About Us
Dike Chukwumerije Center is an initiative of the Simply Poetry Foundation. It is a creative and educational hub dedicated to the transformation of civic culture through reorientation.
Who We Are
"No Culture is Older than being Human"
The Dike Chukwumerije Center is an initiative of the Simply Poetry Foundation. It is a civic education hub dedicated to the transformation of civic culture through education and reorientation. We seek to build bridges across the lines of ethnicity and religion, by evoking patriotism in a rational and ethical manner, in support of the deepening of a peaceful, progressive, and multicultural society in Nigeria. The center was founded by renowned thinker and poet, Dike Chukwumerije.
Our Vision
To be a model for nation-building through creative civic education.
Our Mission
To normalize a political culture of engagement based on shared civic values and not on ethnicity and/or religion.
Our Core Values
Patriotism
We believe it is our duty to be ‘rathically’ patriotic. ‘Rathical’ (or Rational and Ethical) Patriotism is the commitment, subject to reason and conscience, to help our nation achieve its material potential while ensuring it lives up to its moral ideals. We believe rational and ethical patriotism is a precondition for nation-building. And where governance is abandoned to government officials, without the routine intervention of ‘rathically’ patriotic citizens, a nation will lose its way.
Integrity
We believe true change begins with self-change. And so we believe in being the change we want to see, in leadership by example, in practicing what we preach, in meeting those legitimate expectations we have led others to have of us, and in providing an influence-model based on personal conduct. We believe that by walking the talk and inspiring others to join us, we set in motion an irresistible series of events that culminates in real systemic change.
Tolerance
We believe in rising above sectionalism, including tribalism and religious bigotry, and being more accepting of one another. We believe that, if unchecked, the politics of identity, where identity is defined in immutable and antagonistic terms, leads only to hegemony and cyclical violence. We believe that all socio-political identities are constructed and capable of evolution. We believe in projecting inclusive civic identities through which all citizens, regardless of background, can expect fair treatment from the state and other members of society.
Dike Chukwumerije
Founder
Founder
Dike Chukwumerije is a product of King’s College, Lagos; a Law graduate of the University of Abuja, with a masters degree in Law and Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He is also a renowned thought leader, public speaker, and a prolific socially-conscious poet with over a decade of experience in creative activism.
In 2016, he was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine.
At TEDx Maitama in September 2017, and at the 23rd Nigeria Economic Summit in October 2017, Dike’s speeches attracted widespread public attention to his message on the need for national rebirth and a re-awakening of social consciousness.
His poem ‘The Revolution Has No Tribe’ was quoted by the nation’s Vice President on May 1, 2018, and his speech at the 2022 ICAO Air Services Negotiation drew positive international attention to the country.
A Nigerian patriot and a Pan-Africanist, Dike is Nigeria’s leading poet, creatively fusing entertainment and a call for the re-awakening of national consciousness. His educational social events are now among the most anticipated in the country, serving to shape mindsets positively for national development. In pursuit of this objective, he has an archive of socially impactful videos, an annual poetry show now in its 10th year, and three feature-length theatre productions, including the patriotic production “Made in Nigeria”, with which has toured all six geo-political zones of the country, with successful stagings in 21 states, including Borno, Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Plateau, and Niger.
Dike is an author, with eight published books. He is the Programs Director of the Abuja Literary Society, in which capacity he oversees grassroots literary programs for youth engagement. He won the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Prize for Prose Fiction in 2013, and was named as one of the judges on the prestigious Nigeria Prize for Literature in the Poetry category in 2022.
In 2023, Dike Chukwumerije established The Dike Chukwumerije Center to institutionalize his objective of raising a generation of rationally patriotic Nigerians, who are eager to propel the country to her full potential.
Team Members
Dike Chukwumerije
Founder
TBA
Center Director
Isaac Ulaka Ajiga
Center Admin