Prince Ned Nwoko is a man of many parts. He is a politician, former senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a lawyer, philanthropist, an agriculturist and environmentalist, among others.
Call him anything good, and you would be right. He believes in social justice and development of mankind and the environment.
In this interview with Daily Sun at his resort centre in Idumuje-Ugboko, Aniocha North, Delta State, recently, the philanthropist bares his mind on a number of issues, including tourism, and why he is developing his community. Excepts:
My aim is to make Delta State world’s tourist centre
You are right when you described me as a billionaire. I am, but my billions are useless if I can’t use it to affect peoples’ lives and to change my environment. That is why I am building a tourist centre in my town, Idumuje-Ugboko, Aniocha North Local Government Area.
My town will soon be known all over the world because the whole world will soon be visiting for tourism. I have built a monumental edifice that is showcasing our cultural inheritance such as artifacts, and you can see culture being preserved.
I want to preserve our culture and show the world that we have rich cultural values.
People see our cultural inheritance as fetish but that is a lie. Other countries of the world are preserving their cultures, while we are in cultural dilemma, throwing away what God has endowed us with.
I want to change the narrative. You can see for yourself what I am building. I have preserved lives. In this resort, we have a zoo where we preserve animals. I have contracted a company to bring in more bigger animals, especially those that are going into extinction. I have a poultry and other things.
This resort centre is to to make the world appreciate our rich culture. This place will soon host the world.
You have seen the Star University. It is also called Sports University. It is the first of its kind in the history of sub-Saharan Africa. Students are going to study sports science there. We would teach 13 different types of sports, though we will add some conventional courses, such as Accountancy, Law, Business Administration and so on. But we are going to focus more on sports. After study, our students will compete and blend with the international community.
Tourism empowers a country economically
People asked why I am ‘wasting’ billions in a remote town such as Idumuje-Ugboko and I smile. After developing my resort centre to a level, my town will become a city. People don’t know that tourism develops and empowers a country economically.
There are countries that do not have mineral resources but they are run with money made from tourism. Right now, I have over 300 staff working in my resort centre. It is a way of empowering my people. After building the University of Sports and developing my tourist centre, there is no way we won’t have more than 1,000 staff.
Nigerian government and individuals should start investing in tourism. Tourism is a money-spinning business that can take care of our annual budget.
Our natural resources may finish, but tourism is forever.
We need to more tourist centers in Nigeria . I have many artifacts and many monuments in my resort centre. It is a research centre, where many things have been preserved for our children’s children to learn from.
A philanthropist is someone who blesses people with what he/she has
To be a philanthropist is to empower people.
When people call me a philanthropist, they make me laugh. You can see over 500 people eating free of charge in my centre. They are not eating because they are lazy but because they are not opportuned. That is why I have opened a foundation to empower them. I give jobs and scholarships to many of them.
There are over 1,000 students that my foundation is sponsoring and I have assisted over 10,000 students worldwide.
This year, I have earmarked N50 billion for scholarships. It has been established that we have intelligent people who are wasting away because they don’t have rich parents to pay their school fees. I am using my God-given wealth to bless them. I give to people without expecting anything in returns. It is not because of politics.
A genuine philanthropist should give without expecting something in return. My joy in life is bringing hope to the hopeless. There are over 500 people feeding every day in my resort. It is routine. I am not celebrating anything. Once I am around, they come here.
I am happy when a person who cannot boast of a square meal eats and becomes happy. I am happy when a sick person who had no money for hospital comes and I give him or her money for the medical bills. What is in this world when you have surplus while another person is suffering lack?
I will remain a friend to all. I remain committed to enhancing the fortunes of the needy in society through selfless humanitarian service and human capital development. There is a scholarship scheme for all categories of students and empowerment scheme for market women, artisans and others in the informal sector. All these are taken care by my foundation.
Prince Ned Nwoko Foundation
It is meant primarily to bring down poverty to a reasonable level. Outside of poverty eradication, it is interested in culture, tourism, sports and socio-economic development of people, especially the Anioma people, home and abroad.
Concerning technical development of artisans in all trades, we are also focusing in catching our children young. I want young people to be interested in education and sports.
Those who cannot pay school fees, junior and senior secondary school, I have made provision for those who have no money for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board examination (JAMB). Ordinarily, JAMB form should not be more than N 7,000, but I earmarked N30,000 for each student so that he or she can pay for lesson. Over 900 students have applied, but we are making provision for 1,000 students. I have told my foundation to create avenue for 100 more people.
Why I am always home with my family
I am a wealthy man, you might say, but a rich man whose family members are away from home is not a happy man. I am happy that I am always at home with my family. My children can afford all the good things in the world but I bring them home to see what I am doing.
They have seen my farm. They have seen that I rear animals. They have seen my poultry, they have seen the cows, goats and other things that we produce in my farm. They now know that they have to do certain things even though they were born in affluence.
They have seen the less privileged and how I treat them, so, they will continue from where I stop. They feel home and dream home. They have seen my stands on nature and culture. They are indigenes of Delta State so they should feel it.
Advise to people
People should show love to their fellow human beings. There is no need for rancour. We should preserve life and think of posterity in whatever we do. He who has should give to those who have nothing. We should use whatever we have to help people without expecting something in returns .
