Dear Mo: I must first commend your notable achievements in enterprise and your proud and enviable position as a true woman of substance in our society.
Dear Mo: I must first commend your notable achievements in enterprise and your proud and enviable position as a true woman of substance in our society.
The primary purpose of this email is to raise my concerns about the impact of the Inspire Africa Foundation in addressing the plight of the children that sadly litter every street corner in Lagos State. Hundreds of children still hawk and beg on every major road (including those that you ply daily on the Island) and the numbers keep rising.
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It is with great sorrow that I question the effectiveness and and sincerity of your mission " to prevent and protect street children in Lagos State from all forms of exploitation and abuse". I was inspired by your bravery to take up the gauntlet and fight against the injustice our society metes to the most vulnerable in our society. However since January 31st, 2009, despite the huge publicity, the support of notable individuals and organisations, the success of the benefit concert, the huge funds raised directly (through ticket sales, with an estimated 120 tables @ 1million Naira each and ATM donations at the venue) and indirectly through individual and corporate pledges of financial and alternative value support, the only visible contribution to the protection of child rights and the endangerment of the under-aged in our society is a meagre contribution of 10million Naira to UNICEF.
Please kindly correct me if I am misinformed or ignorant in my assessment of the impact of the Inspire Africa Foundation, but I believe the above stated amount is a mere drop in the ocean, the donation to UNICEF as a reform strategy does little or nothing to address the issue beyond scoring brownie points with the international media and aid organisations. The benefit concert (in my opinion) and other related projects (the designers outlet) smacks of a cheap and disgraceful attempt at personal aggrandizement and reputation building.
The sight of street kids begging is distasteful and the altruistic motives that inspired your foundation are yet to be accomplished. I beg you in the name of God, you have the capacity and the resources to make a REAL difference in the lives and minds of these young children and the rewards will surely abound in this life and the next, please finish what you have started. At the moment, it sure smells funny but let your conscience and history be your judge. A real attempt at tackling the issues will be to aggressively pursue child rights law enforcement through the Lagos state government (any kids caught hawking or begging on the streets is picked up and adopted as a ward of the state, and catered for by foundations like yours), set up skill acquisition centres for the under-aged, set up charity schools linked to a child support agency (similar to Bethesda of Tony Rapu's Ministry) where well meaning Nigerians can contribute consistently the improvement of the welfare of disadvantaged children etc. If the above mentioned and other initiatives are implemented diligently and consistently, it should serve as a deterrent for irresponsible parents and wayward kids sending out children to hawk and beg and running away from home at the slightest attempt at discipline or mere truancy and offer opportunities to more and more. Nobody really cares so parents can get away with "murder" and children can just end up on the streets and gradually metamorphose into robbers, kidnappers and all manner of societal misfits. This is more of an appeal than a crucifixion of your efforts thus far.
On a final note, kudos on your achievements with The Debaters, Moments with MO and Naija Diamonds.
Have a blessed day and may God grant you the grace and strength to leave your footprints on the sands of time.
Regards,
Jerry Ehanmo
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