Kuku: Honour from Atlanta, Georgia Adeola Akinremi
Writes that for his role in peace building toward economic progress of Nigeria, the State of Georgia in the United States of America, recently bestowed its honorary citizenship and congressional commendation award on the Special Adviser to President Goodl
On the street outside Ritz Carlton Hotel in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States, people were out enjoying the balmy day. Then, it was evening and people of colour began to stream into one of the ballrooms at Ritz Carlton. It was for one man; Kingsley Kemebradigha Kuku, a former member of the Ondo State House of Assembly who later dedicated his life to bringing lasting peace to the Niger Delta in his position as the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme(PAP).
Kuku was chosen to receive honorary citizenship of the State of Georgia and congressional commendation award for his role in helping to stabilise Nigeria—a country said to be on the edge of the precipice by some failed state experts in recent months.
So it was humbly for Kuku to step into a ballroom, where many were already seated to honour him for the night.
“The whole world was looking at Nigeria before and during the last elections. There were concerns about outbreak of violence, but the work of Kuku and others ensured that it didn’t happen. That is the reason we are celebrating him. We are honouring him with Georgia honorary citizenship for his role,” said Senator Steen Miles, a former Georgia State senator, who delivered the keynote speech that praised Kuku for his accomplishments.
And quoting from Kuku’s book, Remaking the Niger Delta, Miles said: “Fate has a way of planting people in positions, so they can make history even when they least suspect that this is what destiny has in store for them. Such is it with Hon. Kingsley Kuku.”
The event soon start to reach its crescendo as accolades began to pour for Kuku. For instance, several dignitaries who spoke at the event described Kuku as a rare gift to Nigeria. The Chair, Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, Rep Dee Dawkins-Haigler, said: “We are honouring a great man tonight. The reason we are honouring you is because we honour those who go out to do right for the masses and you have gone out to do right for the masses of your country. God has seen what you have done. We are honouring you with the highest honour in the State of Georgia.”
Dawkins-Haigler described Kuku as a man whose contributions to the peace of Nigeria will be hard to forget, saying his works in the lives of ordinary people has shown that he’s a humane person with rare commitment to nation building.
For Nigeria’s Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke who attended the dinner in honour of Kuku, the conferment of honorary citizenship of the State of Georgia on Kuku speaks volume of his character and commitment. “I am very proud of the Special Adviser on Niger Delta. He is a man of great compassion, a man whose service to his nation has cut across tribes and tongues. I want to encourage Kingsley Kuku that the best is yet to come. He is one young man indefatigable who has brought restoration to the Niger Delta.
He has re-engineered the commitment of change. He has rejuvenated the spirit of the people to really stand as agents to move the country forward. I congratulate you and I am proud to stand by you, having had the honour of this award some many years back in this same city,” he enthused.
Also, the Deputy Majority Leader of the Nigerian Senate, Abdul Ningi said: “Kingsley Kuku is one of the best young men that have been discovered in the last 10 years of our democracy. Some of us have been associated with the struggle of the Niger Delta and we have seen pretenders and we have seen people who only talk. Ideas are not the problem in Nigeria or Africa but the problem is the implementation of ideas that will grow and germinate and impact positively on the people. In the last four years, Kingsley Kuku has been able not only to grow ideas but he has had them implemented to achieve good ends. Let me call on the President-elect, Gen. Buhari…, if you need the amnesty programme to be well-implemented, we will borrow you Kingsley Kuku. Kuku, you are a gift to Nigeria. You are a gift to your generation.”
