Lagos State Deputy Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate for 2027 election, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, has advocated a stronger relationship between religious institutions, traditional institutions and the government.

He spoke at the weekend during the unveiling of N2 billion Endowment Fund and Charity Initiative, themed: “Investing Today, Sustaining the Mission, Empowering Generations,” organised by the Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba Nigeria (KSM), Lagos Metro Council, at Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins Hall, St. Leo Catholic Church premises in Ikeja, Lagos.

Hamzat, who came with his running mate, and other government officials, was happy with the huge investment that KSM had made in the area of charity, scholarships, provision of water and lifting of lives in different areas.

The deputy governor, representing Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while also commending the projects of KSM, said Nigerians should not allow Western culture to erode the African heritage of togetherness.

He said that every nation that made it today started with endowment fund and that KSM had shown that partnership between religious institutions and the government is very crucial, adding that without it, Nigeria won’t make progress.

Hamzat, therefore, urged the KSM to provide the government with a module of how the organisation and Lagos State would work together.

He also promised to take the matter further with the Worthy Supreme Knights of the Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba Nigeria (KSM), Lagos Metro Council, Sir Steve Zakari Adehi, recommending that KSM’s charity works be replicated across the country.

Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos, Most Rev. (Dr) Alfred Adewale Martins, described the initiative as a laudable project.