In a chat with Kemi Filani Blog, Social Justice activist and founder of The Councellor Organisation Angela Uyi talked about herself, achievements and her upcoming project “PROJECT 11”
The popular Facebook commentator and micro-credit expert is set to do a great thing! Enjoy below…
Who is Angela Uyi?
Angela
Uyiis from Edo State,Social Critique, Social Justice Activist, Nationalist, and
also a micro-credit expert. I am the founder of The Counsellor
Organization a civil society group that is committed to fighting for the
welfare, interests and emancipation of the Nigeria People from poor governance
and failed leadership. Apart from my National struggles, a Credit Analyst
working with a financial institution in Lagos. A dynamic and result oriented
Business Management expert with vast experience in Customers Relationship
Management, and Value Creation. Graduate of Business Administration and
Management from Imo State Polytechnic andB.Sc. Marketing from Lagos State
University.I have undergone professional trainings with Thomson Reuters Germany onOperational Risk Management, Financial
Crime (Africa), Business Continuity Management, and three other certificate
courses with Global Health Learning Center endorsed by USAIDand John Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health on “Creating an Enabling Environment for
Young Vulnerable Children and their caregivers”, “Introduction to Early
Childhood Development” and “Good governance in the Management of Medicines”I love photography, art,
sport, adventures and writing. Those are my hobbies.Nature inspires me, words
create my world, and love holds me together.The things I do most, is listening to music and try to
figure myself out through the internet, which is going fine.
My words have an ancestor;
My deeds have a Lord.
People have no knowledge of this. Therefore have no knowledge of me.
My words are easy to comprehend. The fewer that know the nobler they follow me.People who inspire me are
Angela Davies, Winston Churchill, Florence Nightingale, Benjamin Franklin,
Joan of Arc, Helen Keller, Mother Teresa, William Wilberforce, and Nelson
Mandela.
Projects done and how she came about them…
We have done projects
like ‘Individual Declaration of Peace Campaign’, ‘1000 walk for Peace’, ‘1000
Walk for Social Justice, our first Poster campaign was the
#iStandAgainstHerdsmenTerrorism which attracted more than 500 people home and
in diaspora. It was a campaign that centered on individual declaration of peace
and support for national peace. It was one of the most successful campaigns we
have had and we wereglad that irrespective of our religion and ethnicity
differences people are always there to support us wheneverwe call upon them.
People were made to know that we are all advocates for peace and they should
live their life as if it’s the world manual for peace. Many went home with the mindset of preaching
this gospel of peace to the people in their neighborhood and be a tool for
peace when need be. That’s remarkable I must say. We have had the opportunity
of meeting some of the policy makers in the country to discuss measures that
when put in place would be able to drive the narrative of national peace.Remember, “Freedom is
a constant struggle” so we shouldn’t expect instantaneous results. Apart from TheCounsellor organization’s
projects, we have done some collaborations with other NGOs and CSOs to organize
projects like OcuppyNass that shook the country and shutdown the Nigerian
National assembly for good three days and the #OurMumuDondo initiative.
#PROJECT11is not just an ordinary event but a vision
and a mission we are confident of accomplishing. When I said we, it means that
I am not on this mission alone. I have squad that I will be working with to
achieve this goals. Already we have about 20 Non-Governmental Organizations who
have volunteered to collaborate with us under the Umbrella of The Counsellor
Organization which I represent. Project 11 is not just about Angela Uyi,
this is a national event and the people’s event. Project11 revolves around PEACE
and the role peace can play to bring
sustainable growth and development to the country. The ‘P’ in Project11
connotes Peace and peace is the big and bigger objective of this
vision.Project11 is not a one off event but a going concernand it’s going to be
anincessant campaign until Nigeria is made great and peaceful again.Project
11 will focus more at strengthening the ingenuity of
unity, equality, oneness above all advancing the culture of peace nationally.Focus
Area(s)Unity,
Interdependence, Environment, Economic Justice, Health, Children & Youth,
Women, Human, Rights, Freedom, Disarmament and Peace and it will run from 11th September, 2017
through 21st September, 2017.PROJECT 11 aims to expressively abridge all forms of
violence, and work with governments and communities to find lasting solutions
to conflict and insecurity.Strengthening the rule
of law and promoting human rights is key to this process, as is reducing the
flow of illicit arms and strengthening the participation of other
Non-governmental Organizations in national advancement and society inclusion.The
11th day of Project 11 will commiserate the International Day of Peace.
The United Nations’ (UN) International Day of Peace is celebrated on September 21 each year to recognize
the efforts of those who have worked hard to end conflict and promote peace. The International Day of Peace is also a day of ceasefire – personal or political.
What Motivates her
The anger and frustration I see in people everyday especially
those who have lost one family or the other due to terror attacks, the
involvement of the youths in crimes and the violence campaign going on in the
country.I asked myself, what can be
done?We have learned to fly in
the air like birds and swim in the seas like fish but we have not learned the
simple art of living together as brothers and sisters.In Nigeria you are well
aware of the situations around us. We have seen terrorism, killings among
different faiths and ethnicity, hatred within families, bombings almost on a
daily basis.Such situations are enough
motivation for one to start up a project like this.You
and I know that we are surviving in a country that is progressively alienated.
Some regions enjoy continuous heights of peace, security and prosperity while
others fall into superficially endless cycles of conflict and violence that
causes some region to ruminate that they are being marginalized. This is by no
means unavoidable and must be addressed swiftly.
Her sponsors
Hmmm. Well, all our projects are self-financed and we have
always depended on ourteam for financial obligations and this has limited our
campaigns to just a state and the extent we intend to reach.Our goal is to cover all the 36 states in Nigeria including
the F.C.T, mostly the rural areas and small communities but finance hasalways
been our major constraint therefore we would be glad if well-meaning Nigerians
would collaborate with us and co-sponsor Project11.
What she intends to achieve with the program
are “Peace and Security”.
Promote
peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development;Ensure Massive
Youths Sustainable Employment; provide access to justice for all and build
effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.Peace is the ultimate
pillar of political and economic stability. A country overwhelmed in turbulence
and inept of properly ensuring the safety and security of its citizens cannot
achieve political and economic stability. The Nigerian people must be
enlightened that peaceful nation is achievable only if we learn to tolerate one
another irrespective of where we are coming from. What
needs to be done to address this you may ask?To
accomplish peace, justice and inclusion, it is imperative that governments,
civil society and communities work together to implement lasting solutions to
reduce violence, deliver justice, combat corruption and make sure inclusive
participation at all times.Fundamental Human Rights must be respected by
everyone, Freedom to express views in private and in public must be guaranteed.
People must be able to contribute to decisions that affect their lives. Laws
and policies must be applied without any form of discrimination. Disputes need
to be resolved through functioning political and justice systems.National and local institutions must be
accountable and need to be in place to deliver basic services to families and communities
equally, equitably and without the need for bribes.