 |
| Dr. James |
Founder and Director General of Center for
Research, Information Management and Media Development (CRIMMD), founder of the
Photo Museum of Nigeria History, publisher of 'The National Biographer
Magazine' and author of over a dozen books, Dr. Raphael James, in this
interview with ADA DIKE, speaks on why he donates books to individuals and
organisations as well as his newly set up skills acquisition center.
-------------
Apart from the ones
you requested online from authors, are all the books you are giving out donated
to you or do you normally buy some of them?
I bought the 6000 books I donated to media houses. In most
cases, I have been buying books. But there are some Nigerian authors who have
given me five copies of their books each.
After many years of
running a free library, would you say it has encouraged the Nigerian youth to
imbibe the culture of reading books?
I can say it with pride that my library has produced medical
doctors and engineers. When I returned from Abuja recently, I was told that a
young man came here to appreciate me. He prepared for his exams in our library
and got admission in Indiana College, USA. I am looking out to meet him.
Sometime last year, one other young man, Dr. John did his West African
Examination Council (WAEC) and used the library, today, he is a practicing
medical doctor in Sokoto. These are the little things that each time look I back
and remember, I feel satisfied and happy. It goes a long way to help others.
Can you give us an
estimate of the number of Nigerian students the books you are giving out will
change their lives in the next five years?
I cannot determine that because beside the fact that the
library is open, most of the time, it is as we are pleading with people to come
and read. They find it difficult to come and read because it is not part of our
culture to read. In the next five years, I should be able set up a standard
research centre, a kind of a cyber library in the sense that, beside us running
the library, the photo museum and the new project – CRIMMD -
Women Free Skill Acquisition Center. I am looking at a situation where
we will have a place where you walk in and get practically everything you need.
There will be an eatery, library, swimming pool and so on. My dream is to set
up a one-point centre in Nigeria in the next five years.
Where will the
one-point centre be located?
I believe God that He will bless us enough and give us somewhere
bigger. It may be our own or a rented place. Our skills acquisition centre for
women has started. It is a free centre. Based on experience, I have discovered
that if a couple is working and earning N50, 000 each, the husband will spend
about N10, 000 into the family while the wife will spend N40, 000 into the
family. I have also seen a situation that when a man is dead, the woman then
starts struggling to survive and I keep wondering why it is like that. I don’t
pray to die or for any man to die, but in a situation like this, the woman will
be able to feed the family. That is what prompted me to set up the skills
acquisition centre for women with the notion that when you train a woman, you
train a nation. I want to train a nation. The "CRIMMD -
Women Free Skill Acquisition Center", has commenced with five sewing
machines, four laptops and one computer desk-top, for computer training. In
addition to tailoring/fashion designing and computer training, the Center will
teach the following others: Catering, Bead Making, Soap making (liquid/tablet
and detergents), Liquid disinfectant Production, Hat making, Air freshener
production, Germicide Production, Insecticide Production, Ankara bags and shoes
making and Make-up artistry. It
is very tasking but God is helping me to do it.
How do you generate
funds to run the centre?
For now, it is a one-man effort to change the world. I am not
in partnership with anybody, not that I have not solicited for it, I have
approached one or two organizations but there have not been a positive response
to that. We have been able to get a place. I was giving a thousand dollars for
the SDLG award and they specified to me that that money should
go into the CRIMMD - Women Free Skill Acquisition Center. They paid a total of
N499, 000 into my account which we are putting into the centre. It is like a
drop of water in the project we are doing.
Going back to your question, I do research
for government, organisations and individuals. It is the income I derive from
my research work and my magazine I put into the CRIMMD - Women Free Skill
Acquisition Center. So far, I have about 11 volunteer teachers who have accepted
to work for us free for a start, but we are mapping out a strategy to assist
them for their transportation.
We learnt that you bagged a new award. Can you tell us about it?
Well, I don’t know which of them you are
referring to, but I know in the last three months, I have received three
international awards. I got the African Leadership Improver Award 2015 which is
being organized in Paris, but the presentation was done in Gambia for 2015.
