20th July, 2018
Founder of Adorable Social Awareness Campaign Against Drug Abuse (ASACADA), Princess Ada-Okeke Amam and Vice-President of Igbo-speaking Community in Lagos, in this interview spoke to Fatima Binta Muktar about her passion for anti-drug crusade,violence against women and other national issues.
Excerpts.
You are the founder of Adorable Social Awareness Campaign Against Drug Abuse (ASACADA), an anti-drug advocacy group. What informed that motive?
Well, I will say its emergence is part of developing social trend that needed urgent attention. But I can say that the idea was first mooted during one of my visits to Abuja. In Abuja at a meeting with the former first lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Zainab Marwa, I introduced Adorable foundation to her. She said to me that there is a very important issue she thinks women or families should look into, and I was interested. It was the issue of drug, its abuse, the hazards it poses and the way our youths are getting hooked.
She said it was a thing that is affecting a lot of homes but that people or families involved decided to do it on their own, on a close door but are dying silently
with it. The families and their victims have decided they will not let go, as to make it public.
She said as the first lady in Kano State she did so much and that while in Lagos State also she tried equally to raise the awareness bar. She told me that if I think that this foundation was what she thought it was, then we should
look into this drug abuse issue.
She said she was so worried because the rate at which it’s affecting the youth was alarming and that efforts should be directed in the area to arrest the situation. I can say that the meeting with Mrs. Marwa triggered my consciousness more and the resolve to stick to the drug advocacy.
Without the youth, who are we? Who takes over? And with the youths being frustrated there is danger ahead. With the youths on drugs you find out that families are crying.
So it was a wake-up call. The involvement and what it entails is the killing aspect. So, I thought about all our discussion critically, there and then in Abuja, I told my crew that there was no going back on campaign against drug. We had to flag it off in 2015. Ever since then, it’s been a yearly activity for adorable foundation international and adorable social club.
You’ve also been into women empowerment. Could you tell us how many women you’ve empowered so far?
The most important thing is that every year, 20th of December, we bring women together especially the widows and see how we can improve their lives in our own little way. We do what we can do. I think we’ve done so much, I don’t like counting how many we have empowered. But I know many lives have been changed going by our assistance to them.
What motivated your empowerment programme?
A lot of things, growing up was not that easy. I lost my mum when I was still small. As a girl child it was very
difficult growing up with stepmothers, I received so much from outside. What should I do to give back to the society? The only way I could do it, was to bring people that have like minds, to bring up adorable foundation. I can say that the experience of past life was a great motivator to me.
Do you have any intention of going into politics so as to ensure policies are created to lift not only the widows but others that have been deprived of certain social welfare?
I tell you if I go into politics I might not have the time to do this. There’s a saying that women are worst enemy to themselves, when it comes to politics. Do you buy into that idea? Naturally, the way God created women, women have a lot of lapses, but we should not look into that. It’s about yourself. As a woman, what can you do? What are you able to achieve? What did you do with the opportunity God gave to you? That should be the right question to ponder upon.
The issue of violence against women and child abuse has being on the rise, what’s your take on that?
Violence against women is on the increase, in the home, even when things are not going well with the husband, it’s the woman that carries it. A male child is rather taken to school, while they allow the girl child to remain at home. So, a lot has to be done to help women in this modern time.
Even at this your level, have you ever felt discriminated against?
Of course, we go to so many events, and we are told to let the men first. I don’t believe we are equal. I am not the type that says “men equal right”, I wasn’t taught so both in religion and in moral? Man was the first being to be created, we are supportive.
What’s your take about Dapchi school girls’ abduction?
I believe the government is doing so much to ensure they return to their families and I want to use this medium to urge the Government not to relent to ensure that all the girls are rescued.