Friends-In-Need Foundation operates with an open Management Team. Members are appointed on merit, mostly from among experienced professionals with good track records and practical management skills. Equally, a member of the Management Team may be dropped for unavailability, lack of interest, or any other reasons considered in the interest of the member or the Foundation. It is a voluntary service to humanity and shall not attract payment of salaries. Allowances may be paid if the Management Team sees a need for it, especially when it is related to operational needs. The Board of Trustees (BOT) is drawn from this body. Currently, the following persons constitute the Leadership Team:
Sir Adolphus Obasi Mbamara Ekejiuba, B. Sc. (Hons), KSJI – Chairman
Sir Adolphus Ekejiuba is a retired geoscientist who spent most of his working career with the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited. He obtained an honours degree in Geology from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. In the course of working in Shell, Adolphus attended many technical and non-technical development courses relevant to the wide variety of areas encountered through his career. A very competent professional, Sir Ekejiuba worked in areas that encompassed field operations which included operations geology and drilling and production operations as a petroleum engineer. Other aspects included field management involving reviews for appraisal and development, as well as government and joint venture liaison, and operations safety. He was the Lead Geologist and a member of the Management Team for the very successful, US$1.2bn Shell’s EA Shallow Offshore, Oil and Gas Development Project, in Nigeria which scored many “firsts” in Nigeria, Africa and the world. Sir Ekejiuba is a good team player and demonstrated ability to lead a project team and mentor younger staff. His experience is supported by many published technical work. He voluntarily disengaged from Shell in 2004, after nearly 26 years of services in the company in both Nigeria and The Netherlands. Since retirement he was, for some time, involved in consultancy services in Nigeria and later took to writing outside his technical calling.
Adolphus is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, and the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He is also a Certified Petroleum Geologist by the AAPG.
In 2015, Sir Ekejiuba successfully published his first book Love and Stigma: The Outcast System – a book written towards the Outcast System Elimination Project. Sir Ekejiuba is a member of the Ancient and Noble Order of Knights of St. John (KSJI). He is married with children.
Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Bernard Emma Okafor, Ph. D.
Rev Fr Bernard E. Okafor is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Okigwe, Imo State, Nigeria. He holds a Master’s degree in Theology (Nigeria) another Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology and a Ph.D in Counsellor Education and Supervision (USA). Fr Bernard hails from Umuariam in Obowo LGA of Imo State and has served as Dean of Students’ Affairs, Seat of Wisdom Major Seminary, Owerri. He served as parish priest in parishes in his diocese, associate pastor at St John de la Salle Parish, Chicago, Illinois, USA and adjunct faculty of Saint Xavier University, Chicago. Currently, he is the Principal of Mercy Girls’ High School, Ehime Mbano, Imo State, Nigeria.
Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Okafor is a member of American Counselling Association (ACA), North American Society of Adlerian Psychology (NASAP), Association of Counsellor Education and Supervision (ACES), and belongs to honour society of Chi Sigma Iota. Fr Okafor has written books, articles and made presentations in religion, psychology, as well as Igbo language and culture. He has travelled wide around Nigeria, as well as some African countries, Europe, USA and Canada.
Dr. Chukwuka Francis Amukamara, B. Pharm., Pharm. D.
Dr. Chukwuka Francis Amukamara, popularly known as Chuka Amukamara, is a registered Pharmacist and a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN). He holds Bachelor of Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the University of Benin, in Nigeria and concluded his training as a Pharmacist in the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, where he was honoured as an Innovative Pharmacist.
Chuka Amukamara hails from Awo-omamma in Imo State, Nigeria, a place he loves and has served as a Youth President for Awo-omamma Great Academe (AGA) and the General Secretary of the Town Union worldwide (adf.org.ng).
He is the CEO of Pharma Space, an online pharmaceutical platform and Health Medium International (HMI) a Pharmaceutical Organisation that focuses on the alleviation of preventable deaths due to poor adherence to prescribed medicines and medication errors in rural communities. He is the Convener of ADOPT AN ELDER and FREE AUGUST MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT (FAMDAT) annual health programs that provide free medical services for all geriatrics and women in Awo-omamma respectively.
Chuka Amukamara is the author of a popular handbook on drug abuse “WHAT DRUG HAS DONE” and also the Convener of DRUG FREE SOCIETY (DFS), a campus roundtable on drug abuse” which he introduced in several tertiary institutions in Nigeria against drug abuse amongst youths. He is a volunteering content creator for many local and international magazines including The Omamma Voice, The Heroes Magazine, Pharmawise Journals and Echo International Magazines, Sweden, where he doubles as the Lead-Editor.
Dr. Amukamara is a recipient of numerous awards for his contributions in human capacity building, innovation, leadership qualities and his humanitarian activities including the Unique Youth Award, Pharmacist Innovation Awards by the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. and Pharmacists Affair Nigeria respectively, Leadership Awards by UCH and ADF respectively.
He is a member of the World Federation Against Drugs (WFAD), Sweden, a leadership coach to the Florix Concept, State Coordinator of the Young Pharmacists Group, Benue State Chapter and a champion of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Dr. Chinenyenwa Okereke, Ph. D.
