Bolu Afolabi Foundation, a Non- Governmental Organization in South-Western Nigeria is widely known for its humanitarian services, entrepreneurship and leadership trainings. The foundation has impacted many lives since its creation in 2017 and it aims to continually improve on its capacity to deliver on that mandate. Its vision “to simply better the world” is being actualized through the continual visit to orphanage homes, free skill acquisition programmes, school outreach, street sensitizations amongst its other activities. Headquartered in Ekiti State with branches in Osun, Ondo, Oyo and Lagos states, Bolu Afolabi Foundation popularly known as BAF has about 10 employees.
In this exclusive interview with Tolulope Afolabi-Akinwumi, the founder Mr. Bolu Afolabi spoke extensively on the activities of the foundation, the challenges faced, the inspiration behind BAF among other issues.
Tolulope Afolabi-Akinwumi: Can you give us a breakdown of your activities and how you carry them out?
Bolu Afolabi: Our activities are dictated mostly by the happenings in the society. For instance, in the year 2019 when there was a high rate of suicide attempt in Nigeria, we hit the streets and schools with our placards and words of encouragement to the youths, children and aged. On the other hand, our activities are of three major tiers- leadership, entrepreneurship and humanitarian services. So, whatever you see us doing, it must fall under any of the categories. We carry out these activities by localizing them. What do I mean by localizing? We ensure that the people within the target vicinity are involved in the whole process so we don’t look like aliens to people we want to empower.
Tolulope Afolabi-Akinwumi: What are the challenges the foundation has faced over the past few years till date, especially with regards to the pandemic and how are you able to manage them?
Bolu Afolabi: To be candid, the pandemic really affected our activities in the year 2020. We planned a national programme that was supposed to hold on the 11th of April that year but unfortunately, the nationwide lockdown began before the said date, so we couldn’t execute our plans and the programme had to be suspended. In order to keep up with a few of our activities, we had to go virtual.
Another challenge we face is the issue of political affiliations. Probably because of people’s experiences with NGOs, they think every NGO has one political affiliation or the other, which is very wrong. So, while some people wouldn’t want to associate with NGOs for this single reason others feel they are being used when called upon to give back to the society. However, things are gradually changing as people are being sensitized on this.
Fund sourcing is another big issue we have been facing. But in all, God has been faithful.
Tolulope Afolabi-Akinwumi: We have so many NGOs around in Nigeria, what sets BAF apart?
Bolu Afolabi: I can say what sets us apart is our level of Independence. At BAF, we don’t run after politicians or political aspirants to source for fund or get our activities done. We basically rely on the fund sacrificially donated by willing members of the foundation, donors from the public and our membership subscription. We are not puppets to politicians. And so far, we have been able to get to where we are right now although the journey is still far.
Also, bonding is a major strategy we employ. Members of the foundation meet monthly to define and redefine our goals. Through this, everyone is carried along and how funds are spent is transparent to everyone.
Tolulope Afolabi-Akinwumi: Does BAF have alliance or partnership with other foundations?
Bolu Afolabi: In the past we have been in partnership with BAM in Gilead Foundation, Leo Club (Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti) and a couple of others.
Tolulope Afolabi-Akinwumi: In order to expand the reach of BAF, do you see yourself holding a public office in the future?
Bolu Afolabi: I can’t really say for now but if occupying a public office would mean a better reach and a better platform to reach out to the less privileged and further empower the youths, then, I might give it a consideration
Tolulope Afolabi-Akinwumi: Can you mention some of the notable programmes you held in 2021 and your plans for the coming year 2022?
Bolu Afolabi: In this outgoing year, we held a free skill acquisition programme where people were trained in seven different skills. We had baking, shoe and bag making, bridal accessories, make up and gele (headgear) amongst others. We also reached out to orphanage homes, supported more than 25 students in providing school materials, sensitized the members of the public on some vital societal issues. I can confidently say this year, we influenced about 5000 members of the public. In the year 2022, we have faith that we would do more. We would reach more people and of course our capacity would be further enlarged to accommodate more hands and our vision of “bettering the world” would be better actualized.