Nkechi Ali-Balogun assumed office as the 6th president of the Committee of Friends for Humanity (COFFHA) on Sunday, June 19, at the investiture ceremony held at Grace Events Centre, 4, Bisola Durosimi Etti Drive, Lekki- Lagos.
Ali-Balogun, the principal consultant/chief executive officer of NECCI Consulting, a multi-talented industry with over 20 years of experience in public relations (PR) and training consultancy in her speech expressed her delight to have the people celebrate with COFFHA at such a historic and ceremonial event where authority is formally conferred to the office of the president over the last 30 years.
“I am proud to be a Coffhite. I am most honoured and humbled to be elected president of the association and with the help and support of my executive council, and fellow women of worth as we are called, I will do my best to meet the challenge.
“COFFHA has been built on a strong leadership foundation, and I am fortunate to have a membership that is fully committed to the ideals of COFFHA, women passionate enough to go the extra mile in sustaining the association and carrying out the many worthwhile projects that we undertake for the benefit of humanity, she said.
The amiable and energetic woman of worth went on to charge the members of COFFHA and invited guests to look beyond the investiture and embrace the vision of the association in salvaging lots for humanity.
“Here we are today, to formally induct the 6th president but more importantly to raise funds for our N100, 000million acquisition centre for widows and the physically challenged in our society.
“Unlike our former projects, the extent of this work has become far more than we initially contemplated and we realized that fundraising is critical to our completion of the project.
“This brings me to the reason why we have invited you here. It is Chinua Achebe who said that “A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to redeem them from starving. They all have food in their own houses. When we gather in the moonlight on the village ground, it is not because of the moon. We are all here because of the humanity in you and so we celebrate you.
“You are here because like every one of us in COFFHA, you are concerned about the state of affairs in our country and you believe that you can lend a supporting hand,” she noted.
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Carol Akum Ufere, the immediate past president, and founder of COFFHA in her speech said she was drunk with happiness for seeing her baby project blossom into what it is today.
Ufere congratulated the new president and her executives who are saddled with the affairs of the association for the next two years. She urged all the women of worth of COFFHA and the new executives to support the new leadership.
Peterside Dakuku, the former director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the chairman of the occasion represented by Nnamdi Agbim in his address applauded COFFHA for its common sense of purpose to give back to the society by identifying with the needy in the society.
“I will support COFFHA for the life you are changing. You are making an input in people’s lives and you will forever be remembered for that,” he stated.
Godrey Ogbechie, the group executive director of Rainoil Limited, and co-chairman of the occasion in her address said it was a privilege and an honour for her to be invited as a co-chair of the event. She explained that she did not hesitate to answer the call because of her philosophy of life.
“I’m motivated by people who do what they can, small or big, to lift others. I said small or big because every other way of making life better for others does not have to come in truckloads, it does not necessarily have to be attention-grabbing,” she said.
COFFHA was incorporated in January 1993 as a non-profit organization whose main focus is the upliftment of the less privileged women and children across the federation.
It is reputed for its quick intervention of societal needs and other social responsibilities without discrimination of age, gender, religious beliefs, or political affiliation.
Within the space of its existence, the association has among other things been able to build the COFFHA Emergency Centre at Isolo General Hospital, Isolo, Lagos, executed the refurbishment and furnishing of a 16-bed female ward for Apapa Health Centre, Apapa, Lagos, and have successful mobilise and organised the donation of wheelchairs to Lagos State Management Board, among others.
