By Moses Adeniyi
The Lagos State Government (LASG) has declared its resolve to further strengthen its cord of relationship with Volunteers in the State towards enhancing commitment to community and social services, as well as putting in view the actualisation of Sustainable Development Goals in the State.
This is just as no less than 50 volunteers from the Lagos State Volunteer Corp have been honoured by the State Government for their outstanding contributions to human and community development courses in the State.
The Volunteer Corp is a Lagos State Government initiative aimed to encourage Lagosians to participate and be involved in their own government.
By the initiative, the Government hopes to promote the use of short, medium and long term volunteering to support the development agenda of Lagos, putting her in the fore of achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the next decade.
The Government which received the Volunteers selected from over 9,000 members of the Corp in a two day retreat (Monday-Tuesday) honoured the awardees in commemoration of the 2021 International Volunteer Day.
Speaking on the development, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Investment, Solape Hammond, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Office of SDG and Investment, Governor’s Office, Lagos State, Mrs. Abosede George, said the development was to recognise outstanding commitment to community and social development.
“We are celebrating our Volunteers. UN is marking 50 years of volunteering in Nigeria and we are trying to appreciate our Volunteers who have been with us for the past years that we started this volunteer call.
“It’s a way of appreciating what they are doing to let them know we value their contributions. Their contributions to the State Government is no way negligible. So, they are being recognised.
On the criteria that informed the selection of the 50 honoured Volunteers who were rewarded with no less than N50,000 cash each, alongside other rewards during the empowerment retreat, she said “Basically they have different projects. So, we picked on the basis of the projects they participated in.
“We picked those who excelled in different groups. Volunteering is giving your service out of free will. You are not giving the service because you are being cajoled by money. If you come to volunteer because of money, then you have defeated the purpose. Whatever you get from volunteering is a plus, but the basis of volunteering is to give back to the society.”
Among the awarded Volunteers were those selected from various human and community services, including community clean up, tree planting, distribution of food items, COVID-19 palliatives, and safety gadgets, participants of the snack for thought programme, and participants of the State’s teachers mentoring programmes.
The United Nations Country Coordinator Volunteers Programme, Nigeria, Veronica Obiuwevbi, said the honour and the retreat was to encourage and inspire the volunteers to make them acknowledge reasons that volunteering is much more than financial gains.
According to her, beyond the financial consideration, other benefits as personal development, professional development, and platforms for learning, skilling and networking, are much in view for volunteers.
“This year’s anniversary is to recognise our outstanding volunteers who have been there doing so much in contributing to their communities and societies: Contributors who have gone out to ensure Lagos State is much more better and developed than what it is,” she said.
A Voluneteer, Olanrewaju Atinshola, commended the State Government for the development, describing the reward as a “wonderful and laudable initiative.”
“We didn’t forsee this coming, it’s a surprise to me. We only went into the society to give back to the society and do something for the Lagos State Government,” she said.
Another Volunteer, Oyebanji Oluwaseun, said “it’s a good thing that people are being rewarded for what they do. It takes a lot to volunteer. Volunteering has to do with discipline. It’s something you do naturally, not all about money.”
He said those rewarded are volunteers who commit due diligence to various community projects without consideration for fringe benefits.
Applauding Governor Sanwo-Olu for the initiative, he said the development is an encouragement for more youths to involve in volunteering.
“The present Administration has really done so much. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has really done something big by expanding the Office of SDG to different Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs): it’s first of its kind. That tells us that in the nearest future in every LGA and LCDA, there would be opportunities for facilitators and officials in those grassroots to implement projects,” he said.