amount are being distributed to only the IDPs in Borno State. Don’t you think other states should benefit from this?
Since our conception in 2003, we have conducted countless humanitarian activities; when we we got involved in the IDP programmes over two years ago, we did empowerment programmes in Gombe and Adamawa states. Based on their skills, we gave out sewing machines, gave them money to start businesses, rebuilt schools destroyed by Boko Haram, rented homes for people, established schools in IDP camps, etc. So, it Is not as though we do not work with other states having IDP related issues.
Those IDP programs were clearly not health related, outside of our significant role in the successful evacuation of malnourished children from Bama to Maiduguri for treatment in June 2016, this is the first time we are rendering health related humanitarian aid to IDPs. When we worked with the state government to evacuate malnourished children from Bama, that got us involved in the health space of their rehabilitation. also remember that our background is in health programs. When we were created in 2003 and called BEARS Foundation, we did a lot of free medical missions and corrective surgeries of children and adults with deformities. So, donating supplements and medication shouldnt be a surprise to anyone as we are very familiar with such humanitarian assistance.
Although there are many IDPs in various states, including mine, Edo State, everybody’s needs are different. I have not heard of anyone saying that the IDPs in my state are malnourished. So, it does not make sense that we take such nutritional meals and medications that at this point are more needed up North to where they are not. As a committed organization, we will do what we can to help people, IDPs or not; however, the second container scheduled for Nigeria, will be distributed amongst other states. The beneficiaries don’t have to be IDPs. There are many sick that need the meals and people dying in hospitals all over Nigeria due to poor health. When the time comes, we will identify the states to benefit from the second container designated for Nigeria.
HOW SURE ARE YOU THAT THE MEDICATIONS WILL GET TO THE IDPS?
Since we commenced humanitarian activities in 2003, it’s our policy NOT to hand over humanitarian aid to any government agency or any other organisation to distribute on our behalf. We do it ourselves despite it being very tedious. However long the hours or terrible the weather is, we distribute every item directly to each beneficiary. Once we have the road map of the communities we are taking the things to, with the full support of the military and state officials on ground, we will give
every bottle of supplement and nutritional meals to each person by hand. Now, what they do with it after receiving it is a whole different story.
We are not a lazy organisation. We take our time, put in the work, we will give the items to the beneficiaries directly.
What are the other medications in the container?
We have a lot of multivitamins, folic acid for pregnant women, multivitamins to help with heart and liver care, different variations of vitamins C, A, D, D3, E, antibiotics, Sudafed for children, stethoscope for medical students, ear, eye supplements, supplements for men and women over 50yrs old, multi vitamins for children, gloves,
syringes,…the list is LONG! We have everything for everything.
THERE ARE MANY AFRICAN COUNTRIES FACING ONE CRISIS OR THE OTHER, YET YOUR ORGANISATION HAS PICKED CONGO AND LIBERIA AS BENEFICIARIES OF THIS GESTURE. WHAT INFORMS THIS CHOICE?
I also get asked why are we conducting humanitarian aid in Nigeria because people’s opinion of Nigeria is that government officials are corrupt and not helping their people; so we should give to others countries that need the aid more. When you talk about Congo, their rate of malnutrition is higher than what we have in Nigeria. Do follow us on Facebook, Instagram and twitter to receive accurate statistics about different parts of Africa. For example, did you know but East African
men have the highest rate of breast cancer in Africa? We put a lot of educational data on social media to educate people and let them understand what is going on in other parts of Africa. Our mission is not to cater to the needs of Nigerians alone, we are an African orientated non-profit organization. Our service is to Africans irrespective of
where they are.
HOW WILL YOU FEEL IF YOU LEFT THIS COUNTRY AND LATER GET TO KNOW THAT SOME OF THESE ITEMS NEVER GOT TO THE PEOPLE INTENDED?_
That wont happen. We do not tolerate that. For the last four days we have been itemizing, checking our packing list, confirming the quantity. For safety, the key to the warehouse is with officials from Borno State ministry of health and they are used to keeping high value cargo for many organizations. I don’t believe anything will go missing. It is going to take all teams about two weeks to come up with a proper distribution plan. For example, one of our partners, Vitamin Angels, gave us vitamins A which is for deworming children and help with vitamins A deficiency and albendazol to treat 36,000 children. That was not in the container. Imagine the magnitude, the number of people that will benefit from what we have brought. There is no room for mistakes. A clear plan is going to be made in partnership with the state government,
military, members of the humanitarian team and we are going to distribute after the suggested locations get approved by our headquarters in Atlanta.
WHERE DO YOU GET THE MOTIVATION TO DO THIS AFTER THE CHALLENGES EMPOWER 54 FACED IN YOUR LAST VENTURE IN THE NORTHEAST?
When I left Nigeria in June last year after we evacuated those children in Bama, I was very angry. You know that kind of anger that you don’t know whom to vent your anger at? We risked our lives to go to Bama on five different trips. That was ten times on the same road that Boko Haram ambushed UN officials. I went with my son, my only child.
My son came to Nigeria to volunteer, my staff are family people; we all risked our lives along with some commissioners from Borno State that work with us on the evacuation on the instructions from governor Shettima. A report came out and suddenly, everything we did was completely discredited. If we had been ambushed on that road, shot or killed, people would say “who sent them to go there?” Suddenly, the lives of over 1800 malnourished children and family members we evacuated from Bama didn’t matter. All that mattered was a controversial report which created room for people to create loads of lies, false accusations and slander against both the state government, Empower 54 and my person; simply because according to them, “I told the world about the malnourished children in Bama!” If people had so much resentment for us saving those children’s lives and showing their images as a call for action to the world to help Borno IDPs, why didnt they reject all the funds immediately injected to help malnutrition in the region? Which by the way, we were never recipients of any of such funds.
At the end of the day, we don’t do what we do because we want to be thanked. Yes, I was extremely disappointed in the way many things were handled but my anger motivated me to ensure Empower 54 does more. If some people felt their attacks were going to demotivate us, they were obviously wrong. Instead we returned with a 40feet container gift to Borno State with over $3M worth of medications and nutritional meals with the blessings and support of Governor Shettima.
Personally, my motivating factor is my sympathy for underprivileged people irrespective of the cause of their plight. That is why i have been personally funding and participating in humanitarian activities of rover 13 years. When i see women suffering, my thought is, “This could be be. Wouldn’t i want someone to help me? When I see children suffering, i think of my son. It is simply by the grace of God that we are able to help others.
Fortunately, I am not the only one motivated by this sentiment. Our Empower 54 family, various boards, our Patron, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, our global goodwill ambassador, Kat Graham of Vampire Diaries, staff and volunteers in various parts of Africa and America share the same vision.
Challenges? The best victories in life come with challenges. How do you truly declare victory if you don’t go through some temporary hoops? When challenges come, we dont run and hide. We rise to the occasion and conquer them because the lives of those we seek to help are as valuable as our.
