I wasn’t really outstanding in secondary school, but I chose to be better …

Runcie C. Chidebe, 28, won the Global Shapers Community Abuja I AM BOLD Award at the World Economic Forum for Africa in 2014, having graduated as the best student from the Department of Psychology/Sociology and Anthropology in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 2011/2012 academic session. He tells Tunde Ajaja about his education journey

We learnt you wanted to be a medical doctor, how did you end up in the social science class?

There was a time my parents relocated from Zamfara State to Abuja due to the crisis in the state then, and my siblings and I had to spend six months in our home town without going to school until I was enrolled in Government Secondary School, Gwarimpa, Abuja. It was a terrible situation for me, and that was when my dream of becoming a medical doctor was shattered. The ‘A’ class, which was the Science class, was already full and could not take more students, so I was advised by one of my teachers to join the ‘C’ class, which was the Social Science class. I enquired if I could still study medicine in the university, but I was told I could only do that if I had chosen health science as one of my subjects. It was a traumatic situation for me. Painfully, it took me close to two years to regain my academic stand in the secondary school because of the long stay out of school, coupled with the new learning environment. I used to cry seriously at the end of each term. In fact, until I finished my secondary school, I was not really an outstanding student, in my own estimation, but, I made up my mind to smash and break barriers in the university, which I did.

What attracted you to Psychology?

I was attracted to study Psychology because it is one discipline that studies and understands human behaviour and answers critical questions on human thinking and existence, and because I already had a diploma in Social Work from the same institution, I had the idea of what psychology was. Psychology was my major and my minor was sociology and anthropology.

You must have enjoyed it since it was your choice. Which part did you enjoy most and did you find any part challenging?

This is where most students make expensive mistakes. When students prefer a particular course or lecturer to another, it could be challenging because it tends to tilt their interest to some courses while others would suffer for it. For me, I made sure I found all my courses interesting even when most of my course mates felt differently about some courses or lecturers. I tried not to have a preferred course or see any of them as more tedious. That helped me a lot, sincerely.

Let’s talk about your award. What influenced the project that won you the award?

I have always had the zeal to make a difference in the lives of people, which motivated me to embark on the project, a breast and cervical cancer initiative. I spent some time to read about cancer and gradually focused on breast and cervical cancer, knowing that the rate of deaths from cancer in Africa is alarming. It was actually my Community Development Service project as a youth corps member. Some senior friends encouraged me to join the Millennium Development Goals group because, according to them, it was the only viable CDS group in NYSC, and that choice helped me eventually.

You studied psychology, what influenced your interest in breast and cervical cancer?

Three factors motivated me. My family background influenced my passion for helping women because all the children in my house are men. Also, my parents have always had interest in such things. When I was in school, some of my family members didn’t like my slim stature, so I decided to do a research on Micheal Jackson’s body dysmorphic disorder, skin cancer, lifestyle, body satisfaction, and other things. Eventually, I did an interesting research using experiment to find out the “Effect of Exposure to Media-Portrayed Ideal Body Image and Gender on Body Satisfaction.” From that moment, my interest for physiological psychology grew to my passion for psychological oncology – cancer. And being a member of AIESEC was a huge plus because we used to run some exciting humane projects. So, putting all these together has been a major influence.

Such a project could be frustrating if there is no strong determination and commitment. What kept you going?

Personal happiness, fulfillment and the benefits for the beneficiaries; the poor people in the rural communities. I felt fulfilled that I was making a positive difference in the lives of the people through the screenings and awareness projects that we organised. It could be stressful but once I started pre- and post-screening counselling, I used to feel good. Seeing help coming the way of poor and rural women, who ordinarily may not be able to afford a good life, not to talk of cancer screening, was gladdening. They used to pray for us, thank us and sometimes dance happily to their homes.

The project included awareness and free screening for 165 women, how did you source for the fund?

I employed an interesting need approach for sourcing fund for the project; where we appeal to people to give us what we need, since it may be difficult to give us financial support. A lot of my allowance, which we used to call allawee, also went into transportation and preparing letters. We, I mean myself and some volunteers, listed out everything needed for the project and requested for support from people who could be of help. For example, a CEO of a printing company could easily support us with the printing of two 10×8 banners which cost about N40,000 than giving us N20,000 cash. That approach helped a lot.

Some of your colleagues, (corps members) could have seen your project as a time-wasting adventure, and try to discourage you. How did you handle that?

Well, so many of my colleagues never discouraged me, they trooped in as volunteers and supported the project thinking it was a money-making machine. Unfortunately, so many of them got discouraged and left through the back door. I don’t also blame them, because we live in a society where the definition of success is tied around financial capability. To some extent, some people don’t see the need to run projects like this, because they feel doing so could mean helping the government to do its work or contributing to making the government lazy. I don’t see it that way.

What does the award mean to you?

This award is not just about me, my team and Project PINK BLUE, it is about Nigerians and African youths. The only way for us to shape Africa is to shape our communities; young people should get into civic leadership, social services and charity. That is the ideal thing. Personally, it means more inspiration, motivation, more work, more impact, and more help for many other people. I am passionate that many Nigerian and African youths will be stimulated to do more personal community development projects in various areas where they are posted to or live. If we all start to contribute in our little ways, the world will be a better place.

What does the award imply and what benefits has it added to you?

The prize includes grants to run projects, mentorship programme, and publicity platforms. Presently, I am working with the Global Shapers Abuja Hub to power an innovative cancer programme that will change the way Nigerians and Africans see cancer. I am so happy that I emerged the winner of the award out of the four of us that made it to the final stage where people from different parts of the world were panelists and voted for the winner.

What is your advice to students, especially those in higher institutions?

They should do everything possible to understand themselves, identify their strengths and weaknesses and try to have friends that are better than them so as to have someone to look up to.

Why do you think corps members shy away from having personal CDS projects?

There are two reasons, which are traceable to lack of support from the government and the community that is to benefit from the project, which, when put together, could be discouraging. Getting corps members who are very young or from a poor background to do CDS projects is like asking the poor to help the poor. This is coupled with the small amount of money paid as allowance because people are also not ready to help because people write letters endlessly without anyone ready to help? It could be difficult. A passionate corps member may want to run a project in a community, and such person could write about fifteen letters without any response, even from government agencies. But inasmuch as these challenges and setbacks exist, young people are the future of the society, hence, we must continue to try, even if it is one or two people that would eventually support and make it happen.

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