Organised philanthropy has existed in other climes for years, but the concept is still strange in Nigeria. Although, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) abound in Nigeria, little or nothing is felt of their impact as the dearth of aids and donors appears to be threatening their existence.

According to experts America has witnessed organised philanthropy for over 100 years, and it has impacted greatly on the American economy.

Due to the absence of organised philanthropy in Nigeria and the quest to give back to society, the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is considering delving into that terrain because according to the Founder, Tony Elumelu, “I believe in do well do good. Do well in business side and do well on social side as well.”

Mr. Tony Elumelu Founder of TEF stated that he initiated the idea of organised philanthropy to some of his friends and associates to see how they can add their quota to the development of the country.

To give organised philanthropy legal backing, Elumelu stated “We paid a courtesy call on the president of Nigeria and one of the points we raised at the meeting was for us to work with government to put in place legislation that would organise philanthropy in Nigeria. We would like to attract other successful Nigerian businesses because we believe that if we have four or more foundations, they would help.”

He stated that government cannot truly do everything but that advocacy is the key, adding “We have infrastructural challenges in Nigeria because of the absence of pressure groups and advocacy is almost gone. Sadly, the only advocacy we have today is militancy.”

Elumelu reiterated that the country needs to have a forum to drive advocacy in Nigeria and Africa, stating “For us, Nigeria is like a test case, anything we succeed doing in Nigeria, we like to replicate it across Africa. All my life, I do tell people that ‘I am born in Africa, bred in Africa, schooled in Africa, worked in Africa and live in Africa’. So I always ask myself ‘how do you give back?”

Elumelu maintained that the idea to come up with organised philanthropy came to bear because the Nigerian society does not have a forum that will help people who have ideas to be what they want to be. In his words “In America there are various associations where you can go and share certain ideas with them and if it is good, they take the necessary steps to see how the idea can work. For me, I believe that government should create the enabling environment so that if people have ideas and they are good, there should be a platform where the idea can be realised.”

He stated that Bill gates had ideas and was able to realise it because in America there are various organisations where people can go to and share their ideas with them. The organisation will go to the round table and turn the ideas around.