Volunteerism key to communities development – LASG

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Lagos State Government at the weekend said self-help through volunteerism is the key to developing communities in the state.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Civic Engagement, Benjamin Olabinjo, who spoke at an awareness campaign on volunteerism, held at the Lagos Government Secretariat in Alausa, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, said the importance of volunteerism in the over-all social and economic development of the society could not be over-emphasised.

According to him, voluteerism, in the world over, had become a veritable source of solution to challenges in communities, adding that the efforts of the State in this direction was to encourage individuals and groups in communities, particularly youths to volunteer their time, skills and knowledge to supplement government’s efforts in addressing the people’s needs without necessarily expecting any financial reward.

“It is important to stress here that volunteerism is not about charity, it is not about people taking pity on one another. It should be seen as a way by which active, apolitical citizenry recognize needs and provide services to address such needs well before the government or other institutions do.

“From the foregoing, we can conclude that volunteerism has become a recognized tool for community development in the contemporary world. It is not an overstatement to say that this avenue remains largely unexploited by our communities. It is in view of this that the Office of Civic Engagement is embarking on the regular sensitization of the Community Development Associations (CDAs), the youths and well- meaning individuals on the need to embrace this approach as a way of tackling development challenges and social issues in our respective communities,” he stated.

The special adviser said it was an open fact that the state government could not at the same time meet all the needs of communities, while enjoining residents of the state to embrace self-help through volunteerism in their respective communities.

“This, the Government believes, will help in no small measure in building community social relationship where everyone can feel happy, safe and ultimately fulfilled. I want to seize this opportunity to appeal to all community leaders, our youths and all that are present here today to endeavour to identify individuals and groups in your communities that can work together to deliver shared aspiration of the people,” he added.

The Guest Lecturer, Dr. Dele Ashiru, a Senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Lagos also stressed the importance of volunteerism to community development.

He said one of the keys to instituting a system that would guarantee life more abundant for the people and guarantee happiness for the greatest number of people was to be a volunteer.

According to Ashiru, volunteers helped to save cost, saying that in one study of local governments, it was found that 91 percent of volunteer supervisors felt that volunteers permitted local governments to do considerably more without expense or undue cost.

He added that volunteerism was generally recognized to be an effective way to encourage public participation into non-profit or governmental operations and decision-making processes, stressing that volunteers add to the quality and capacity of programmatic services.

“Volunteers provide enthusiasm, extra resources and, many times, much needed skills. Volunteers supplement the normal workforce during times of crisis and especially when workload demands peak. Volunteers, who are trained and experienced, provide a ready pool of applicants for employment. Volunteers often provide services outside the normal purview of government employees, such as fund raising and advocacy.

“Volunteerism Strengthens social connections; it builds a strong, safe and cohesive community and finally and it enhances civic engagement and delivery of public goods and services,” he said.