LEAF Is for The Good Of Nigeria Citizens –Makajuola Oyenugba

Mrs. Foluso Makanjuola – Oyenuga, Central Project Coordinator of Life Empowerment Advancement Foundation (LEAF), an Non Governmental Organization, is a successful practicing chartered accountant with a track record of over three decades. She explained reason for the formation of this NGO, its aims and benefits for Nigerians in this exclusive Interview.

Another Non Governmental Organization, Why Another NGO? There is no doubt that there are various and numerous NGOs in Nigeria and Africa today. Some are general, some are focused and some are specialized, cutting across different areas of life. But we need to ask ourselves two basic questions. The first question is, are they achieving their specific objectives and realizing their professed goals? The second question is, are their activities visibly affecting the lives of their members, the public and the fortune of the society at large? Putting it more clearly, are the activities of these organizations, bodies and initiatives arresting, recovering and repositioning Nigeria societies for the better? Yes, there is no doubt that a lot of these organizations are trying their best possible but you would agree with me that the current desperate situation in our societies now require a bit more coordinated and integrated effort to stop the threatening social slide into complete anarchy. The Nigerian people are, and have always been desperate for change practically since independence. But no time has that urgency been greater than now. The signs and omens in the country today and indeed in Africa are very scary. It is high time all patriots joined hands to intervene. The consequences of any social outburst now could be more brutal and destructive than can be imagined. We all have a duty to prevent that possibility. But that possibility is staring us all in the face either we admit it or not. We pretend otherwise at great peril to this and coming generations. Without laying blame at the doorstep of any individual or group, it is obvious that the Nigerian State has sustainably failed its people probably from independence from where things have been going from bad to worse. Every year and every regime have introduced a worse experience than the previous ones and the people have remained desolate and hapless in their hope that suddenly a messiah would just appear. But some of us have now come to the realization that this is not about any messiah or angel coming down from heaven or some fairy land to help us, it's about us coming together to help ourselves. And time, I must tell you is not on the side of this country and the entire black race in general. What Is The Focus Of The NGO? This project which is designed to be owned and driven eventually and collectively by the Nigerian people is phased or broken into three critical areas or divisions. The first is communication. By communication we are referring to the need for social and impactful education and orientation. It is a common knowledge that the Nigerian people need a massive dose of reorientation, enlightenment and productive awareness. This cannot be forced or coerced, it can only be inspired. The vision of this organization too has to be adequately and appropriately propagated so that there could be sufficient buy-in from the people. In addition, it is also imperative to communicate the vision of the society that we all desire to the public. This is because, for lack of vision, the people perish. Africa is a society that is short of effective and pragmatic development blueprints. It is one of the important objectives of Lifepath Empowerment Advancement Foundation (LEAF) to originate strategic work and action plans for each level and area of the society where we operate. One major cause of the development crises in Africa is the absence of documented and codified road maps that captures and encapsulates the collective aspiration of the people. It is also one of the causes of mutual distrusts and suspicions among different groups that make up each of our societies. If there's efficient and proactive information management processes and systems put in place and well deployed, half of the development challenges and most internal conflicts would be avoided or easily resolved. The second focus is facilitation as outlined in our project handbook. Facilitation is our desire to go beyond verbal intervention and practically impact on the lives of the people and the fortune of the society. Talk is cheap, we very well know. And a lot of people and organizations have been talking including; I'm sorry saying some agencies of government. But we intend to rise about this rung by embarking on plans, programs and projects that will directly and indirectly affect the lives and well being of the society. In this regard, the four proposed areas of intervention include economic welfare, social welfare, physical welfare and infrastructural welfare. The economic welfare plan is going to come up with modalities on how to empower the people in a productive and sustainable way so that year in year out, those who have been supported would remain productively and profitably engaged. Some of these ideas would be achieved through social enterprises and other creative socioeconomic interventions. Social welfare is going to focus on plans, processes, programs and projects that would guarantee the social safety, security and stability of both the individual and the society. One instance of this is the proposed Legal Advocacy Group which is going to be set up to give legal advisory, representation and intervention where someone's rights are being infringed upon. We shall actively step in and confront any person, group or organization, either private or public that is intent on oppressing an innocent citizen of this nation within or outside the country. Physical welfare has to do with providing the kind of framework and facilities that are required to build, enhance and promote the physical welfare of the people. We are conscious that the physical well being of man is an integral part of human development. You cannot successfully develop the humankind if his physical requirements are ignored or discountenanced. Infrastructural welfare has to do with the physical properties and facilities that the entire society needs to function properly. Most of the time, it is on this particular intervention that the macro economy of every society is founded and built. Largely, these efforts are service oriented and can hardly be commercialized. But their provision would enhance and expedite the successful operations of other three welfare areas. The third and last phase of focus is participation. This is where people are encouraged to join, lead and expand the operations of the initiative so that they can enjoy the benefits derivable from participation and also spread those benefits by bringing others on board and propagate the message and mission. If this vision must progress and be entrenched, people must be at the base of its foundation. This is therefore a grassroots project that derives its strength from the people it was created and established to serve.

