• Hamzat calls for KSM’s charity works to be replicated across nation

Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos, His Grace, Most Rev’d Alfred Adewale Martins and Lagos State Deputy Governor and gubernatorial aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for 2027, Dr Obafemi Hamzat have rallied support for the N2bn Endowment Fund and Charity Initiative of the Order of the Knights of St. Mulumba Nigeria (KSM), Lagos Metro Council.

The event, titled: “Investing Today, Sustaining the Mission, Empowering Generations,” was unveiled recently at the Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins Hall, on the premises of St. Leo Catholic Church, Lagos

Martinsin his homily said the Order made history by unveiling such a gigantic project of N2bn for the sake of humanity, noting that the initiative was an act of faith in the future of the Order.

He quoted Proverbs 13:22, which says, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.”

The Archbishop, represented by the Metro Chaplain, The Very Rev’d Fr. Emmanuel Ayeni, praised the Order for setting aside the fund to cater for the needs of the vulnerable and unborn generation.

“It is said that an endowment fund is not a rainy-day piggy bank, but an orchard. What this means is that, through an endowment fund, we plant trees whose shade we and generations after us will sit under in praise and thanksgiving to God,” Martins said.

He also cited two parables of Jesus in Lk. 12:13-21; and Matt. 25:14-15 to support his sermon.

The cleric said: “Our action today does not align with that of the rich fool because we are not selfishly gathering wealth for fear of the future of the Lagos Metropolitan Council of the KSM; rather, like the wise servant who was given five talents and made another five out of it; we are gathering the resources that God has given to us, in order to care for and grow them for the good of the Church, the Order and its members, and for the many charities that God will call us to do for the salvation of our souls.”

Martins said KSM action was a mark of thanksgiving to God and in recognition of the fact that God is the giver of good gifts.

Hamzat commended KSM’s charity works and called for its replication across the country, saying Nigerians should help one another to build communities.

He said 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 said: “Every nation that has made it had the well fund so I’m very happy with what you are doing. It shows that we must have partnership between religious institutions and the government. As long as that doesn’t exist, this country won’t make it. We can blame politicians of which I am one of them, but honestly, it’s not enough. The relationship between religious institutions, traditional institutions and the government must be very strong because we are Africans. So, we cannot allow Western culture to submerge who we are.”

He referenced that in their house when he was growing up, his father raised about 18 children and that most of them were not his biological children, adding, “that is the way Africans are, but unfortunately things have changed.”

He described it as a serious dilemma that must be changed.

“So what you are doing today, I think is extremely very important and it’s not just here alone, it should be replicated across the country” the Deputy Governor said.

He urged the KSM to provide the government with a model of how the organisation and Lagos State could work together.

Declaring the unveiling ceremony open, Worthy Supreme Knight, KSM, Sir Steve Zakari Adehi assured his audience that the fund will be invested in accordance with conscience and in keeping with Catholic social teaching and Nigerian law, seeking fair and lawful gain and never a return that comes from harm.

He said it was conceived so that the mission of KSM would no longer rest on members’ personal contribution.

Adehi said: “The Fund serves beneficiaries without regard to ethnicity, region, gender or religion. It operates without profit motive, under the Companies and Allied Matters Act.”

He added that the founders who planted the Order in Owerri in 1953, did not build for a generation; rather, they built for a church and a country they would not live to see.

“Today, we do for them what they did for us by planting a tree whose shade we will not need so that those who come after us may serve without fear of the next dry season,” Adehi said.

Also the Chairman, KSM Lagos Metro Endowment Fund Committee, Worthy Brother Emmanuel Dumuje, in his welcome address, said KSM Nigeria had served humanity for decades through medical outreaches, educational assistance, care for widows and orphans, prison ministry, welfare interventions and support for vulnerable people.

Dumuje emphasised that the vision is to preserve the principal, invest it professionally and use the returns generated to support sustainable, structured and measurable charitable interventions.

In the same vein, Deputy Supreme Knight (WDSK), and Chairman, KSM Endowment Fund/Resource Mobilisation Committee, Sir Dan Egwu explained the reason for the Endowment Fund.

According to him, the vision requires resources, service requires sacrifice and a legacy requires preparation.

He said: “We are not raising money merely for today, we are building a financial foundation for tomorrow. We are creating a resource that can continue to serve the church and humanity long after individual administrations have ended and long after many of us have left the stage. And this, my dear brothers and sisters, is what makes this moment so important.”

The Metro Grand Knight, Lagos Metropolitan Council, KSM, Sir Nosa Ehigiator, in his remarks, described the Charity Initiative as a long-term institutional vision, saying that the initiative was designed to strengthen the capacity to serve humanity today and for generations to come.

While thanking His Grace, Most Rev’d Alfred Adewale Martins for supporting KSM’s vision and encouraging them to build something that will outlive the present generation, Ehigiator said the fund would support eight strategic areas of intervention such as healthcare outreach, educational development, support victims of communal violence, give succour to widows and orphans, prison ministry, and reintegration, legal aid and social justice advocacy, care for victims of crime and structured welfare support.”

The event witnessed the cutting of the KSM cake, was attended by representative of His Grace, Most Rev’d Alfred Adewale Martins; Sir Anthony Chiejina KSM, represented by Eze Igwe; Dr Obafemi Hamzat, who represented Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Bishop, Abeokuta Diocese, His Lordship Most Revd Peter Olukayode Odetoyinbo and Bishop, Ijebu-Ode Diocese, His Lordship, Most Rev’d Francis Obafemi Adesina sent representatives, among other dignitaries.