‘Over $200 million donor funds diverted in Nigeria’

The President of Godsent Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Dion Osagie, said over $200 million donated to NGOs in Nigeria yearly end up in the private accounts of the owners of these organisations.
Osagie stated this during a chat with newsmen in Benin City yesterday. He alleged that about 70 per cent of NGOs in Nigeria are fraudulent.
While calling for complete re-orientation in the running of NGOs in the country, Osagie called for proper screening of these organisations operating in Nigeria.
He further said that: “If NGOs, especially those meant to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich really live up to their function and transparently utilise what they receive as donors, don’t you think it would alleviate poverty in the rural areas?”
Meanwhile, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) has urged Nigerians to embrace the concept of whistle blowing to curb human trafficking in the country.
The Director General (DG) of the agency, Mrs. Julie Okah-Donli said the concept became imperative in view of the great danger human trafficking constitutes to national development.
Speaking yesterday during a visit to Osogbo, Osun State command of the agency, Okah-Donli urged the public to provide the anti-human trafficking body with necessary information which would lead to prevention and arrest of those engaged in the illicit trade.