In What Ways Do You Hope To Drive The Desired Social Change? Apart from the ways already mentioned, another major way is the activation of internal resources, and attraction of external opportunities to power the execution of this grandiose agenda. It's a fact known to any critical mind, and also to the entire world that the problem with Africa is neither poverty nor lack of wealth. No, not at all. Africa and all her constituent states are not poor countries and cannot be considered poor by any shred of imagination. But the problem of Africa is impoverishment and a near complete lack of capacity to manage the wealth that God or providence has abundantly endowed Africa and its people with. Almost every country and community in Africa is rich and has the potential to be self-sustaining if it is appropriately managed and its resources adequately harnessed and deployed. But I will plead that we push the discussion on poverty versus impoverishment to another date. Let me focus on enablement and modalities to drive the change desired. What we intend to do is identify the assets and wealth of each community both idle and active and use them to catalyze, jumpstart or fast-track whichever economy with or within which we are operating. Some of these resources and wealth include individual assets of members of the society that could be tapped into, like impersonal assets such as money and materials. Personal assets include natural and artificial talents, time, treasures and other endowments that could also be harnessed to drive the society's economy. While the communal wealth which includes human resources comprising of elites, the super elites and the grassroots. The non human resources include natural and artificial assets of the community. All these can be maximally processed to enhance the economy of any society. At this point, I'll want to save you and others the boring details and strategies that took us almost two years, and five different intensive retreats to pull together. But I can assure you and other expectant Nigerians that there are comprehensive strategies to drive poverty out of our land for good and forever. What Roles Have Governments, Individuals And Corporate Bodies To Play In Bringing About The Success Of This Vision? We cannot gainsay the role of governments and their agencies in the development and growth of the society. Indeed, the public sector has a primal responsibility towards the peace, prosperity and progress of both the citizens and the society. But in view of the past experiences, the people cannot just continue to fold their hands and wait for governments that have always been struggling to find their feet, particularly now with the growing financial crisis. Even in times of plenty, African governments have not demonstrated sufficient concern and compassion for its citizenry. It is indisputable that most of the pains and penury being suffered by the people are caused through the insensitive impoverishment of the masses by successive leaders in the governments of different countries and societies in Africa. It is therefore desirable that governments and leaders on the continent must repent of this long public disempowering disposition and reinvent themselves, if truly they really want to get involved in the inevitable renaissance that will unstoppably sweep through the continent. To play any meaningful role in this emerging movement, African leaders in and out of government must support this regenerative vision and even birth better and more magnificent ones. They must honestly and sincerely commit to the dream of better and greater societies. All the plans, policies, programs and projects emanating from them must be driven by compassion for the people, particularly the helpless masses. The prevailing selfish and sit-tight syndromes which are characteristic of leaders in and out of governments in Africa must be discontinued. And equally importantly, African leaders including the ones in Nigeria must demonstrate the high level of courage and character demanded by these challenging times.