Dr. Chinenyenwa Okereke is a retired petroleum engineer who now occupies his time with helping charitable organization (pro bono) evolve and implement technical projects. The first half of his 24-year career in Shell (E&P) Nigeria was mainly in creating reservoir engineering driven solutions for endeavours in exploration, appraisal, field development, reservoir management, and business planning. During the latter part of his Shell career, he specialized in building and leading multi-discipline teams implementing billion-dollar field development projects. Post-Shell career, he worked for some years in a consulting company helping small E&P companies clarify and realize business objectives covering asset acquisition, field development, and management of ailing reservoirs and fields. Dr. Okereke was educated in the United States of America acquiring the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering and is married with children.
Sir Franklin Iheanyi Obinwanne, B. Sc. (Hons), KSJI.
Sir Franklin Iheanyi Obinwanne graduated from the University of Ibadan in 1977 with a B.Sc (Hons) Degree in Zoology.
On completion of the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program, Sir. Obinwanne worked as a Pharmaceutical Medical Representative for Roberts Drug Company Ltd, with the responsibility of detailing and marketing of a wide range of pharmaceutical products from Switzerland, in the North-West and North-East regions of Nigeria.
In 1981, Sir. Obinwanne joined Wellcome Nigeria Ltd, a subsidiary of Borroughs Wellcome Foundation, United Kingdom, as an Area Pharmaceutical Representative, also overseeing the North-West and North-East regions of Nigeria. He disengaged from the services of Wellcome Nigeria Ltd in 1989.
Armed with the experience garnered over the preceding 10 years in the promotion, marketing and distribution of pharmaceutical products, Sir. Obinwanne established Frank Pharmacy Ltd which later expanded its operations to Frank Pharmacy and General Enterprises Ltd. The company started operations in Kano State in 1989, and relocated to Owerri, Imo State in 1991. He also established Spring Ventures, with the objective of printing and supplying of school and office equipment.
Sir. Obinwanne is a Knight of Saint John International (KSJI) and is married with children.
Dr. Jude Uzodinma Iheoma, Ph. D.
Dr. Jude Iheoma, a proven bureaucrat, has served the State of Jersey under the Democratic and Republican Governors for more than twenty five years in both clinical, administrative, research and policy making positions. He held an adjunct faculty position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Graduate Education, Leadership and Counselling at Rider University and a Senior Assistant Professor of Psychology at Mercer County Community College. He is presently the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mental Health and Addiction Recovery in Africa (MhARIA) – a Nigeria-based NGO that advocates for public policies that will abrogate discrimination and remove systemic barriers that impede treatment of individuals with Mental illness and Addiction in Nigeria and Africa.
Dr. Iheoma was a founding Member of the Coalition of African Organization, Philadelphia, and was elected the first President of the organization. He represented African Community in Philadelphia at the Mayor’s Commission on African affairs. He has held key Government appointments in the States of Jersey and Pennsylvania and served in the following capacities: State of Jersey Opioid Treatment Authority, Treatment Network Representative: Jersey, York, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Island, Project Director, Medication Assisted Treatment Initiative, Jersey Mental Health Planning Board, Jersey Pharmaceutical Advisory Council, City of Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on African Affairs, Philadelphia Multicultural Affairs Congress, Philadelphia Museum of Art, African Art, African Voices Committee and Jersey Mental Health Advisory Board. He is married with children.
Dr. (Sir) Damian Anyahara Uzosike, MB.BS, KSM
Dr. Damian Anyahara Uzosike graduated from the College of Medicine of University of Lagos, Nigeria. After his Housemanship at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, he eventually started practice at the General Hospital Okigwe, Imo State, and later transferred to the then Queen Elizabeth Specialist Hospital Umuahia. He later started his private practice at Isinweke Etiti in his own hospital, Uzosike Hospital, Etiti, in Imo State where he served as the Medical Director.
Dr. Uzosike also had a brief stint in General Surgery at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana. He retired from his medical practice in Nigeria after twenty years in that capacity. He moved to the United States of America where he resumed in the medical profession. He has since served at high patient volume hospitals in California, USA and has now embarked on his deserved full retirement after 35 years of active service.
Dr. Uzosike is a skilled medical professional registered with the California Nurses Association as well as the Nigerian Medical Association. He has practised telemetry and ER nursing and was versed in minor to moderate surgical procedures. He trained auxiliary nurses to safely work with Registered Nurses in his Nigerian practice. Dr Uzosike championed the campaign against HIV/AIDS and Sickle Cell Disease while in private practice, targeting the younger population in the secondary schools.
As a well-known and an excellent medical doctor who concentrated his practice among the rural population in Imo State, Nigeria, he was recognised and honoured with six Chieftaincy Titles from the Autonomous Communities around where he had his practice. Dr. Uzosike takes joy in giving to his people annually by offering free medical services during his annual holidays in Nigeria. He is the Chairman of Uzosike Charities and Scholarships. A Knight of the Order of St. Mulumba (KSM), Dr. (Sir) Damian Uzosike is married with children.