Knights of St Mulumba targets N2bn endowment fund for charity

The Knights of St. Mulumba (KSM) Nigeria, Lagos Metropolitan Council, is targeting N2 billion for a new endowment fund designed to reduce dependence on members’ dues and create a permanent financial base for its charitable and humanitarian activities.

The fund, which will be formally launched on September 26, 2026, at St. Leo Catholic Church, Ikeja, will finance interventions in healthcare, education, support for widows and orphans, prison apostolate, legal aid, social justice and assistance to victims of violence and crime.

Metropolitan Grand Knight, Sir Nosa Ehigiator, disclosed this when he led a delegation of KSM Lagos Metro on a visit to the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, at the Lagos Archdiocesan Chancery.

Ehigiator said the organisation could no longer rely indefinitely on dues and periodic levies to meet growing demands for assistance, particularly as worsening economic conditions pushed more families into hardship.

He said excessive financial demands on members could also discourage younger Catholics from joining the organisation.

Under the proposed arrangement, the N2 billion would constitute a permanent pool of capital to be prudently invested, with the principal preserved while returns from the investments would finance approved charitable programmes.

Ehigiator said the model would enable the organisation to move from repeated short-term fundraising to a more sustainable system capable of supporting its humanitarian work for generations.

“The population of the needy is growing,” he said.

According to him, KSM’s Feed the Hungry programme had already evolved into a broader Helping Hands initiative in response to increasing requests for assistance.

He said the organisation wanted to expand interventions in school fees, skills acquisition and other areas of need, while strengthening its support for the Catholic Church.

Ehigiator disclosed that the Lagos initiative was being pursued alongside an endowment fund concept at the Supreme Council level of KSM Nigeria, creating what he described as a sustainability framework at metropolitan and national levels.

Receiving the delegation, Archbishop Martins endorsed the initiative, describing it as “a welcome development” and pledging his support.

“It’s the way to go really,” the Archbishop said.

Martins noted that several established churches and religious institutions had sustained their activities partly through investments, adding that the Lagos Archdiocese was also examining similar initiatives through its Finance Council.

Discussions during the visit also shifted to the condition of inmates and the difficulties confronting prisoners after their release.

Ehigiator said about 1,600 inmates in Lagos, Abeokuta and Ijebu-Ode were reportedly awaiting release, raising concerns about the financial and social challenges involved in their reintegration.

Archbishop Martins said the Archdiocese had for years considered establishing temporary accommodation where released inmates could receive support pending their reintegration with their families and communities.

He also canvassed alternatives to imprisonment, including community service, and called for sustained advocacy to tackle overcrowding in correctional facilities.

Ehigiator presented the KSM Lagos Metro Endowment Fund Donor Information Brochure to the Archbishop and formally invited him to the September 26 launch.

KSM said safeguards were being built into the fund to ensure transparency and accountability, including a Board of Trustees, Investment Committee, independent custodian, licensed fund managers, Grants and Programmes Committee, Finance and Audit Committee and external auditors.

Other members of the delegation included Chairman of the Endowment Fund Committee, Emmanuel Dumuje; KSM Lagos Metro Secretary, Sir Michael Olofinlade; Lady Efe Ehikhuemen, who represented the Metro President of the Ladies of St. Mulumba, Lady Martha Ilukpekhai; Lady Bernadette Ojo; and Chairperson of the Endowment Publicity, Media and Communications Subcommittee, Lady Neta Nwosu.