There's no doubt that leaders in Nigeria and Africa, cutting across all sectors of the society know what to do to solve the problems making a mess of the African continent. The only question is, would they? Regarding the individuals and corporate bodies, their roles are equally huge. They must be concerned enough to commit and commission themselves towards the betterment and greatness of our nation. Complains and contentions would not help the country. All individual and corporate stakeholders must go beyond agonizing and begin to organize themselves with a view to participating in the renaissance movement. We must all start to put our money where our mouth is. Enough of the blame game. If we continue with this blame game that is threatening to sink our land, it would not stop until everyone is consumed by that raging conflagration of guilt. What this vision needs from everybody including the individual, corporate organizations and governments are concern, commitment and commissioning. Everyone has a role to play and something to contribute to the future of this our joint patrimony. What is the importance of rural development to economic advancement? Rural development strategy is a stale concept whose place is doubtful in different current development theories worldwide. Sustainable Global Integrated Development Strategy SGIDS, is one of the most contemporary and efficient development concepts that stipulates that it is more practicable, functional and cost effective to take the people to modernity instead of taking modernity to the people. This creative and proactive theory is based on the fact that most rural environments are always far flung from one another while very scanty in population. So, the idea of developing and modernizing every rural community is utopian and almost impossible particularly in Africa and third world countries with expansive rural environments. The recommendation therefore is for development practitioners to delineate the territories into phased functional and self-sustaining MODERN DEVELOPMENT CLUSTERS where the sparse rural populations that are scattered around can be encouraged to willingly and excitedly move into. The principal consideration for this concept is logistical. When development is centralized and localized, it is expected to be cheaper. Imagine where ten rural communities are spread over an area where the entire population is about fifteen thousand people. Taking development to these people will require replicating ten development efforts across those ten communities. This, is considered inexpedient by development experts. Rather, current development proponents are advising that two or three communities can be properly upgraded with modern facilities and made available and affordable to these rural dwellers who would be grateful to positively and comfortably change their living standards by moving into those new Modern Development Clusters. This strategy would cost less while it would achieve the desired result. This is just a tip of the iceberg regarding the development plan that we have for our people if only the government and other leaders in the society can share this passion for progress and collaborate with us to drive and achieve this progressive and developmental vision. It is a blueprint that is very clear and lucid to us, not only in terms of conception, but also in terms of execution. The thinking is no more about rural development but about social integration. The world has moved, we must move with it. Even if Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the lead proponent of rural development, were to be alive today he would have moved with the times and common sense.

How Does Poverty Contribute To Violence And Terrorism? There is no doubt that the general safety, security and stability of the human society are affected more by social factors than enforcement, adjudicatory or legalistic considerations. Indeed at LEAF, we are of the considered opinion and it is our common belief that "it is when life becomes meaningless that people willingly embrace death." No matter how radicalized any group of people can be, the chances of getting them to be self destruct is limited if they are exposed to a good and comfortable life. But where people struggled in vain to survive, the prospect for even self radicalization is real and considerable. The irony of this truth is that over the years, the entire Nigerian people have been pushed against the wall. Every day, life is becoming bleaker and the little strands of hope left with them are being snatched from them by those whose duty it is to protect and sustain that hope. Every day, the average Nigerian is being denied the opportunity not just to a comfortable life, but to life and living itself. In such situation it is the whole society that is at risk. You cannot fight violence and terrorism without factoring in the social dimension to these societal ills. There is a picture online where a lady is hanging a straw board around her neck. The instructive and scary writing on the board is "when the poor has nothing left, they will start to eat the rich". I may not completely get the quote, but this is the idea behind the statement. It is our prayer that Nigeria would be saved and dragged back from that devastating journey of no return. This threat of social dislocation is real. It is unwise for us to continue to pretend otherwise.

Can Unemployment And Underemployment Be Addressed Within A Short While And How? Unemployment, underemployment, disemployment, misemployment and unemployability are all together what we refer to as LABOR ABUSE in our organization. For us, it's another serious concept as child abuse et cetera. For a fact, it is where labor abuse is preponderant that almost all other forms of abuses thrive. The stoppage of labor abuse therefore is critical to the sustenance of social equilibrium. But just like almost every other sector in the society, labor crisis is a reflection of a larger socioeconomic disequilibrium. And until those socioeconomic issues are resolved, there cannot be any enduring long term or meaningful short term solutions to the problem of unemployment or underemployment. One of our economic principles in LEAF is that, "without macroeconomic stability, there cannot be microeconomic prosperity" For instance, how can there be sustainable labor or human resource development, engagement and improvement if the basic physical, social and developmental facilities are not available to drive the economic sector. That is the major reason past human development and empowerment plans, programs and projects have failed and would continue to fail. Candidly, you cannot build something on nothing. According To You, Your Organization Is Action Driven. If This Is So, What Are Your Immediate Action Plans? That is very correct. Our organization has chosen to take our intervention beyond talk-shop to work-shop. We, as