Lawal O. Olohungbebe is a staff of the Kwara State University (KWASU) Malete, a community development practitioner, and a philanthropist. He was the brain behind the recent Kwara Candidates Forum, an epochal event for Gubernatorial candidates in Kwara to interract and disclose their plans to the people. He is presently working on another project ‘The Kwara Unsung Heroes Awards’ which he themed ‘Celebrating the Uncelebrated’.
In this interview with The informant247, he bares his mind to Ibraheem Abdullateef on community service, challenges so far, and some of the projects he worked on.
Excerpts.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: Good afternoon Sir, can we meet you?
Olohungbebe: Good afternoon. I am Lawal O. Olohungbebe, a lecturer and renowned Community development practitioner from Ilorin, Kwara state.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: As a lecturer, how have you been coping with CDS and highly demanding job as lecturing?
Olohungbebe: Firstly, I must say that community development as a professional discipline could also be practised as a vocation. To me, it is both. I teach it inside the four walls of the classrooms and also practice it by carrying out interventions in various communities. Secondly, some of the community development interventions are carried out with the help of volunteers; community development practise must be a team work. So, one cannot but depend on well-spirited individuals, and sometime, engage ad-hoc staff in executing some projects in communities. In short, no matter how small a community development project is, it is not a one-man show.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: Community Development Service is no treasure mine, is there some pecks you gain personally?
Olohungbebe: It beggars belief that community development practice, unlike entrepreneurship, is not an avenue to acquire wealth. Ironically, you go out of your way, many atimes, to facilitate people-oriented project to a community. What you gain personally as a community development practitioner is the joy of continually putting smile on people’s face, not the pecuniary gain.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: You have had several projects under your belt at KWASU as the Coordinator, Centre for Community Development and at HIDS as a volunteer facilitator but Candidates Forum was the most popular, how do you feel with the success recorded?
Olohungbebe: I feel humbled that in the history of Kwara State, my team and I were able to use the Candidates’ Forum to sensitise the youths on the need to hold their gubernatorial candidates accountable on their developmental agenda if eventually elected into power.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: Have you done any project after the hosting of the Candidates Forum?
Olohungbebe: Sure. Few seminar courses have been organised on approaches to community development, how to access the World Bank Social and Community Development Grant and how to develop proposals for community development interventions’ grants from other development agencies.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: So what’s HIDS working on now? I mean, what is next?
Olohungbebe: It is the Kwara Unsung Heroes Award project. This is meant to celebrate the poor uncelebrated heroes in Kwara State.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: Sir, why do you think the poor, hardworking individual in the society must be recognized and celebrated?
Olohungbebe: The project is an avenue not to only reward heroic performance across human endeavours but to also motivate the youths on the need to be committed to humanitarian services and to be dedicated to ethical values such as selflessness, contentment, honesty, hard work, what have you. We are using this project to preach that development activities should not be left for government alone. They need to understand this and live it. Also, you don’t have to be holding a political position before you can be useful in your community.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: The Unsung Heroes Award Project, What informed the intention?
Olohungbebe: One of the challenges bedevilling our society is the erroneous impression of some youths that wealth should be grabbed at all cost. There is a need to emphasise it to those youths that hard work pay-off at the long run. We need to remind the youths that sooner or later, posterity will surely judge every individual based on their services to community.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: So considering the nature of our society and likeness for ostentatiousness, do you see people supporting you on this?
Olohungbebe: It may interest you to know that every community development my team and I embarked upon must have been assessed and approved by a certain think-tank. In other words, we look at the overall impression or impact of a project before we begin the facilitation process. As a common practice in community development, various stakeholders in the community have not only endorsed the project, but they are ready to support it.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: Mr. Lawal, do you see this as a pacemaker in a society where there’s “no place for the have-nots”?
Olohungbebe: That is the narrative we are trying to change; that there is a place for the have-nots and that they are being looked up as role models by certain youths. Just like the Candidates’ Forum, the Unsung Hero Award poises to change the impression that those people whose services are considered unimportant or not properly recognised.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: A project like this would need good money, what are your means of finance? Let’s say it works out, wouldn’t it be a one-off show?
Olohungbebe: One of the key components of every community development intervention is sustainability. Like I said earlier on, before we embark on any community development, we pay adequate attention to the sustenance of our projects. We have sealed deals with interested individuals and companies who believe in us. All things considered, efforts have been put in place to ensure that the award is a periodic event. In short, we would be consistent with the programme.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: So how do you intend to choose the beneficiaries?
Olohungbebe: For this maiden edition, the criteria used in selecting the recipient include, but not limited to the community feedback, assessment of an individual’s contribution in a community, commitment to ethical values, professionalism and persistence. This maiden edition is going to a selfless primary school teacher in a rural community in Moro LGA. He left his own family in Ilorin to be living in a village where he teaches. He slept in the classroom for 2 years before the villagers now gave him a space in one of their houses. He is doing this to ensure that the kids have access to education. Subsequently, the final selection of the recipient would be done by a team of jurists based on certain criteria agreed upon by the team.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: What are the challenges recorded so far in the project?
Olohungbebe: The challenge is that there are many unsung heroes in the community who deserve to be recognised but there are limited resources to achieve this. We are hopeful that more well-spirited individuals and organisations would eventually key into this people-centred initiative.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: Lastly, what do you want the society to do for you on this project?
Olohungbebe: We solicit for community goodwill and their support towards the success and sustainability of this initiative. We encourage them to see this initiative as their collective project.
Ibraheem Abdullateef: We do really wish you best of luck. Thanks for your time.
Olohungbebe: Thank you for your support.