Abike @ 59: Celebrating An Epitome Of Excellence With Human Kindness
By Abdur-Rahman Balogun
“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in
his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively” Bob
Marley
This saying aptly captured the personality of Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa ,
Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM).
“Abike and her Traducers” wherein Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa seems to have
walked into the trap of tribal jingoists and they want to eat her raw.
Abike’s offence then was to have echoed the names of some five young
Nigerians arrested in Dubai, UAE, for alleged robbery of a Bureau de
change and all the names mentioned seems to have come from one ethnic
group even though it was Nigerians to the authorities in UAE.
Not too long to that time, Abike mentioned the conviction and eventual
killing of a Nigerian lady for drug- related offences in Saudi Arabia
whose name sounds like from another ethic group. Though, she condemned
the execution in very strong terms but didn’t disclose the name of the
lady. This was a great sin to some compatriots in some parts of the
country who accused Abike of discrimination.
The logic of those who are putting Abike in the dock of public opinion
seems to go like this; Abike is Yoruba, so she hid the identity of the
Yoruba woman killed in Saudi Arabia for drug offence. She probably
didn’t like the Igbo. This is far from the truth as this is not the true
representative of the personality called Abike Dabiri-Erewa that was
born in Jos Plateau on October 11.
Right from her television days at NTA spanning over 15 years, she stood
up as a detribalised, passionate, kind and excellent Nigerian impacting
positively on mankind irrespective of race, gender, ethnic or religious
background.
Bernard Shaw said that
” *Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change
their minds cannot change anything” **
Examples are abound of many great things she did using her broadcasting
prowess within that 15 years. This was transmuted to a great performance
when she joined politics and served in the House of Representatives as
member representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency from 2003 to 2015.
Again, she touched the lives of many Nigerians through her legislative
ingenuity and creativity despite the fact that she was in the opposition
party and not holding any chairmanship of “juicy” committees. This was
attested to recently by her colleagues in the parliament when she
presented a compedium of +600 Diaspora Icons at 60 to both the Senate
President, Dr Ahmed Lawan and the Speaker, House of Representatives ,
Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, where they extolled her sterling qualities as a
lawmaker per excellence and now as Chairman/CEO Nigerians in Diaspora
Commission.
I will like at this juncture to share one of her numerous act of
kindness to the general public . It all started in the year 2004 when
Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa ,who was representing the Ikorodu federal
consistuency at the House of Representatives decided to continue her
good humanitarian work through her free coaching lesson in various
public schools, this was in a bid to contribute her quota towards
poverty alleviation in Ikorodu, Lagos state.
This was also the first of its kind, this epoch also saw many pupils who
were excited to be a part of this free coaching lesson which was open to
all in the environment, irrespective of ethnic background, gender or
race.
After the free coaching scheme, she decided to award the best student
with an examination result which was conducted for all in which about 30
students amongst them all came out top and which they were all awarded a
scholarship for their entire secondary school period.
Amongst this few selected scholars were these brilliant triplets tagged
as the “wise men” who emerged first, second and third in that order
amongst a span of over two thousand students who participated in the
free coaching lesson.
Due to the crowd the programme attracted and the humongous expenditure,
one would have thought that Hon. Abike Dabiri Erewa will limit her
sponsorship at secondary school level, of which if she did so we all
would say she has done exceedingly well, but the human kindness in her
continued that she sponsored the triplets through first degrees and
second degrees respectively.
Since the year 2004 that Abike Dabiri -Erewa had bonded with the
triplets, they have been doing instrumentally well and have been well
placed in the society as Anaele Chukwudi who studied Economics now works
with an insurance firm, while Anaele Chima, who studied History and
International Relations , works with Nigerians in Diaspora Commission
(NIDCOM) and lastly, Anaele Chiedozie who finished as a Petroleum
Engineer is a full time Pastor and General Overseer of a Church.
The triplet have showed great signs of modesty, Godliness and
productivity which only shows how impactful the Abike Dabiri scholarship
has affected their life and given them a good foundation that was never
there in the first place.
From the names of the triplets , it is clear that they are from the
South East Region and Christian by faith.
The same compassion is what Abike is operating with at NIDCOM as she had
used her personal funds to evacuate some stranded Nigerians from Kenya,
South Africa, Libya, UAE ,Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
One can say this, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa is not only an humanitarian
but an amazon and God sent to many out there. She is a woman of the
people who strives for excellence at all times.
Perhaps, this must have informed her winning many laurels and awards
both nationally and globally to her credit just as the Photo Journalists
Association of Nigeria (PJAN) is honouring her on Oct 21, 2021 in Abuja.
In the letter of nomination, PJAN said they are giving Hon. Abike
Dabiri-Erewa the award of ” Citizens Advocate Ambassador ” in
recognition of her remarkable and outstanding performance in promoting
the interest of the citizens first and country as a whole.
This recognition is also “as a result of numerous achievements you have
accomplished since appointed the Chairman/CEO of NIDCOM. You have made
an indelible mark on the sands of time as a “Silent Achiever” and this
is worthy of emulation.”
What else can one say about this unique personality called Abike Dabiri
Erewa (ADE) than to pray for her as she adds another year on Oct. 11 and
wish her a blissful birthday .
Abdur-Rahman Balogun is the Head of Media, Public Relations and
Protocols of NIDCOM, Abuja.
