Nigeria unveils National Policy on Volunteerism

The Nigerian government has launched a National Policy to inculcate development through volunteerism on Thursday in Abuja.

The policy was unveiled at a Sensitisation Workshop on Volunteerism and Development, organised for officials of MDAs at the Federal level.

The Permanent Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Andrew Adejo, said the Policy provides some level of guidance for effective Volunteerism.

He said Volunteerism was a critical tool for national development which had since been adopted by the developed countries to contribute to the socio-economic development of communities and the country at large.

“Various studies have shown and proven the enormous contribution of volunteerism to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of many countries. Volunteerism and Development is commonly achieved through building a formidable volunteer culture and inculcating the ideals of volunteerism within the citizenry in order to harness the inherent potentials to complement national development efforts,” he explained.

Mr Adejo added that the theme of the workshop “Promoting and Harnessing the Potentials of Nigerians for National Development through Volunteerism” underscored the need to sensitise and create awareness on Volunteerism and its numerous benefits to the society.

The Director, National Volunteerism Service, Mrs Omobola Olusila-Dada said Volunteerism complement and fast track Government’s socio-economic efforts especially in rural communities.

“Government has not only recognised volunteerism, but has also created the NNVS as an institutional framework to coordinate the volunteerism efforts of towards development,” she said.

The workshop was organised by the office of the Nigeria National Volunteerism Service.