A Non-governmental organisation, ISOILAJ Social Development Initiative, domiciled in Isolo, Lagos, has celebrated its 5th anniversary as it reeled out its achievements.
The NGO whose name stands for the major communities in Isolo LCDA; Isolo, Ilasamaja and Ajao, is an offshoot of SOS Children’s Villages, Lagos.
The event held at Isolo Townhall recently had in attendance various heads and members of the NGO, stakeholders of the community and beneficiaries of its past programs among others.
In his remarks, the Chairman Chief M. Ekundayo said that over the years the organisation has evolved into a beacon of hope and positive change in the community via the deliberate and consistent pursuit of its missions and goals.
According to him, the fifth anniversary was not only to celebrate the organisation’s success story but to reaffirm its commitment to its mission of positively impacting the lives of vulnerable children and youths within the communities.
“Our organisation, ISOILAJ, has evolved into a beacon of hope and positive change, thanks to the dedication and tireless efforts of all the communities we serve.
“Our journey has been marked by milestones, achievements, challenges and most importantly unwavering commitment of every individual who has been part of this endeavour. As we gather here, we not only celebrate our accomplishments but also reaffirm our commitment to the mission that unites us. we are steadfast in our dedication to empowering vulnerable children, youths, their families and enriching our communities,” he said.
He added that the organization owed its growth and success since inception to SOS Children’s Village noting that the relationship with SOS has been unimaginably beneficial.
On his part, the Programme Manager, Mr. Bashir Faronbi reeled out the organisation’s achievements in five years which he said cut across all its six areas of focus which include, Child right protection, Technical Education and training, Healthcare and mental well-being, rental accommodation and family care, livelihood support and women and youth empowerment and values enhancement.
His words: “Since 2018, we’ve supported hundreds of families in the area of child rights and protection. This year alone we have attended to over 16 child abuse cases. In the area of education, we focused on primary and secondary education. We give them educational support materials for them to be happy to go back to school. For out-of-school children, we guide them to go back to school. In the area of TVET, over 250 youths have been supported in the last 5 years with various vocational skills such as fashion designing, make-up, hairdressing, catering aluminum fabrication, generation repair and others. Presently, over 80 youths are in our ICT hub and they will graduate in December.”
Disclosing the organisation’s plans, Faronbi explained that it hopes to consolidate its previous achievement and expands its scope of operations as he called on government and corporate organisations to support their programs and projects.
In his remarks, the program manager of SOS Lagos, Ahmed Bappare marveled at the growth and achievement of ISOILAJ in five years as he expressed his expectations in the coming years.
“ISOILAJ is one of our implementing partners through which we implement our programmes in Lagos and for the last 5 years we have been supporting them with programs that have to do with child care and protection in Isolo and they’ve been doing wonderfully well. They’ve been professional in the implementation and our relationship has been very very professional and they are doing well. They are working in line with our principles and we are very pleased to work with them.
“Over the years SOS has been building their capacities, we have mentored them in different ways and we believe that after our exit from the community, ISOILAJ will be able to stand on its own and we are there by the side to offer our professional advice and technical support at any point in time. We’ve built their capacities over the years. It is the case of instead of giving you a fish, we’ve taught you how to fish. They are part of our implementing partners. Anytime we have grant opportunities we will definitely make it available for them to access,” he said.
Also, on his part, the Vice Chairman of Isolo LCDA, Hon. Shakir Sadiq congratulated the NGO on its anniversary as he assured them of government support.
