Ekwueme Foundation To The Rescue
Daily Independent
It is a cheerful news that elder statesman and former Vice- President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, has at last, settled for a foundation.
The Alex Ekwueme Foundation, a non-profit and non-governmental organisation, according to media reports, will be holding its inaugural International Summit on March 31, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
The foundation, it was disclosed, would have its thrust on how to douse the ire of militancy, which has developed to dangerous dimension, in the country.
According to the Director-General of the Foundation, Dr. Duke Igwilo: “Terrorist kidnapping and hostage-taking is now a critical issue in Nigeria. Having grown phenomenally since the mid-1990s, it is now a source of significant safety and security concern across the country and adversely affecting the country’s economy by greatly undermining foreign investment.”
Igwilo said the foundation would position itself at the forefront of resolving this bane by holding an international summit, bringing together key organisations and individuals within a structured forum, to find a sustainable resolution to the phenomenon.
“The summit aims to identify and highlight the pattern of hostage taking, kidnapping and local terrorism in the country, raise public awareness about the growing phenomenon, strengthen the capacity of national security and public safety agencies to deal with the problem and strengthen the capacity of the country’s legal framework to deal with the aspect of local terrorism.
“Using keynote presentations, case study analyses, and interactive panel discussions, the summit will, among other approaches, bring about effective strategies and policies for businesses and government agencies to adopt; study global current developments in the practice and expert opinions to provide solutions for Nigeria; review the experiences of kidnap victims to gain an understanding of its effects on individuals.”
The foundation that was established to promote the ideals, values and principles of Ekwueme, aims to ensure that such ideals as honesty, peace, compromise, transparency in public service and respect for democratic principles are secured in perpetuity.
At a time like this, Nigeria needs such genuine foundations that will seek ways and proffer solutions that will stamp out social and ethnic vice that have bedeviled the growth of this country.
All that is needed now is to ensure that the foundation will live to actualise the vision and ideals of the architect/businessman- turned politician, which must have informed the founding of the humanitarian organisation.
