Lagos State Deputy Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, has backed the N2 billion endowment fund and charity initiative unveiled by the Order of the Knights of St Mulumba Nigeria, Lagos Metropolitan Council.
Hamzat described the initiative as a sustainable model for supporting vulnerable Nigerians and empowering future generations. He spoke at the unveiling of the fund at St Leo Catholic Church, Ikeja, Lagos, where the initiative was themed, “Investing Today, Sustaining the Mission, Empowering Generations.”
The deputy governor called for stronger partnerships between government and religious institutions to address social challenges and build sustainable institutions.
“What we are doing shows that we must have a partnership between religious institutions and government. As long as that doesn’t exist, this country won’t make it,” he said.
According to Hamzat, the endowment fund would allow the Knights to generate income to sustain its charitable activities rather than repeatedly relying on members for contributions.
“What the Knights of St Mulumba is doing is to say, how do we sustain helping other people without levying each other every time? So putting money into a system that generates income and therefore you can help people that you want to help: the vulnerable, to do boreholes, and to send people to school,” he said.
Hamzat, who attended the event with his running mate, Damilola Sonayon-James, also disclosed that the Lagos State Government was pursuing a similar long-term investment approach.
He said a bill had been sent to the Lagos State House of Assembly to establish a structure through which a percentage of government resources could be set aside for long-term investment.
“We cannot just be spending our money anyhow, without keeping anything. And therefore, we’ve sent a bill to the House to say a certain percentage we should put it,” he said.
Hamzat also advocated the replication of such initiatives by other state and local governments, as well as the Federal Government.
He urged Nigerians to revive the communal tradition of supporting vulnerable members of society and warned against the erosion of African values of collective responsibility.
“We are Africans. And we help ourselves to come together to build our communities. And suddenly, for some reason, this thing starts going down. So we must bring it back,” he said.
The deputy governor further urged young Nigerians to participate actively in nation-building and said the Lagos State Government would engage with the Knights on the initiative and explore ways to support programmes aimed at improving residents’ welfare.
The Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos, Most Rev Alfred Adewale Martins, described the endowment initiative as a timely step towards strengthening the organisation’s humanitarian activities.
Represented at the event by the Very Rev Fr Emmanuel Ayeni, the archbishop acknowledged the challenge of raising N2 billion but urged members of the organisation to remain committed to the project.
“It’s not going to be easy to raise N2 billion. But you know, the most important part of every journey is for you to begin,” he said.
The archbishop encouraged members to remain dedicated to humanitarian service, expressing confidence that the initiative would help strengthen the organisation’s charitable work.
The Worthy Supreme Knight of the Order, Sir Steve Adehi, SAN, described the endowment fund as a legacy project designed to support the Church, members of the Order and vulnerable Nigerians.
Adehi said the fund was not merely intended to preserve wealth but to create sustainable resources that would benefit present and future generations.
The Knights of St Mulumba had earlier explained that the endowment was conceived as a permanent pool of invested capital, with the principal preserved while investment returns would be used to finance approved charitable programmes.
The initiative is expected to strengthen the organisation’s capacity to sustain interventions in areas including education, healthcare, skills acquisition and support for vulnerable members of society.
