Friends of NLI
About Friends of NLI
For years, Nigeria has been marred by political, governance and leadership issues. These have significantly hindered the growth and stability of the country’s economy. As a result, millions of Nigerians have left the country to seek opportunities elsewhere. The majority of emigrated Nigerians are located in the western parts of the world.
However, Nigeria has started experiencing a return of émigrés as a result of the recent economic downturn in the West. Many Nigerians are returning to the country due to perceived opportunities based on the oil boom and the deregulation of key industries such as banking and telecommunications. It is against this backdrop and the need to develop more effective political institutions in Nigeria that Friends of NLI Inc. (“Friends of NLI”) was established.
Friends of NLI’s purpose is two-fold: to make grants to other organisations for the purpose of raising Nigerian leaders who will take responsibility for future development in Nigeria, and to organize seminars that carry out this purpose.
The Nigeria Leadership Initiative (“NLI”) has already spearheaded this effort by educating Nigerians to help them assume transformative roles in Nigeria’s future. (NLI is an international, non-profit, non-partisan charitable organisation registered in Nigeria and the United Kingdom). Friends of NLI hopes to build on NLI’s success by developing similar programs within the U.S. and by supporting the programs of NLI and similar organisations.
Programmes
- Seminars
- Grants
Seminars
The seminars are modeled after the Aspen Institute’s many leadership offerings such as the Henry Crown Program and the African Leadership Initiative. Hence, they are text based and moderated by a group of skilled professionals whose role is not to teach but to prompt informed dialogue among participants.
There are three levels of seminars:
- Senior Leader Seminars;
- Future Leaders Seminars; and
- Organisations and Government Seminars.
Senior Leaders (SL) Seminars
These seminars are held for some of the most accomplished and credible Nigerian leaders (“Fellows”) in Nigeria and the Diaspora. Participants of these seminars will be nominated by contacts and potential sponsors. These nominations will be based on professional and academic merit. The nominator will also have to write a letter describing why the participant exemplifies the values that Friends of NLI ascribes to. The fellows attend a series of residential seminars that will take place within a span of two years and they also commit to undertake individual leadership projects and actively participate in class projects concerning issues involving the economy as a whole.
Future Leaders (FL) Seminars
These seminars are held for emerging public and private leaders within the age group of 25-35 years (“Associates”), who are based primarily in Nigeria but also in the Diaspora. Two classes, each with 3-day residential seminar sessions, are held in May and October each year.
Organisations and Government Seminars
Friends of NLI alone or in collaboration with NLI and other organisations will hold seminars specifically tailored to particular industries in Nigeria. A seminar will take the form of a workshop and a classroom capacity building seminar. Participants will be engaged in discussions of needs assessment and planning and will receive training in such topics as ethics and management.
Grants
In addition to the seminars, Friends of NLI expects to provide support through grants to NLI and other organisations that embody our mission. These organisations must submit grant proposals for projects or activities that directly address governance, economic, health and social welfare issues in Nigeria. Friends of NLI may also support projects elsewhere in Africa such as NLI’s 2008 collaboration with the World Bank to start a Leadership Initiative in Rwanda.
To request a grant, an organisation must first submit a letter of inquiry identifying a problem in Nigeria, offering a solution and describing the populations that will be affected. In addition, the letter of inquiry must include a proposed time frame of completion of the project and the amount of funding requested.
Upon review of the letter of inquiry, Friends of NLI will determine whether or not to invite the requesting organisation to submit a complete grant proposal that will include a detailed description of the proposed project, a detailed budget and supporting documents proving the legitimacy of the organisation.
Friends of NLI will not make grants to an organisation until it is satisfied that the organisation is a charitable organisation, and that the specific purpose for which the funds are granted will be used for a charitable purpose in keeping with Friends of NLI’s own charitable purpose.
To monitor the projects, Friends of NLI will schedule two visits to the project site, once at the mid-point of the project’s life cycle, and again at completion of the project. All projects are expected to be completed within a year.
Friends of NLI is not accepting letters of inquiry at this time. However information will be made available on this website when the Grants Program begins.
Contributions to Friends of NLI
Friends of NLI intends to solicit contributions from a broad range of donors, to pool the contributions for investment management and administrative purposes and to make distributions to qualified beneficiaries that have been reviewed and approved by Friends of NLI.
Friends of NLI will accept contributions of cash, marketable securities, and other property. All contributions to Friends of NLI are subject to the review and approval of Friends of NLI. Contributions may be refused by Friends of NLI if such contributions are deemed inappropriate in light of the charitable purposes of Friends of NLI or if Friends of NLI deems the property to be insufficiently liquid.
Once Friends of NLI accepts a contribution, that contribution constitutes an irrevocable gift to Friends of NLI and becomes an asset of Friends of NLI over which it has full ownership, discretion and control.
