Frank Edima

If I notice you’ve activated your WhatsApp disappearing message feature, I’m not chatting with you anymore.

Stay alert out there, y’all.

FE

𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄

One of the things I keep challenging in community development is our definition of "giving back."

We have become comfortable with the annual gathering.

Items are given. Donations are made. People take photographs. Speeches are made. Everybody goes home.

The next year, we do it again.

There is nothing wrong with giving. The problem begins when giving is the entire development strategy.

We are building communities in a developing country.

Our communities need more than occasional handouts.

They need systems that continuously create value.

So when someone launches an initiative, I always want to know what happens after the cameras are gone.

Could the initiative partner with related brands?

Could young people be trained?

Could community members become suppliers and partners?

Could an enterprise emerge?

Could that enterprise employ people from the community?

Could a percentage of its profits sustain the social programme?

Could the programme still exist five years after the person who started it is no more?

This is how I think we should approach give back.

Don't just create an event. Create an ecosystem.

Don't just distribute. Build capacity.

Don't just solve today's problem. Build something that reduces tomorrow's problem.

Make the community the centre of the project.

A good community project should have a life beyond the person who started it.

The real measure of giving back is not how many people gathered around you for one day. It is what continues to happen in that community when you are no longer there.

That is the kind of impact I advocate for.

Give back, but build forward.

If you are a political office holder, community leader, philanthropist or organisation planning your next community project, ask yourself “Can this become an institution, an enterprise, a system or an opportunity that keeps working for this community after I am gone?”

If the answer is yes, you may not just be giving back. You may be transforming the community, and that’s what Nigeria needs right now.

FE

What if celebrating your birthday could become an opportunity to put your community on the agenda?

Some days ago, the Vice Chairman of Odukpani LGA, Patricia Iya Godwin, celebrated her birthday with her constituents through a programme tagged ‘CLOTH-THE-STREET’

The initiative provided back-to-school supplies, crutches, walking sticks for people living with visual impairment, and clothing for vulnerable members of the community. The Chairman of the LGA was also present.

I celebrate the initiative, but I would love to see CLOTH-THE-STREET become bigger than a birthday programme.

Imagine partnering with fashion brands. Imagine school-supply companies coming in as long-term partners.

Imagine local tailors, designers, textile sellers and young creatives becoming part of the value chain.

Imagine a community fashion enterprise emerging from the initiative, creating jobs, developing young talent, buying from local suppliers and producing for the community and beyond.

At this time, we will no longer talking about clothes. We will be talking about an economy.

That is the kind of evolution I want to see across our communities.

Give people something today, yes, but while you are giving, seek ways to build so that fewer people need to ask for that same thing tomorrow.

As a developing country, this is the best approach to maximizing our resources and transforming our communities while we give back at the same time.

I will continue to spotlight people who are using whatever position, influence or resources they have to create opportunities around their communities.

Congratulations to Odukpani’s VC and her team. May God give you the resources and opportunities to do even more. If you need high profile strategy on your work, I’m a dm away.

FE

𝐁𝐀𝐊𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐅𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋: 𝐀 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒

As we prepare for the 5th edition of the Bakassi Fish Festival, we believe it is important to clarify the position of the festival as an institution.

The Bakassi International Fish Festival is a community platform. It was created to celebrate the people, culture, food, fisheries, enterprise and economic potential of Bakassi. As the festival grows, so must the responsibility to protect what it represents. BIFF must remain bigger than partisan politics. This is why the festival will remain politically independent. This is not a position against any political party, politician or government. Rather, it is a deliberate decision to preserve the festival as a platform where government, political leaders across divides, businesses, religious body, development organisations, traditional institutions, community leaders, young people, women and the people of Bakassi can come together around the development and prosperity of the community.

While we believe the government has an important role to play including support and interventions for the coastal community drivers, we also want leaders across board to participate. We want businesses to invest. We want development organisations to see the economic and cultural possibilities. We want young people to find opportunities. We want women who participate in the fisheries value chain to create more value from their work. And above all, we want the people of Bakassi to see themselves, in the centre of the festival. This is why the festival cannot become a campaign platform for any political party.

BIFF will continue to work and engage with the government as well as stakeholders without becoming a political platform. BIFF will welcome support without surrendering its independence. We will acknowledge good work wherever we see it. We will advocate for issues that affect our communities. We will engage anyone who has something meaningful to contribute to the transformation of Bakassi because community development should not become the casualty of political differences.

There is sometimes a sacrifice that comes with protecting an institution's independence. It may mean giving up certain forms of access. It may mean being misunderstood. It may mean not being welcomed into every room. But then, institutions that are built to serve communities must sometimes choose independence over proximity, and we believe that this is important for BIFF at this stage of its journey. The 5th edition is an opportunity to show what Bakassi can become if we begin to see our culture, fisheries, people, food, stories and natural resources not merely as things to celebrate, but as assets from which sustainable economic value can be created. That conversation requires everyone. Not one politician. Not one organisation. Not one group or sect. Everyone.

Our community is bigger than politics, and the work of transforming it must remain bigger than all of us.

FE

On behalf of BIFF Board and Team

You people are saying I’m bigger than that Ogboni talk abi?

I agree.

