IT was a time of stock-taking and reflections on Tuesday as Obafemi Awolowo Foundation (OAF) clocked 30 years.
Executive Director of the Foundation, Ambassador (Dr) Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu, at the webinar commemorating the landmark, tuned on memories of the past three decades and the lessons learnt by the organisation in its engagements locally and internationally.
She shared four of those lessons, while paying tribute to other foundations for staying alive and strong in the face of challenges.
She said, “We at the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation have, over the years, learnt many valuable lessons about the challenges that Foundations also face, again by their very nature. I will mention only a few.
“We have learned, first of all, that sustainability is probably the greatest of all the challenges that face third sector organisations. It takes uncommon determination and commitment for a foundation to remain afloat and relevant without compromising its core principles.
“Secondly, we have learnt that foundations need to decide, ab initio, what their unique strengths and, therefore, their areas of intervention would be and try as much as possible not to deviate from them. Their preferred mode of intervention should also be clearly spelt out. These could make a huge difference to their long-term relevance and success.
“The third lesson we have learnt has to do with the imperative of performing periodic self-checks to ensure that the institution stays on course and remains faithful to its mission. For grant-making and operating foundations, self-appraisal is probably a more straightforward exercise, for obvious reasons. For public policy advocacy institutions on the other hand, parameters for self-appraisal tend to be less precise. Nevertheless, we have learned that we must continuously find ways to check on our direction and continued relevance.
“Above all, we have learnt the importance of finding occasional opportunities to network with other foundations to share experiences, learn from and encourage one another, and explore synergies for greater effectiveness. For example, my stint as the representative of the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation on the International Committee of the Council on Foundations helped to widen our scope in terms of ideas and strategies.”
Noting the gargantuan self-imposed tasks before Foundations, she encouraged consistency, using a story to foreground her admonition.
“The Obafemi Awolowo Foundation, for example, is a legacy foundation and public policy advocacy was our preferred strategy, for obvious reasons. A cursory look at the human development indices of developing countries shows, very clearly, the vital role that grantmaking foundations could make in those countries. Furthermore, because their unique governance structure allows for a significantly shortened time lag between decision and implementation, Foundations are able to respond faster to societal needs.
“The sheer magnitude of Foundations’ self-appointed tasks, particularly in developing countries, can be overwhelming. But let me end these brief remarks with the parable of the starfish.
“One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, ‘What are you doing?’ The youth replied, ‘Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.’ ‘Son,’ the man said, ‘don’t you realise there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!’
“After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said… ‘I made a difference to that one.’ The moral of the story is simple. Let us always be encouraged and keep making a difference to our society, even if it is to one ‘starfish’ at a time.”
She also explained the foundation’s decision to shut out those still in office in award recognition, say- ing the stance was informed by the need to uphold the legacies of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
According to her, the Foundation does not give awards to those still in office, because of the effects it might have on the Foundation, in case things go wrong.
“We don’t give awards to those still in office because of the effects such might have if things go wrong. So we are only trying to exercise caution. I also want to insist that the award is open to anybody that has good leadership traits and skills, as long as such person is living, since we also don’t do posthumous awards. It is about preserving the legacies of the sage and we believe we have to be very thorough to be able to do that,” she stated.
Dr Awolowo Dosumu, however, disclosed that the foundation is increasingly finding it difficult to get people that are qualified for the awards, of late, because of the very high standards set by the Foundation as criteria.
Executive Secretary-elect, African Capacity Building Foundation, Mr Mamadou Biteye, a special guest at the event, located Foundations as the engines of progress.
He charged Foundations to leverage technology in their operations and direct resources towards impact sourcing, adding that the importance of technology cannot be overemphasised as Foundations continue to grow in numbers and impact.
He cited a research work that found that about 70 per cent of wealth that will be created in the next 10 years would be through digital platforms.
Describing impact sourcing as a business model in which jobs or tasks are outsourced to economically-disadvantaged areas (especially youths) as a means of improving the situation of people living there, Mamadou reminded Foundations of their roles, which include addressing challenges that humanity faces.
According to him, impact sourcing is to improve the situation of people living in economically-disadvantaged areas and at the same time, provide high-quality services.
Chairman, MTN Foundation, Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, described the Awolowo Foundation as relevant and reflective of the ideals of a functioning society.
Speaking at the commemorative event, he noted that the views emanating from the Foundation are very relevant to the development of the nation.
While lamenting the rate of unemployment and extreme poverty in the country, he encouraged Foundations to have structures, adding that they must set standards and be focused on some channels.
Chief Executive Officer, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ms Ifeanyi Ugochukwu, in her presentation, said the improvement of a country’s small and medium scale enterprises is the surest route to development.
While noting that job creation is not the responsibility of the government, Ugochukwu explained that 70 per cent of jobs in Germany are provided by SMEs.
She referenced a study, which showed that 80 per cent of SMEs in Africa are run by women and youths, adding that there is a need to foster gender inclusivity.
She, therefore, lauded the effective collaboration between financial institutions and foundations even as she noted that Africa’s development lies in the hands of the private sector.
“When we develop the SMEs, we are on the surest route to economic development. Job creation is not the responsibility of government. 70 per cent of jobs in Germany are provided by SMEs.
“Studies have shown that 80 per cent of SMEs in Africa are women and youth-driven. We have continued to foster gender inclusivity. We should leverage on each other’s strengths.
“In Nigeria and Africa, we are increasingly seeing collaboration between financial institutions and foundations. Africa’s development lies in the hands of the private sector,” she noted.
At the event, Sickle Cell Foundation of Nigeria shared a bitter-sweet story. National Director/CEO, Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria, Dr Annette Akinsete, disclosed that stigmatisation remains one of the major problems facing people living with sickle cell disorder in Nigeria.
She said the condition could trigger a suicidal attempt by those suffering from it.
At the virtual lecture, with the theme: “The role of foundations in developing countries”, Akinsete said the foundation, being public driven and first-of-its-kind in Africa, is addressing the issue of stigmatisation and many other issues, including provision of functional education and economic empowerment, for sufferers, to live a normal life.
She said it is really disturbing that Nigeria has the highest burden of sickle cell anemia worldwide without enough care to support the sufferers.
“But a good news again is that the foundation, among other efforts, is doing research to develop local remedy to tackle sickle cells anaemia in the country,” she added.
Akinsete said though the sickle cell foundation is partnering some other health-related institutions, including the Orthopaedic Hospital in Yaba, Lagos and the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, there is still need for the foundation and every other foundation to collaborate on many issues that border on societal development.
“One of the things we are excited about today is that SCFN has established a bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in partnership with Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) which is the cure for sickle cell, though people say it is a disease that has no cure. We are getting enquiries from other parts of the world, even from the UK and the US,” she said.
The CEO, AG Leventis, Hope Osita, in his contribution, said AG Leventis Foundation has six agro campuses in Nigeria located in Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Abuja, Osun and Ondo states and four centres in Ghana. He added that the campuses take up to hundred trainees in each training period and the training is normally between nine and 10 months.
The campuses have crop and agro department, animal production for fish and cattle rearing, among others.
In a keynote address, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo State, Professor Friday Okonofua, stressed that foundations are always tempted to abandon the cause of the poor, hence must constantly self-evaluate to know if they are addressing poverty. Stressing that the core niche of foundations is value creation, Okonofua said foundations must regularly check to see if they are servicing the interests of individuals or group, if they are keeping to their mission and vision and whether or not business ethos is overshadowing ethos of the foundation.
Though he noted that foundations have played major roles in Nigeria’s social and democratic development, Okonofua said he envisioned that indigenous foundations will play greater roles in development of the nation.