I
was among the five finalists in the SDLG Africa Most Reliable Person. The SDLG
Award is being organized by a construction company in China. They felt that it
was time for them to appreciate Africans that are doing well. So, the
nomination was open on the social media. A total of 792 of us were nominated
across Africa. Out of the 792, they had five finalists, myself representing
Nigeria. We had Ghana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and others. But at the end of the
day, Ghana won the award but I happened to be the first runner-up in the award
list.
I
also got the Nigerian Arts, Fashion & Beauty (NAFB) 2016 Image Award from
the United States of America. It is organized by the Founding Fathers Inc.
based in the USA. The mission of the NAFB awards is to highlight, celebrate and
recognize the talents of those who have made great contributions to the
development and promotion of Nigerian rich arts, culture, history, indigenous
fashion styles and beauty. All these awards are in appreciation of what I will
describe as my little contribution to humanity.
You
have many awards displayed in your office, it is like, apart from the past and present
Nigerian Presidents, you are one of the few Nigerians that are receiving awards
from different parts of the world. What is the secret?
Let me start by saying that I appreciate
God for the awards coming in because, I see it as a way through which humanity
is appreciating the little things I am doing. I have been running a free public
library for the past 12 years. Beside running the library, I have been doing
free book donations. In 2015 alone, I donated 6, 000 to schools, organizations
and individuals. I remember I started to reach out to people through book was
in 2008 when I bought books worth one million naira and donated them to 39
media houses across Lagos and Ibadan. We went to Tribune in Ibadan, but the
other 38 media houses were based in Lagos. The aim of the book donation was to
let those media houses use their platform to talk about the importance of book
reading. I felt that the one way to achieve it was to give to them and let them
talk about what we are doing. In 2015, the 6000 books I donated was to
encourage non-governmental organizations and schools to establish libraries. I
gave 50 books to every school, church and other NGOs that came. So individuals
that walked into the library got two books each. The basic aim was to encourage
reading habit among individuals and schools. I didn’t even stop there. The
NGOs that got 50 books and came back to give me proof that they actually set up
a library got additional books from us. In this 2016, we have started giving
out books. Some weeks ago when I visited Katsina-Ala College in Taraba State, I
pledged 200 books to the school and we are working to get it done. I did
something I have never done before by making an open request to authors, asking
them to donate books to me so that I can forward it to the school. So far, I
have received about 130 books. What I now want to do is, instead of giving them
those books I pledged to them, I am going to donate 300 books to them. I feel
that with this, we can encourage the younger ones who are coming up to get into
the reading habit and that is the only way it can benefit them for the future.
Do
you have any other information?
We are donating toys
to motherless babies’ homes and schools that have the kindergarten sections and
we have made a budget of a million naira to buy these toys.
Dr.
James’ profile
Dr. James is a graduate of Psychology with
a Certificate in Conflict Resolution. The former Special Assistant in the
Presidency Abuja and former Media Assistant to Abia State Governor, was appointed
as the Registrar of the African Institute of Entrepreneurship, Lagos. He has received
a total of 68 awards nationwide, received Appreciations/Commendations Letters
from Lagos State Government Education District VI; NTA 2 Channel 5; former USA
President Bill Clinton; Queen Elizabeth of England. He is a member, Institute
of Business Advisers; Fellow, African Institute of Entrepreneurship; Rotary
International; Nigeria Institute of Public Relations; Nigeria Institute of
International Affairs and Nigeria Institute of Management.
He runs a free public library and has started
The Women Free Skill Acquisition Center and he is not a politician.
Dr. James is presently on a tour of the
nation. In 2015, he visited 15 states including Lagos, the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja, Abia, Imo, Enugu, Anambra, Rivers, Ekiti, Osun, Oyo, Ondo,
Ogun, Kogi, Edo and Delta. He explained that it is capital intensive, doing the
tour without sponsorships, but thanked God for guiding, protecting and
directing him throughout his journeys. He believes tourism has an important
place within the world economy and represents a basic branch in many countries
with tourists’ location. It is a known fact that the Christian pilgrimages to
Israel and Islamic faithful pilgrims to Saudi Arabia have contributed to their
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in those countries. If the government of Nigeria
can invest in tourism, James is convinced that it will improve our GDP a whole
lot.
In 2016 so far for nine days, January 28 -
February 5, 2016, he was on the road, he visited six states: Osun, Kwara, FCT
Abuja, Nasarawa, Benue, Taraba.
No comments:
Post a Comment