INTERVIEW WITH VICTOR PRINCE DICKSON: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EL-SPICE MEDIA GROUP

ZH:      Sir, You are welcome to ZoneHouse studio

VPD:   Thank you, it is my pleasure to be here.  

ZH:      Please can you tell us more about yourself?
 VPD:   Well, I am Victor Prince Dickson, the Executive Director, El-spice Media Group, the Inventor of Kommon Sense, founder of Micro-Reality Thinking

Academy and author of Thinking Field Workbook, amongst many other things. I live in Jos, Plateau State with my family but my state of origin is Akwa Ibom.

ZH:      We are aware that there is more to you than what you have listed, so would you kindly tell us more or just tell us about El-spice?

VPD:   El-spice is the umbrella name that houses most of our activities; under it we have El-spice Media Group, El-spice Foods, El-spice Transport, Great Born, etc. However, El-spice Media Group is the most visible for now. El-spice was registered when I was in my 200 level in the University of Jos in 2002/2003 but El-spice formally began operations in 2009. El-spice is a prayer, “El-Elohim Spice the World through US”: El-spice for short.  El-spice Media covers every aspect of communication, especially Creative Communication; whatever the format, or value chain. So our activities cover media content creation, development, production and management for Films, Television, Literary and Digital platforms. That is why we say, “If content is King, we are the king makers”.

ZH:      Wow! This is huge; can you break it down a little more, starting with the popular one, Kommon Sense?

VPD:   Kommon Sense is very massive, I can’t tell you all in one sitting, because of time and space, but let me see how I can summarize it.  Kommon Sense began as my response to the global need for Values, Ethics, Morality and Communication in learning and education but today it has become a movement championed by those around  me and so I can say that Kommon Sense is no longer “my thing”, it is now “our thing”,  Africa’s greatest export to the  global community.

From the turn of the century, humanity lost its way, taking values and morality away from knowledge and education. Because we separated values and morals   from our learning, we lost   the value of meaning and understanding, in the process our connections became corrupted, we became a people who lacked discipline and control. In fact, take values, ethics and morality away from anyone, you create an animal without conscience or reason or restrain.

By increasing in knowledge without its corresponding safety PIN, which is   values, ethics and morality, we became criminal and the mind of humanity evolved into a wild beast without control and restrain. That was the beginning of our tragedy, indiscipline, injustice, inhumanity, etc, became a new order making way for every kind of wickedness and brutality.

So, I wanted a way of rebuilding humanity, such that I could reclaim what we have lost; friendship, justice, forgiveness, tolerance, the mutual understanding and respect, unity, integrity, trust and honour etc.

That is when I decided that the world needed a form of re-orientation, but writing a book on this seemed old fashion, a television show, radio or event was not good enough. I needed something innovative, that will provide a different approach to learning and knowledge in a continuous form, especially one that will inspire from within, something that will redefine meanings, evaluate opinions, question customs and traditions, encourage thinking, build communication skills and maintain human connections. After much thought, I decided to go for a pack of cards, which will be used as a communication tool. What I simply did was to create a mechanics through a set of rules that will be subtle, visible and hidden, which can guide users of Kommon Sense into a mental town hall meeting, where they can discuss, converse and connect.  This was the power and strength behind the African style of communality.

You can concept and ideal an idea, especially if it is very abstract but without someone to help you translate it into physical representation, it will be a waste of time. That is where Oge came in. It was really a diffult task because I insisted on making this edition of Kommon Sense, black and white because I wanted to maintain and honour the African spirit which inspired the concept.

Time frame wise, it took us four years to create, develop, test and produce.  Officially, this was presented to the public late in 2013. From then it has been widely accepted and is growing into a global movement. But I must tell you that this particular edition, Kommon Sense Masters has grown from just the cards, into different franchise, which are Kommon Sense Radio, Kommon Sense Inter-College, Kommon Sense Arena, Kommon Sense Global Connect, Kommon Sense Blind, Kommon Sense in Prisons, Kommon Sense Anthology, Kommon Sense Evangelical.  We have also began plans to use Kommon Sense to reclaim languages around the world by translating the cards into different languages, that way, we will bring meanings, values and communication close to the owners.

Our final target is to re-invest values, ethics and morality into learning, knowledge and education and through this process build a better world where there is better understanding, mutual values, and respect for ethics in every profession and expertise. This way we can de-radicalize the human race. You know, it is always said, that “Common Sense is not common”, our plan is to make Common Sense kommon.

ZH:      This is very outstanding. But can you, one man, really change the world and then how far have you gone with this grand dream?

VPD:    Yes, I can change the world and this is because I am not alone. I believe that there are others who are also working to make the world a better place, so all I need to do is join forces with them. On the other side, there is a principle known as Design Thinking.  If you are able to develop a product or brand that is compliant with design thinking, there is every probability that you can subtly change the course of humanity, just as those who designed the internet changed everything.

As for the dream, the journey is evolving, and I see the impact, I feel tears well up in me when after every session with Kommon Sense at different fora, I see participants argue, quarrel and debate, at the same time play and laugh with a better sense of tolerance, understanding, commonality, friendship because they have gained new insight for what would have been a perfect reason for crises and conflict.

Our major challenge now is to make   Kommon Sense very visible, we are working on it, and we invite orders to join us as well. With Kommon Sense, there are variety of platform for investment, collaboration and partnership. Ultimately, we are progressing, we are reaching our roots, very deep, so that we can stand firm like the cedar tree and spread our branches.

ZH : (To be continued) With