We cannot help everyone, but everyone can help someone. Helping needy people distract us from our problems and worries. It brings out the ingrained human empathy within us which has gotten lost somewhere now because of the changing norms and morale. Some people are selfless and dedicate their whole life to the betterment of humanity. Some do it individually, while some do it in an organized way by developing an institution; OCI (Onyebuchi Chris Ifediora) Foundation is one such institution.
The firm belief of Associate Professor Chris Onyebuchi Ifediora in helping humanity led to the establishment of his non-profit organization named OCI (Onyebuchi Chris Ifediora) Foundation, founded initially in Nigeria on April 29, 2016, and then in Australia on June 4, 2018. The OCI Foundation primarily grasps three distinctive necessities: health, education, and social inequalities. The Foundation narrows the gap between access to these three necessities and the underprivileged communities across the globe. The slogan of the OCI Foundation, “Promote and Advance Health, Advance Education, and Advance Social and Public Welfare,” clearly speaks volumes for the foundation’s mission statement.
OCI Foundation involves itself in many relief and welfare activities, mainly campaigns and other social activities. One of the main facets of the Foundation is to promote health, and to accomplish this; they developed a promotional campaign named Arm Our Youths (ArOY) Health Campaign, an initiative in collaboration with the USA’s prestigious Harvard Medical School, the WHO Country Office in Nigeria, the Nigerian First Lady (Dr. Aisha Buhari), the Nigerian Cancer Society, and numerous other national and international organizations to spread awareness regarding breast and cervical cancer. OCI Foundation emphasizes anti-breast and cervical cancer because these two diseases are the second primary reason for women’s deaths in Nigeria.
According to a study, cervical cancer ranks as 2nd most frequent cancer among women in Nigeria, and women between 15 and 44 years of age are mostly affected by it. The campaign aims to minimize the dearth of awareness of breast and cervical cancers among high school students and fresh graduates in National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programs.
The OCI Foundation’s first two rounds of the anti-cancer campaign were health symposia in public schools within the Otuocha Educational Zone of Nigeria’s Anambra State, and these went exceptionally well. In September 2019, however, following a research evaluation of the initial campaign, as well as inputs from the Harvard Medical School, the Foundation initiated the ArOY health campaign in 261 public senior secondary schools across the whole of Anambra State. The motive of the campaign was again anti-breast cancer and cervical cancer. The next move of the OCI Foundation is to start a movement in senior secondary schools in all the entire 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and to achieve this, they have initiated a legislative Bill that will make the teachings mandatory across the country.
It is essential to intermingle education with health in order to bring awareness to students. For this, the OCI Foundation took a brilliant step in October 2021, and initiated an annual quiz competition for all senior/high school students in Anambra State, with the focus being breast and cervical cancers. The annual final of the quiz is now held on February 4th of every year to keep it aligned with International World Cancer Day.
OCI Foundation constantly aims to operate with the Nigerian youth. For this purpose, it also orients Nigeria’s National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), which is ostensibly one of Africa’s largest youth organizations, to promote its Anti-cancer Health Campaign. On February 2022, the official flag-off ceremony of this event took place, triggering a Nigerian national event that propelled lifesaving activities among Nigerian youths.
The OCI Foundation’s main health agenda is to reduce the cancer burden in Nigeria. To accomplish this, the Foundation requested to pass a legislative Bill to integrate anti-breast cancer and anti-cervical cancer education in all high and senior school syllabi. The Bill has scaled through major legislative hurdles that will allow it to become law in Nigeria. The OCI Foundation plans to include anti-breast cancer and anti-cervical cancer education for senior secondary and high schools in all 36 states of Nigeria before 2025. The Foundation also plans to outspread its campaigns to all the African developing countries by putting ECOWAS and the AU on board.
Informational technology is becoming an integral part of healthcare, and OCI Foundation took advantage of it. They created a free application famously known as Cervi-Breast Mobile Phone Application that can be used anywhere and everywhere in the world. The application became a massive success for its 10K downloads worldwide within a brief period. The Cervi-Breast application is available with many unique features and a handy system. OCI Foundation plans to rejuvenate the application to access the service, too. Therefore, they are collecting a database with the help of authorities from Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health and the WHO’s Country Office in Nigeria.
Since cancer is so prevalent in Nigeria, any effort would make a difference. OCI Foundation took another step forward for nipping cancer: ArOY Health Campaign’s Gynocular Project with the assistance of Nigeria’s FCT’s Primary Health Care Board. The project offers a free digital screening test project that helps doctors and healthcare providers detect cancer symptoms in the patient. The Gynocular Project was inaugurated by the Home Minister of State for the FCT on February 2, 2022, in Abuja (capital of Nigeria).
Other contributions of the OCI Foundation are in the educational sector. The foundation offers six sets of scholarship programs annually. Out of the six, five programs are for underprivileged Nigerian students, which remain available to the recipients through their university and other tertiary studies. The sixth scholarship program, titled the Literary Award for Medical Students (LAMS), is dedicated to skill development in undergraduate medical students.
The OCI Foundation also has its hands on emergencies and social calamities. Not just on health, education, and social inequalities. During COVID-19, the Foundation distributed food, medicines, facemasks, sanitizers, and basic necessities to poor Nigerian people to cope with the wicked and scary situation of the virus during the lockdown. In 2020, the Foundation offered various awareness programs against COVID-19 in Nigeria. They also sponsor a soccer group in Nsugbe, the hometown of its founder, Chris O. Ifediora, among other things.
For all the above and more, the OCI Foundation is an internationally recognized non-profit organization. It has bagged many prestigious international awards. A few of them are the Platinum Award for Humanitarian Services by the Rotary Club of Awka Smithtown (2022), Emerging NFP of the Year (2022), OCI Foundation won at the Third Sector Awards; Sydney, Australia (2022), and Most Impactful NGO of the Year 2022, OCI Foundation honored at the Puma Hall of Fame Awards (Lagos, Nigeria, 2022).
The prolonged and selfless efforts of Chris O. Ifediora and his non-profit organization are difficult to witness in the world in today’s times. He is a United Nations’ “Eminent Peace Ambassador” and has international recognition from the “International Association of World Peace Advocates (IAWPA).” The way he amalgamates technology in his services is unique in a third-world country like Nigeria. The world can never repay him for his empathy and kindness towards underprivileged people.