patriots are resolved to put our money where our mouths are as we actively and positively contribute to push and propel the Nigeria of our dream. Positive impacts don't come by long, winding and glowing speeches and articulations alone. Impression comes by talking, impact comes by acting. And we are committed to making impacts. Therefore, we do not have the luxury of time or space on our side. We have to engage all spaces and get to work now. By now, I mean now, right now. Make no mistake about it, for Nigeria, the time is now. To realize this objective, we are currently looking at five things that we are working on already. The first item on that plan list is to build and develop a strong and formidable network of contacts and commitment of concerned Nigerians who are ready to be commissioned into the service of a great new nation. Because of our passion to make visible impact, our primary focus is on the grassroots. Without impacting on lives at the community levels, you cannot affect the fortune of a nation. So, to ensure the integration of this vision into the lives of our people, we have to concentrate on the grassroots. The media and other communication platforms are already filled and saturated with different organizations offering different services. But we are not media activists, we are social activists. Our interface with the media therefore will be only for the purpose of generating and deepening public communication and goodwill. Our real operations will be at the community and grassroots level where we can physically interact with our exhausted and expectant people. And this is not excluding any class of people who may be willing to participate in our project at any operational level. In our drive for participation, let us make it clear however that our singular concern and consideration is not the extensity of the crowd, but the intensity of the commitment. I repeat, our participation drive is not about the crowd but the commitment. So, let nobody come and tell us that they have a group of a million people. The issue is, what impact has the group made in the lives of its members and the society at large? The second item on our operational list is documentation. To attract and keep the interest of the people, it is not enough to speak beautifully and radiantly about the vision of a great future for the nation and the people. It is equally very important to put it down in black and white so that every Nigerian irrespective of their location can run with the aspiration. For instance we have been talking of a better and greater future, won't the people want to know what that future entails in actual and concrete terms? If you want people to come with you on a journey, won't you let them know exactly where you are taking them to? We must let the people know the full content of the New Nigeria Dream. To that extent, we are already working on a documentation and documentary that will capture the New Nigeria Dream. And I wish to use this opportunity to seek the involvement of all patriotic Nigerians to make this dream come true in terms of ideas and logistics. Nigeria is in a desperate condition and she needs us all. Our third plan is to join all other well-meaning Nigerians both in and out of government who are striving for a rescued and revitalized economy. We cannot leave governments alone to this urgent and herculean task. If the economy crumbles, the undesirable consequences will not be limited to only government officials and establishments alone, it will not spare anyone. It is therefore our collective duty to support governments at all levels to bring the change we desire about. Effort is already ongoing on this and in due course of time, the program will be unfolded. The fourth focus is the immediate facilitation and improvement on the welfare of our people. To achieve this objective, we are already working on other plans, programs and projects to immediately impact on the lives of participants, people and processes within and outside the country. An example of this is the Legal Advocacy Group mentioned earlier. We shall not let any Nigerian suffer unjustly. An injury to one is an injury to all. From now on, Nigerians, both the rich and the not so rich will be made to feel that sense and spirit of nationhood that you can only get from citizens of great countries across the world. We pledge to start to protect the interest of Nigerians both within and outside the country as that is the only way the spirit of patriotism can be inspired in them and not through some empty and meaningless sloganeering and branding. Where there is no service, there cannot be a brand. It is our expectation and prayer that our services shall promote and reinvent the brand Nigeria. And this shall hopefully instill in the people a new sense of patriotism. Lastly in the immediate, we shall intercede on behalf of our people and function as a formidable pressure group to affect the way both public and private issues, policies and matters are reviewed and resolved. For the time being, we are limiting ourselves to these five things for now because we don't want to bite more than we can chew. It Has Been An Inspiring, Enlightening, Engaging And Equally Exciting Session No Doubt And There's Little More To Ask. But You Have To Close. So, How Do You Want To Close? I will like to reiterate unequivocally that a people deserve the leadership it gets. It is on this wisdom that we would not join anybody to blame anybody for the sad reality the country finds itself today. When some people were running the country aground either as military despots or civilian opportunists what did the rest of us do? We were watching, clapping or urging them on. We were either collaborating, complacent or complaining. Whoever we are, we fall into one of these groups at one time or the other and we therefore cannot claim to be innocent. Few of us if any, rose up to vehemently, resolutely and consistently confront a system and regimes that were making a mess of the collective promising lives of the people and the good fortunes of the nation. But now we say enough is enough! Now, we say never again! Now, is the appointed time of God to turn around the fortune of Nigeria for the better. Now, we are ready to give it whatever it takes. Never again would anybody ride roughshod on us. Never again shall we tolerate oppression in any form or dimension. Never again shall there be first or second class citizens in Nigeria. We are all God's people and we belong to the same class. Let every patriot both in and out of government join and strongly support this vision of a rebirth. It is too late in coming. Let all men and women with sincerity, capacity, integrity and strategy come out to lead and drive this dream of national renascence. This platform is yours even without asking. It is only when we join hands in love and purpose that our dear Nigeria will flourish again.