CYEE - About us

Education is power, and lack of it brings backwardness, crime, and stagnation. We must bridge the gap between these divides. The goal of CYEE is to educate and empower the youths in low-income and impoverished communities who lack schools and other basic infrastructures. CYEE will achieve her goals through appeals to donors and grant writing. CYEE will partner with charitable organizations, churches, and people of goodwill. Since it takes a village to raise a child, CYEE calls on people of goodwill to join hands in working to alleviate the sufferings, pains, and lack of young people who ordinarily would not afford a good education.

CYEE invites you to assist in fighting the menace of illiteracy, poverty, and crimes. Help us raise funds to establish a school in the Eyokwong community and encourage the youths to make use of the opportunity that CYEE will offer to better their lots and be empowered for a brighter future.

Akwa Ibom State was carved out of Cross River State on September 23, 1987. The State is one of the 36 States of Nigeria. It is hard to believe that it is the highest oil and gas-producing state in the country. The main ethnic groups in Akwa Ibom State are Ibibio, the largest, Annang, Oron, Ibeno, Eket, Mbo, and Obolo. Urue Offong Oruko is one of the Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State. Eyokwong is a community in Urue Offong Oruko LGA. The people of the community are primarily farmers, craftsmen, merchants, fishermen, traders, ironworkers, blacksmiths, tailoring, etc., etc. Despite being the highest oil and gas producer, the people are impoverished due to greed and corruption. The people of Eyokwong in Oruko are yet to catch a glimpse of hope despite stories of development in other parts of the State. This area has been neglected, abandoned, and left in a terrible state of disrepair. No sign of hope in the form of a school, recreational facility, youth center, or skill acquisition center. Due to hopelessness and helplessness among the growing population of young people, most of them have taken to a life of criminality, alcoholism, cultism, and lawlessness. CYEE is working hard to address the plight of the people in this community and help the young to work hard to empower themselves and be productive.

How it all began.

I lost my mother, Mma Theresa Inwang in March 2011. During the burial ceremony, some young people from the community approached me with requests. They lamented that there was no school in the community and that those who were qualified for high schools and colleges had no money to pursue their studies. They also needed assistance with skill acquisition for those not academically inclined. They told me that they did not want handouts but were prepared to work to earn a living. When my father, Chief Michael Inwang, died on August 20, 2020, they made the same request but in a subtle manner. After the funeral, I overheard some young people lamenting that with the passing of the chief, no one would remember them anymore. I felt that it was time I did something about the community and the young people therein. A school and a skill acquisition center would be ideal if I could raise money for them. The Center will have departments for computer training, a welding shop, a tailoring shop, a hairdressing salon, and a barbing salon, among others.

On returning to Baltimore, I spoke to a few friends who were daily Mass attendants at Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland. They were eager and enthusiastic to help. Some advised me to start a not-for-profit charitable organization. And so, Community Youth Education and Empowerment, INC. was initiated and registered in Maryland as a 501 (C) (3) charitable organization. All donations to Community Youth Education and Empowerment (CYEE) are tax-deductible.

Why I care about the people of Eyokwong.

I was born and brought up in Efik land. My parents migrated from Oron to find greener pastures and to raise a family in a foreign land. Though I visited Oruko now and then with my parents, my upbringing and early education were in and around Calabar. After my primary education, I opted to go to the Missionary Seminary of St. Paul in preparation for the missionary priesthood. Shortly before my diaconate ordination, I told my dad it was time he relocated back to Oruko, our ancestral homeland. My parents moved back to Oron in 1988 and in 1989 I was ordained a Deacon. My ordination as a missionary priest of the Missionary Society of St. Paul was on June 23, 1990, one of the first priests of my parish, we were two. I was assigned to work in Maiduguri, in the Northeastern part of Nigeria after the ordination, and in 1992 I was assigned to the Catholic Diocese of Banjul in the Gambia. In 1995 was assigned to the communications department of my Society where I worked as a bookshop manager, associate editor, and later Communications director, editor of the Ambassador magazine, and director of Ambassador Publications. In 2001 I was assigned to the United States of America. All my assignments have been in the Archdiocese of Baltimore where I worked as associate pastor in St. Francis, East Baltimore, pastor in St. Veronica, Cherry Hill for 8 years, Pastor, of Transfiguration Catholic Community for 13 years and now pastor, of St. Joseph Parish, Odenton.
Having worked for many years in a foreign land, I feel that I should give back to the community in my homeland. I believe having a devotion center – a place where people could pray and seek the face of God, a school, and a skill acquisition center are the greatest legacies I hope, with your assistance, to give to the Eyokwong community. Please assist me with your donations

About CYEE

How it all began.

Why I care about the people of Eyokwong.