IFETACSIOS

The number one reason why I'm applying for the elevate Prize is to get funding in order to advance my work and to achieve the mission and vision of my NGO.

I have the initiative to bring freedom to those trapped by obnoxious Traditions and Culture through my advocacy, reorientation and reconciliation programs in order to mentally strengthen and prepare the people to abolish the old evils which have denied and deprived a section of people their fundamental rights and dignity.
As an nonprofit Organization who plan and carry out boots-on-the-ground activities to achieve our objectives I will use  the fund to sponsor the meetings with the traditionalists and the community people,  the abolition processes and ceremonies as I have done in the past.

If selected as the elevate Prize winner,  I will also use the fund to provide hotel accommodation, welfare and little stipends for the Volunteers that will be in the field with me.

The financial responsibility has always been on my NGO because the community do not care about the victims of the these Cultures.

I grew up as a non Victim in a region whereby social interaction and marriage  with certain members of the society commonly referred to as Osu (outcaste)are forbidden and prohibited with socially severe sanctions against violators. These people were traditionally  compelled to live in a shrine of a traditional religion and prevented to live among the Freeborn People and subjected to all kinds of indignities, segregation, discrimination, denial and deprivation of their basic rights through culture and tradition. As an adult and in the present world of freedom and equality I began to feel uncomfortable with the practices and decided to start a community to community conversation  with traditional rulers and and authorities on house to jettison the old evils called tradition

It has been rigorous and knotty because it is not easy to effect attitudinal and behavioral change in people especially when it comes to their religious beliefs. Sometimes harrased but I keep going back to them because I have come to realise the enormity of the damaging effect it has on our mutual coexistence as a people and devastating effect on the lives of those who have fallen in love and ready to get married .

My purpose is equality and mutual respect among my people.

I want to solve the problem of inequality which has degenerated into acrimonious relationship between the victims and victimizers which has further led to the destruction of lives and properties. The southeast region of Nigeria comprises of five sates and each state comprises of a minimum of 21 Local Government Areas and maximum of 28 Local Government Areas, and each Local Government Area has at least 15 communities. 90% of the total communities practice Osu caste system and the victims make up for 10-20% in each community.

We address the issue first on social media in order to create awareness. We alonduct community to community conversation in order to first of all eradicate the widely held belief and fear by the freeborn that they would die if they inter-marry and socialize with the Osu, and follow it up with re-conciliation, and abolition.

we recognize and understand that these cultures were handed over to them by their ancestors whom they revered and it is also their rights to maintain and uphold their cultures. But on the other hand we also draw their attention to the fact that all have contravene the rules and the gods didn't wreak any havoc.

They begin to reason along with us that something can actually be done to jettison them rather than continue with them.

We send letters to the traditional ruler of the communities, requesting to visit them with our advocacy.  We pay a community 5 or more visits before they will begin to understand why they should jettison the tradition. Then we constitute a committee which will compromise of a representative from all the principal societies,  cabinet members,  the youth,  women, etc to begin to deliberate on the possible ways of appeasing their gods and other traditional rituals.

Each community has their peculiarities therefore you cannot use one modality for all.

We avail them the right and opportunity to profer the solutions in order to liberate the victims in the end.

We succeeded in Nsukka Clan by appeasing the eight deities respectively and compensated the supposed owners.