By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
Lagos State Deputy Governor and All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, has disclosed that the state government is seeking to establish a long-term investment structure that would preserve part of its resources rather than spend all available funds immediately.
Hamzat made the disclosure recently at the unveiling of the N2 billion endowment fund and charity initiative of the Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba Nigeria, Lagos Metro Council, at St. Leo Catholic Church, Ikeja, Lagos, where he also called for stronger collaboration between government and religious institutions to address social challenges.
The initiative, themed, “Investing Today, Sustaining the Mission, Empowering Generations,” is designed to generate sustainable income for the Knights’ charitable activities and support vulnerable people, education and community development.
Speaking at the event, Hamzat said the initiative demonstrated the need for institutions to build sustainable financial structures capable of supporting social interventions over a long period.
He said the Lagos State Government was pursuing a similar approach and had sent a bill to the state House of Assembly to establish a framework for setting aside a percentage of government resources 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,” Hamzat said.
He further advocated the replication of the model across the country, saying state and local governments, as well as the Federal Government, could adopt similar structures.
According to him, the proposed approach would help governments and institutions preserve resources and create sustainable financial capacity for future needs.
Hamzat also backed the N2 billion endowment fund, describing it as a sustainable model for supporting vulnerable Nigerians and empowering future generations.
He explained that the arrangement would enable the Knights to generate income from an invested pool of funds rather than repeatedly asking members to contribute whenever charitable needs arose.
“What the Knights of St Mulumba is doing is to say, how do we sustain helping other people without levying each other every time?” he said.
He said the fund could provide resources to assist vulnerable people, provide boreholes and support the education of people who could otherwise struggle to meet such needs.
Hamzat, who attended the event with his running mate, Hon. Damilola James, also stressed the importance of government partnerships with religious 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.
He also called for the restoration of communal values that traditionally encouraged communities to support vulnerable members, warning that such systems were gradually being weakened.
“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 play active roles in nation-building, while assuring that the Lagos State Government would engage with the Knights on the initiative and support programmes aimed at improving the welfare and prospects of residents.
Earlier, the Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos, Most Rev. Adewale Martins, described the N2 billion endowment fund as a timely initiative capable of strengthening the humanitarian work of the organisation.
The archbishop, who was represented at the unveiling by the Very Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Ayeni, acknowledged the challenge of raising such a substantial amount but urged members of the Knights to remain committed to the project and trust in God.
“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.
Martins urged members to remain committed to humanitarian service, assuring them that their efforts would ultimately yield positive results.
Also speaking, the Worthy Supreme Knight, Sir Steve Adehi, SAN, described the endowment fund as a legacy project intended to support the Church, members of the Order and vulnerable Nigerians.
Adehi said the fund was not established merely to preserve wealth but to create sustainable resources that would serve both present and future generations.
He commended the Lagos Metro Grand Knight and his team for pursuing the initiative despite the challenges involved and urged members who had made commitments to remain dedicated to the project.
The unveiling thus brought together the government, Church and members of the Knights around a common objective of building sustainable resources for humanitarian intervention, community development and support for future generations.
