By Chioma Onuegbu

UYO- A group under the aegis of ‘GIVE- Challenge,’ has donated relief materials to  residents of Oku Iboku Clan, Itu Local Government Area,  Akwa Ibom State, who were displaced by the  perennial communal crisis between their community and Ikot Offiong community in  Odukpani  area of the state.

Williams Uchemba

 The displaced persons and families drawn from the different villages of Oku Iboku clan were given food items such as bags of rice and toiletries.

 Coordinator of the group, actor turned philanthropist, Mr Williams Uchemba, who spoke to NDV, said the choice of Akwa Ibom State among the eight pilot states of the GIVE- Challenge project stemmed from his observation and experience when he came back with a young boy (Joseph), an indigene, used by his guardian as street hawker in Lagos.

“And I have realised that Nigerians talk a lot but do not do much, no action. You see a beggar on the street, and you ask what government is doing about this. Government will never see the beggar. You are the one seeing him or her, so why do you not solve that immediate problem first before you start talking about what government is doing or not doing?

“Government must not do everything. That is what we need to understand. If you are making money from Nigeria; if this soil is giving you money, I do not see the reason why you cannot give back to the society. I am not rich, I do not have money stacked somewhere. I can only help a few people at a time, but if 100 Nigerians decide to help 10,000 people or do what I am doing, about one million people will be off the street,” he asserted.

Secretary of the clan council, Mr. Ability Emah, said his people were appreciative of the gesture and wished that other good spirited individuals,  especially in Akwa Ibom State, will emulate the initiative.