DAY 1
The first day of the workshop took place on Thursday, December 4th 2024, at precisely 10:15 a.m.
The facilitator who led the first presentation was Dr. Thank God Okosun. Before he proceeded with his lecture, he welcomed all the participants who came from far and near to grace the workshop despite their tight schedules. He then welcomed the in-country director of Sight Saver, who was ably represented by Solvane Kelvin, Senior programmer manager. She started her speech by welcoming the participants too. She lamented that she has known some faces here since 2018 during their workshop training in Lagos. She apologized for the problem we faced during our trip. She explained that they never experienced this kind of challenge in Abuja and Lagos. They will try and correct it. She later declared the workshop open and wished us a retentive memory.
Dr. ThankGod Okosun was welcomed again to proceed with his presentation. He started by encouraging all the participants to introduce themselves. PretesA tests were given to assess the participants’ assessability and understanding of governance and administration.
DAY 1: BOARD DEVELOPMENT TRAINING
Facilitator: Dr. Thank God Okosun
ICE BREAKER
- What is a Board?
- Think of 3 words that describe governance in a nonprofit setting.
3 Send your answer with the group
Day 1 Training Goals
- Understand Governance principles and frames work
- Explain the role of BOT in oversight and strategic alignment
- Discuss legal and ethical responsibilities within the Nigerian context
Things to note on the presentation are as follows:
- BOT holds organizational trust and serves the people as owners of an organization. He/she has the authority to oversee and can also contest to be chairman.
- BOT can also gain something from an organization.
- The board of directors is a non-profit organization, while the Board of Trustees is a non-profit organization.
- For those who want to register with CAC under a profit organization, the money will be high, and there must be tax, but for those who register with CAC under a non-profit organization, the money will be low, and there is no text.
- Non-profit organizations should try to get tax exceptions, but it will take time as it’s a gradual process.
Some questions were asked and answered by the facilitator. Our Board Chairman Chief Zubairu Dugu asked the following questions:
QUESTION 1:
Suppose a non-profit organization like NNAD has not filled out the yearly CAMA requests. What best steps to take to avoid CAC sanction?
ANSWER:
As a matter of urgency, the BOT should go to the CAC office to find out exactly how many years they missed. They should apologize and request a calculation of yearly levies to know how much is the total balance. E. g, 5k per year multiplied by the number of missed years, then pay up at once.
QUESTION 2
In NNAD, the BOT at the top controls the Association, especially in decision-making. Is it feasible to have Zonal BOTs again to control zonal Affairs?
ANSWER
It’s not suitable to have separate BOTs under one umbrella association because each zone has its own BOT, which represents the interests of that zone.
However, they can form an ADVISORY BOARD that can advise their BOT representatives from time to time as may be applicable.
QUESTION 3:
As you (the facilitator) said, BOTs would be held accountable for whatever happens to the Association because their names are with CAC. If serious trouble erupted in one state, for example, on election matters, should BOTs step in to resolve it?
ANSWER
Yes, but they should liaise with the National Executives Council and jointly resolve the matter amicably by investigating the root causes.
DAY 2: 6TH DECEMBER, 2024.
The facilitator in the person of Dr. Thank God Okosun didn’t cover day one work due to time factors.
The summary of yesterday’s presentation has been presented clearly and vividly.
We then move to the roles and responsibilities of the Board.
The Roles and responsibilities of the Board could be explained under the oversight and strategic roles.
- Oversight
- Established policies and plans must be strategically implemented, monitored, and evaluated, but authority must be delegated to management.
- Financial oversight, monitoring budget, and audit process through policies and management.
- Transparency protects the interests of all stakeholders through communication and disclosure of information.
- Crisis management and presentation
- ED’s performance: Supports the ED and coordinates the succession process towards set goals.
- Board performance: Assesses own performance as a group and as individuals.
- Strategic
- Responsible for the overall direction of the organization
- Clarify vision as the need arises
- Ensure the mission remains timeless
- Defining and refining core values
- Ensuring that goals provide short and long-term motivation
- A strategic plan is usually between 3 to 5 years
- Fundraising/Resource mobilization
Noted: Under strategic leadership, there are some issues that require Board attention, such as staffing challenges and compliance with government rules. He needs to pay attention and resolve it amicably.
The board should also look into the task of a meeting and think of a way forward and any progress made.
The facilitator also released a 5-minute video of a company’s situation by using a cart to identify 2 companies in which we learned how a leader can manage his company effectively and efficiently when there are honest and hardworking members/workers.
The video teaches the following:
- Look for those who are sure ready to work and give them responsibility.
- A leader should have the courage to do the right things.
- Everybody should be ready to work together to achieve success.
- A leader should work with those who are serious
- A leader needs to emulate good leadership from one another and promote teamwork.
The facilitator goes further by highlighting the causes of the crisis in an organization:
Poor maintenance practices, human error, bad planning, material failure, unethical or dishonest behavior, an unresponsive culture, leadership failure, and poor judgment are common causes of maintenance failure.
He finally explained conflict of interest (COI) as a situation when an individual is subject to two (2) coexisting interests that are in indirect conflict with each other.
DAY 3: RISK MANAGEMENT
Risks are something dangerous that happens but can’t stop you from planning.
Positive risk is called opportunity while negative risk is called threat.
When you manage risk, you reduce failure and increase the chance of success.
BOARD AND RESOURCE MOBILIZATION
Resource mobilization helps board members to advocate for their organization through media, press releases, or contact the Chairman or any leader.
To make Board and resource mobilization a success, the following should be considered:
- Find a way to connect with people that will help your organization
- Networking
- Spread the identity of your organization through all social media
- Do your work in line with your own Organization’s decision
- Connect with charitable organizations. E.g. Sightsaver.
WHY RESOURCE MOBILIZATION IS CRUCIAL?
- Networking: Sharing information or opportunities with members.
- You must understand the vision and mission of your organization.
- The vision and mission of your organization must be part of you.
THINGS TO SUPPORT YOUR ORGANISATION TO DO.
- Update your policy
- Support in funding your organization
- Zero tolerance
- To strengthen compliance
- To support management for effective leadership
- To develop objectives on how to meet up with task
- To follow up with financial audit
Note: A leader should invest in the development of his staff by not attending training/workshops alone.
An association or organization should have the following policies:
- Harassment Policy
- Sexual policy
- Exploitation policy
- Abuse policy
- Asset Management policy
- Anti-corruption policy
- Fraud Management policy
All these policies help to hold your integrity and respect.
Finally, I am pleased to inform you that our Chairman, Board of Trustees in the person of Chief Zubairu Mamman Isah Dugu, was regarded as one of the erudite speakers and was given a token gift Award of Five thousand Naira (#5,000) only. He was applauded by the delegates for his hard work, dedication and foresight.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY.
Reported by:
Hon. Abdullahi Isma’il Ibrahim
NPRO, NNAD
FOR: National Executives, NNAD.
