Interview
My charity work is not political- KulukuluMr Adisa Kabiru Kulukulu, the Founder of Guildance Community Development Foundation (GCDF) and Iwoland Development Coalition (IDC) speaks with Sodiq Alabi on the rumour that his charity work is informed by a political ambition.
Alabi: Lately, there has been persistent rumour that your charity works through Guildance and IDC is a prelude to your entry into politics. How does this rumour make you feel?
Kulukulu: Anyone who knows me knows that I have been in politics for a long time. I believe that those of us who love our community development and exemplary leadership must join politics to effect the changes we want. However, it is important to stress that I do not need a political ambition to go into charity works. In addition, the insinuation that I spend serious energy, creativity and financial resources on charity works because I plan to run for office is deeply insulting.
I do not think it makes sense for a rational human being to wait until when he has political ambition before bringing developmental project to the community. It is what every one of us should be thinking of. We just have to support the effort of the government, as government cannot do it alone. No foreigner will come and develop our community; it is our job to do so. There are two ways that I have identified to serve our community. One by seeking elective position. Second option is through NGO, which is what I am doing currently.
Alabi: Can you trace your journey into NGO work?
Kulukulu: I decided to found an NGO to give back to the community that trained and brought me up and to care for the less privileged people. Helping people in need makes me happy. Putting smile in the face of people had been source of my joy. I started Guildance Community Development Foundation on 10 October 2000 during my service year.
Sodiq Alabi: What has been your biggest project to date in NGO?
Kulukulu: Guildance Community Development Foundation's biggest project is HIV/AIDS Project called 'Inject live in African Children Initiative with training activities and services that support beneficiaries with long-term skills development. These include income-generating activities, vocational training, and community savings and loans programs.
Alabi: How did you start charity works in Iwo and how has been your journey so far?
Kulukulu: I established my charity organization in Iwo on 10th October, 2000 in line with vision to make Iwo to regain its long lost glory and to help the less privileged in our community. I was unable to get the like minds to run it together as the seed fund provided through saving from my salary was mismanaged. I was advised to take the project outside Iwo, improve its process and later come back to Iwo. That was the reason why the headquarters of Guildance Community Development Foundation moved to Ibadan.
Kudos to Amir and his team at Jama'atu Ta'awunil Muslimeen who insisted on extending our programmes to Iwo some few years back. The Amir read a report of one of our programmes on Facebook told me with characteristic seriousness:
“Brother Abdulkabir if you can be doing so much in Ibadan, I will not open my eye to allow Ibadan people to be the direct beneficiaries of your programmes”. He encouraged me to build my charity works around my hometown, Iwo. His intervention led me to initiate many projects through GCDF. Sequel to this, the demand from Iwo, Aiyedire and Ola Oluwa was so much that it was unbearable for me to attend to them all. I decided to think outside the box and initiated a movement of like-minds that gave to Iwoland Development Coalition which I created through WhatApp.
During this time, the like of then Prince Adewale Abdulrasheed now Oluwo of Iwoland, Adeniyi Rufai, Badru Babatunde, Ayodeji Bello, Akintunde Saheed, Shu’aib Alabi, Big Brother Abeeb Rahman, Dr Akintayo Mojeed just to mention but a few had been up doing and have great concern for the slow pace of development of Iwo.
As Almighty Allah will have it, I started bringing people together. But because of resources are limited, I started writing proposal to foreign and local donors. Guildance Community Development Foundation succeeded in winning grant from Airtel Telecommunication Limited for the purchase of medical equipment. A hospital was later built through the collaboration between Iwoland Development Coalition, Iwoland Community and Guildance Community Development Foundation.
Alabi: Do you have any political ambition in the nearest future?
Kulukulu: I am ready to serve my community if need arises. However, I prefer to be a community person. But I don't think it is right to rush into sudden projects in the community simply because of political ambition. It should be continuous and sustainable.
Look, Sodiq, Things are not going well for Iwoland; our people are few at Federal Civil service commission, at state civil service commission we are already marginalized, as there is no Iwo son or daughter who
is Permanent Secretary in Osun State. In the Military we are not there. In the banking sector, we are not luck to have Managing Director among other sectors. My focus is on how to use my charity works to influence great projects in Iwo and help develop this town of us. I plan to continue this work regardless of baseless insinuation of fickle minds. I would advise we all focus on developing our community instead of second-guessing the intention of others.
