My dream is a Nigeria where everyone trusts each other, says 12 year Uchechi Kingsley

Uchechi Kingsley is the first daughter of Clan Chief Kingsley Chimezie, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Deking Group of Companies. News Echo Newspaper and News Insider Magazine are from the stable of Deking Holistic Network. She is multi-talented in the areas of painting and drawing. She once ventured into knitting and ballet, but abandoned it when she could not find it interesting.

The little Amazon, is a year 7 high school student of Mount Carmel Christian College in Australia, where she is based with her parents and siblings. In this interview with News Insider Magazine, she barres her mind on varied range of issues as it relates to her personal life, Nigerian/African children and youths among others.

Below are excerpts of the interview:

How did you come about these excellent skills?

Honestly, adapting to or finding these skills was not easy. For example, I realised I was talented in most creative factors when I was ten years old; I wanted to escape reality and find another version of my life. At first, I tried things like knitting and ballet and didn’t find any interest in them. Later on, while I wanted to free my mind, I came across painting and drawing and fell in love with it.

With all these skills, don’t you think you may not have time for your academic activities?

Personally, I always have time for school and other educational programs. When it comes to activities and wellbeing, I always put my education first. Extra curricular and other skilful activities do matter a lot, but my academic skills are more compelling to me.

Where do you want to see yourself tomorrow with your skills?

I’d like to see myself helping the less privileged and standing up and fighting for those without a voice with my skills. Also, in the future, I’d like to make my environment a safer place for me, my family and society.

Apart from the skills you possess, what are your professional ambitions?

Apart from the skills I display, my professional ambitions are to administer justice, end violence and give a voice to those who are too discouraged to speak up. I want to build a platform for people to speak up and not feel too overwhelmed to talk to someone. As a strong individual, I’m not scared to speak up or give out my opinion personally; I’m very open. Still, I witness and understand the struggles that other people go through because too many people are too apprehensive about giving out their opinions and achieving their goals.”

Are there any correlations between your skills and the profession you plan to pursue?

The profession I plan to pursue is becoming a lawyer and opening my own law firm, then, after a few years, become a judge. The skills that will help me achieve those goals would be my skills in debating and public speaking. I started debating and public speaking around two years ago, and ever since then, I haven’t stopped trying to share my opinions with the people around me and changing my environment.

What have been your motivating factors?

My motivating factors would be hearing stories on the news and all over social media saying things like “in around 12 years, climate change will destroy the planet,” or “people are dying every day due to violence and not being able to speak up.” Things like this affect me and make me think about changing the world and making it a better place.

Who is your role model?

Growing up, I’ve always had two role models or the two people I look up to: my closest cousin and my Mother. They’ve always been there for me and taught me most of the things I know now. My cousin introduced me to everything I know about fashion, beauty and creativity and, my Mother has always been there to give me advice, help me make decisions and teach me a lot of life lessons and skills. Together these two wonderful people helped me sculpt my personality, style and mind. I’ll forever look up to them.

Apart from these skills, what are your other hobbies?

Apart from my ordinary skills, some of my other hobbies are playing sports, gaming and baking. I play a lot of sports like volleyball, netball and ultimate frisbee. Also, I enjoy baking a lot. I often bake brownies, muffins or even sausage rolls (pigs in blankets).

Being a Nigerian and Igbo girl, what is your dream for your fatherland?

Being a Nigerian and Igbo girl, my dream for my fatherland is to be in a calm and safe environment filled with people everyone can trust and love. Another vision I have for my fatherland is not to see anyone in poverty or difficulty but to see everyone filled with happiness, joy and pride.

Do you have any thoughts for the less privileged children in Nigeria and Africa as a whole?

Yes, I do have thoughts for the less privileged children in Nigeria and Africa. Every year my family donates over six bags full of clothes, groceries and money to the less privileged Nigerian children and adults. Also, I contribute to ‘Samaritan’s Purse’ for most Christmas programs, which then donates and cares for other children and adults in Africa.

Your advice to your fellow youth?

The pieces of advice I’d give to my fellow youth would be: Love yourself no matter what, always have faith in yourself, and if you ever feel like you need to stand up to someone or just need to speak up about a topic, don’t be scared. Don’t ever hesitate to speak up because you could just end up being a hero one day. Pass it on. Don’t ever think tired of situations, no matter how bad it looks. Always look for a bright side or a solution. Thinking bad of situations will only make them worse, and they could scar you.

Thank you