Senator Usman Abatemen said: “Kingsley Kuku is a true gentleman. He honours his words. I am proud that he has been honoured today. Kinsgley Kuku has picked a very deserving honour. Kingsley Kuku has made us proud as young Nigerians. The Niger Deltans are greatly proud of their son, but Kingsley Kuku does not even think like a Niger Deltan. I am here, my leader is here. We are not from the Niger Delta. Mustapha is here. He is not from the Niger Delta. We are all friends of his. I have endured the pain to be here at a short notice because he deserves it. We implore the incoming government that for this programme to be nurtured and passed on and for the peace we enjoy in the Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku is needed. This is the least award Kingsley Kuku will get. The main award will be when these kids studying here get back home and start giving back to the country’s development in 10 years, 15 years. That is when we will all rise up and give you the highest honour.” A member of the House of Representative Committee on Niger Delta, Hon. Jumoke Okoya-Thomas paid glowing tribute to Kuku saying,“Hon. Kingsley Kuku has received a very deserving award. I congratulate you. What you have done in the lives of the Nigerian youths from the Niger Delta is amazing. Hon Kingsley Kuku gave the youths hope. Many of them have lost hope but you have given them hope. Someone else was doing this job before Kuku came on board, we never heard much of the programme. But with Kuku a lot of things changed and someone like me won’t be here tonight if he wasn’t doing well representing Niger Delta. He is a good representative.” True, it was tear-inducing, when one of the beneficiaries of the amnesty programme, Gabriel Odidison, 21, began to speak.
“My name is Gabriel. I am a junior at Maris College. I major in Business and Finance. Before I say anything, I will like to say a big thank you to Kingsley Kuku,” he said. “Based on everything Hon. Kuku has done for me and my friends, I want to say thank you. I finished secondary school in 2009. It was the most depressing year of my life. I was very young. I finished secondary school at 15. I tried to get into college in Nigeria, Lagos to be precise and it was very hard. My parents were not rich, so I couldn’t proceed.”
He bowed his head, cleared his throat, wiped off his tears and then continued: “To cut the long story short, one morning I received a phone call. It was from the amnesty office. I think the woman I spoke with, her name is Dolapo. She said you just earned a committee scholarship to study in America. When I heard the news I was like how? She asked me ‘what is your name?’ I thought it was a scam. So, I said ‘my name is Steve.’ She asked me where I lived and I said I lived in Lekki. Meanwhile I was living in Ketu. But she already had my details. So, she told me to come to Lekki Phase 1 in two days.
So, two days later when I got to Lekki, I thought it was going to be like now you have the scholarship, go to America. But I realised that we had to take an exam every two weeks in preparation to come here. When I heard that, I
thought I would not make it. I believed I had lost my intelligence during those years of waiting after secondary school. I thank Hon. Kuku for giving me the opportunity to regain my intelligence, for giving me the opportunity to further my studies.”
These words of Odidison for Kuku were true according to Nigeria’s Consulate General in Atlanta, Geoffrey Teneilabe. He said: “Kuku took on the responsibility of implementing the amnesty programme and has implemented it well. He has been able to transform ideas to reality.
“The development he fosters today is not only of the Niger Delta but of Nigeria because Niger Delta is the bedrock of the peace in Nigeria. Anybody that is thinking will appreciate what Kuku has done. 30,000 youths have benefitted. Over 2000 students are in Ivy League institutions and will contribute to the development of Nigeria. It is no mean task.
“This honour is very well-deserved. I can only wish him the very best. He is an extremely intelligent person. I have listened to him on many occasions. He has been articulate ideas and in the Nigerian polity, he has his ways cut out for him and he will go far. I know that this is only the beginning. The future is stretched out. We see him in the development of Nigeria.”
But for Kuku, the accolades should go to the man who appointed him, President Goodluck Jonathan. “When the opportunity came to select someone to advise him and manage a programme that is very sensitive, called the Presidential Amnesty Programme, he left Rivers, Bayelsa, and Delta State to come to the fringe of the Niger Delta, Ondo State and picked me to manage the amnesty programme. He discovered me, he brought me to the limelight. So whatever we are celebrating today is about Goodluck Jonathan, a man who has the ability to discover great people wrapped in ordinary clothing…I dedicate this honour to him.”