But you see this 5th edition of Bakassi Fish Festival if e reach make we buy new ring light, I don’t mind o.

FE


Photo: Before meets after - 5 years in a row.

It’s World Gorilla Day.
Check my last post to learn something new.

Today is World Gorilla Day.

Did you know that the only gorillas found in Nigeria are the Cross River gorilla, and their Nigerian habitat is entirely within Cross River State?

They live in some of the most extraordinary landscapes, including the forests around Afi, the Mbe Mountains and Okwangwo in both Boki and Obanliku LGAs.

Think about that for a moment.

This is a piece of Cross River’s identity.

This is tourism asset, a scientific asset, and an ecological asset. And, if managed responsibly, it can become part of the economic story of the communities that live around these forests.

As the world shines a light on gorillas, I want to shine mine on Cross River. I stand for sustainable conservation. I stand for protecting our forests. I stand for communities being part of conservation, not being pushed aside by it. And I stand for finding ways for communities to derive legitimate, sustainable economic value from protecting the natural assets around them.

Our communities are surrounded by assets. Some are cultural. Some are agricultural. Some are in our waters, some are quietly moving through our forests. The gorilla is one of them.

Let us keep this extraordinary species thriving in the wild.

Happy World Gorilla Day 🦍

FE

For opening your mouth to tell people that I am Ogboni is enough to get me mad.

You look me finish, look my intelligence and beauty finish, look my corporate profile finish, look my community work finish, come tag me Ogboni just because you want to reap from the sweat of young people who suffered to bring Bakassi Fish Festival to life.

I am not taking that s**t this year.

Enough!

FE

Some of the most powerful forms of development begin with something as simple as changing the way a people tell their story.

I came across this story about the introduction of Film Making Studies into the secondary school curriculum in Cross River State, and I think it deserves attention.

First, I commend the author, Hon. Eric Iso Anderson (SA Callywood) for bringing this development to public attention.

I also commend him for the idea, the work and the vision behind introducing young people to filmmaking, acting, video production and content creation.

And I commend the Commissioner for Education and the Ministry, Senator Stephen Odey, for giving the approval that makes this possible.

This is bigger than putting another subject in a student's timetable. It is about giving young Cross Riverians the tools to tell our own stories.

I believe the state desperately needs that.

The world should know Cross River State beyond annual Carnival. The state has beautiful places, fascinating people, unique cultures, extraordinary food, festivals, traditions and histories, but we have not always been equally deliberate about turning these assets into stories that travel beyond our borders.

Storytelling is economic infrastructure.

The right story can make someone visit.

It can make someone invest.

It can make someone curious about a place.

It can preserve a language.

It can keep a tradition alive.

It can create jobs.

It can change how a generation sees itself.

This is why I find this particular initiative interesting.

And for those who may not know, Hon. Eric Anderson is not coming into this space as an outsider.

He previously served as Commissioner for Tourism, and during that period, two new Carnival bands emerged, including Calas Vegas and Diamond. Calas Vegas went on to win the 2025 Carnival Calabar, showing what can happen when new creative ideas are given room to grow.

He is also a seasoned Nollywood actor.

He’s got experience in tourism, experience in the creative industry and now an attempt to transfer that knowledge to the next generation.

I will not forget his role in 2022 when Bakassi Fish Festival was still in its formative stage. I cannot forget how he breathed life into it. I have not properly expressed gratitude in this regard yet, but I keep praying for grace to, one day.

There’s something about development and community transformation. It is not always about roads, buildings and physical infrastructure. How we tell our stories also influence what sort of development happens around us.

Imagine a generation of Cross Riverian filmmakers who can tell authentic stories about Bakassi, Obudu, Yakurr, Ogoja, Calabar, the mountains, the forests, food, languages, festivals, people and history, and tell those stories well enough for the world to pay attention.

That is cultural capital being converted into economic opportunity.

I therefore hope this initiative goes beyond the classroom.

Let these young people make films.

Let them document their grandparents.

Let them record disappearing traditions.

Let them tell stories in our indigenous languages.

Let them learn production, distribution, marketing and monetisation.

Let the stories become products.

Let the products create opportunities.

Cross River does not have a shortage of stories. We have a shortage of enough powerful storytellers telling them strategically.

Let us teach our children how to say it in a way that makes the world listen.

Congratulations, Hon. Anderson
Congratulations to Callywood Team

FE

In just 6 days, we return home to celebrate our alma mater, National Nursery and Primary School, Ikang Town, Bakassi LGA.

E go too sweet.

See how old boys and girls will be on their throwback school uniforms on Tuesday, 29th September, for the Alumni Rally.

On Wednesday, 30th September at 9:00 AM, we will celebrate 30 Years of Roots & Wings at the school premises.

If you’re in Bakassi next week, don’t miss this.

This is our moment to honour Big Uncle, Mr. Michael Benedict Akpan, the visionary who opened the doors of our school on 4th September 1996 with just 54 children and has kept it excellent for three decades.

We are still raising funds toward the ₦5 Million target to honour Big Uncle properly, and support meaningful projects for the children still there.

If you’re Big Uncle’s pikin, please come home. Bring your family. Bring your classmates. Let’s fill the school with laughter, memories, and gratitude.

Who is coming?

See you at the school gates!



FE