NAA-The way forward in 2011
Ibraheem Haruna
Hi all,
With all due respect to all of you, I would like to state here that all that I’ve written in the past were based on my observations and experience in working within the Nigerian communities in Canada. Some people have written that I’m the cause of all these hullabaloos going on. I would like to disagree to that fact because, there were problems on grounds, and people saw this as an opportunity to open up. This I think may be a good way to re-organize and rebuild the NAA.
Enough of talk and discussions have been going on around NAA and I would like to share with you some of the issues I think we can look into to move the association forward.
All groups need to come together to discuss, agree and forge the way forward for NAA
Election: Feelers from everyone suggests to me that we need to dissolve the present executives and elect a new one. I will suggest we constitute an electoral committee to look after the elections. Warning: Since we’ve all be yearning for new leadership to pilot the affairs of NAA, I must say that we need people with high sense of leadership to come forward and volunteer to serve the association. And I will enjoin all the members to support them in order to have a stable NAA where we can achieve our laid down objectives.
BOAD OF DIRECTORS (BOD): Some of the writers mentioned that the present BODs were handpicked. If this is true, then we need to elect new BODs. I’m not sure if NAA have satellite organizations…We may borrow a leaf from NCA (Toronto) in which every satellite organizations have 3 representatives in the BODs.
Committees: Various committees must be set up and members must be ready not only to serve in these committees but work. There is need for NAA to work with the Nigerian Parliamentary Friendship group in the House of Common. The chairman of this committee is Hon Jim Karigianis. There is need for NAA to participate fully in the political process of Canada.
Constitution: The constitution needs to be reviewed. A constitution review committee must be set up to review the current constitution and come up with a new and acceptable one.
Charitable Status: A non-for- Profit organization is qualified after one year of its inception to file for a charitable status. Which means any donation would qualify for taxable receipts. If NAA is not a charitable status organization, then this must be looked into immediately and a committee to move NAA to a charitable status must be set up. Once NAA becomes a charitable status, it will encourage members to pay dues and donate money since they will be able to get their money back at the time of filing taxes.
Accounts: Professional auditors must be called in to audit the account of NAA. Any association of this nature is required to keep a clean book and must be ready to be audited at anytime. Thus, NAA must be ready to show members and the public the current financial status.
Website: The NAA website must be upgraded to a dynamic website. The site must be inviting and user friendly.
Meeting of January 9, 2012: One of the writers wrote about how the current president is planning to call in the police to the next meeting. My stake to this is: He’s free to do that, but he must also know that we are all law abiding citizens. Police will not just come in there and harass us; thank God we are not in Nigeria. However, my advice to everyone that will be coming to the meeting will be: please let’s be respectful, try to keep our anger to a minimum level, do not shout and be constructive in our discussions. Once we observe these basic principles, we would be able to achieve our goals and objectives. The president, members of the executives and the BODs must also observe these in return.
Tribal issues: I know this is an emotional issue to talk about. We are here in Canada; we all see how things are being done. We must therefore put behind us the Nigeria tribal and quota systems and be part of the system here. When I was the president of Association of Northern Nigerians in Canada (ANNIC), my vice president who is now the president is the wife of Ken Saro Wiwa younger’s brother. You will all imagine how can someone from Ogoni be a president of ANNIC? But we did not look at it that way. We look at every member as one and remove the tribal mentality. Also, one of the Canadian Charter of Freedom is the Freedom to associations. This means, as a Yoruba man, I can join the Igbo or any other associations that I want to associate with.
The stake is high, other communities are moving ahead, and the Nigerian community must not be left behind. We all have to work together, put personal differences apart and let’s build the community together.
Thanks,
Ibraheem
Dear Nigerians,The present predicament of NAA affair has generated sincere desire from many of my fellow country men to proffer lasting solutions. Different causes, ranging from youths overthrow of the present administration to tribal allegiance and loyalty, have been opined. These purported causes were not without suggested solutions. Some were of the opinion that the present leadership should be dissolved, while some held the view that the present imbroglio in NAA should be resolved in house. In fact, some held strongly the view that rotational leadership is the way to go.But, amidst the present labyrinth network of confusion occasioned total disregard and disrespect for voices calling for sanity by the board of NAA, we must ensure that "WE DO NOT SWEEP A DIRTY ROOM WITH A DIRTHIER BROOM". This implies that we must understand how dirty the room is? I, Ayeni Joseph, will use this medium to shine light on some of the issues that need immediate clarification from the board of NAA1) NAA has been collecting membership fee without issuing receipt or in some cases issuing recepit without NAA seal. This does not give room for accountability.11) NAA allegedly spent about $50000 (fifty thousand dollars) on Nigeria day 2010 alone. What of 2009 Nigeria day, Heritage etc. It will be good if the board of NAA will make the account of the association available for member who will like to inspect it.111) There is a report that NAA is owning over $250000 (Two hundred and fifty thousand dollar) as loan to a bank in Edmonton under the present board of NAA. I think NIgerians deserve to know the thruth!1V) There is report that the present NAA board is trying to get more loan/line of credit to run the association.V) Every association in Alberta is funded by AGLC every year to the tone of hundred of thousands of dollars (at least $200,0000/year; two hundred thousand dollars per year). How has our association spent all the money.In light of these sensitive issues, I will like to call on all progressive Nigerians who believe we cannot run NAA in Canada the same way Nigeria is being ruled as a country, to join me in prevailing on the board of NAA to give the account of their stewardship. This will allow us to ascertain that all the issues raised above are not happening in our dearest association.In accordance with Section VIII of NAA constitution, I demand that:1) The board of NAA should make available to member the statement of bank account(s) of NAA for 2009 and 2010. The statements must be certified as original by the bank. This will allow Nigerians to see both the income and expenditure sides of their association's account(s) and also to tally such with any receipt(s) or invoice(s) make available by the board.11) Up-to-date statement of loan account and line on credits on behalf of NAA should be made availlable for inspection by member.111) The complete list of all the members of NAA should be provided. This will debunk the bogus argument of NAA president that some genuine voices of sanity are not members of NAA.Dear Nigerians, anything less that these will fail the simple test of accountability and transparency. I'm not in anyway alleging any member of NAA board for any wrong doing, but the continous attempt by NAA board to use sentiment to derail the genuine call for accountability and transparency is a worrisome development. If NAA leadership were to be a volunteer work, why would the present board members continue to impose themselves on us despite the growing desatisfaction for them among Nigerians? On a final note, reliable sources have it that the board of NAA is planning to militarize the next NAA general meeting by inviting Edmonton Police. Though this is not new, it clearly shows the desperation of the present board of NAA to remain in power at all cost by all means. I have a message for the board, nothing will separate the voices of sanity not even the threat of Police invasion or the thick wall of prison.