• As The Congress holds 2024 National Leadership Workshop in Ibadan
The need to embrace division of labour and smart choices in managing tasks, assignments and projects has been emphasised with a view to curbing misappropriation of funds within an organisation.
The Amir (President) of The Muslim Congress, Alhaji Abdulwasi’i Taiwo Bangbala said funds, particularly for projects, are easily mismanaged when processes revolve around a single person.
He made this assertion at the 2024 National Leadership Workshop organised by the group on Saturday, May 18 in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The theme of the workshop which was attended by selected leaders of TMC across states, local government areas and branches was ‘The Smart Da’wah Era: The Project Management Thinking.’
The Amir of the foremost faith-based non-governmental organisation in Nigeria said experience over the years shows that, there is the need to enhance the way and manner projects are handled.
“We are living in an era where we need to smart up the way we do things vis-a-vis planning of our programmes, execution of our projects, funding of our programs and so on. We want to leverage the effective tools and techniques in project management, and also delve into the financial aspect.”
Speaking with Muslim News after his opening remarks, Alhaji Bangbala said while misappropriation of project funds isn’t a challenge at TMC, the challenge exists in organisations globally.
He therefore identified ways by which fund misappropriation could be curbed in an organisation, saying the leadership must make it a point of responsibility to ask questions at all times.
“If we look at how we can curb misappropriation of funds, we should talk about having a good recording system, a sound internal control mechanism. When you have a good recording system, you take care of the amount that comes in and the amount that goes out. A good internal control system involves the stages that a payment will pass through. So, if there’s a breach along the line, you know that something is wrong.
“Similarly, tasks should be divisional. When somebody starts a task and also completes it, there is room for misappropriation. For example, if a payment is to be made, it is not the same person that initiates it that is going to process it and pay it. Funds can easily be misappropriated if it is a single person.
“There must also be management interest and buy-in. The leadership should make it a point of responsibility to request information and monitor the movement of things. There should also be a reporting mechanism. Like we do here at the Annual Congress, there should be account of stewardship. That way, we can mitigate the issue of misappropriation of funds.”
The Amir said the 2024 workshop aimed to teach members that, in planning a project, they shouldn’t just look at one side, but assess other sides — both positive and negative.
“That is how we can derive maximum benefit through smarter choices. What makes a project to be successful is that you have a solid plan and the way of executing the plan is such that you’ve planned for the risk, you’ve planned for the project itself, you’ve also planned for the finances. Most times, when we plan a project, we only look at a side. So when the other side now comes up, we start fidgeting,” he said.
One of the facilitators at the workshop, Mr. Faheed Olajide who is the Managing Director of Omnicom Ltd, stressed the importance of TMC as a non-governmental organisation leveraging tools and techniques in project management to help leaders and members in the delivery of tasks assigned to them.
“These tools have made dramatic improvements in many places they have been implemented. So, they are not just theories; they are things that have been put to test,” he added, while speaking on the topic, “Project Management Practice: Leveraging Effective Tools and Techniques”.
Olajide said the participants showed a deep appreciation of the knowledge shared with them and are ready to take it to the next level.
“We have wet their appetite and show them there are ways of resolving the issues they face while implementing the projects and tasks assigned to them.
“There are some who have previous knowledge of project management, and there are others without it. But this workshop has allowed us to bring everyone to a minimum understanding level. It is going to enhance greatly, the interworking between the committees and teams.
“Projects are varied. While a government might deliver something like a road project, a religious organisation might deliver something like a public lecture or might build a religious house or might go to the prison or do other things that are humanitarian in nature. They actually have different focus. While government will be talking more of infrastructure, religious organisations will do more of welfare. However, Project Management applies to all. The workshop was tailored in a way that each and everyone could adapt the lessons to his area of work directly.”
The second guest facilitator, Alhaji Mikail Animashaun, Naibul Amir Administration, said TMC must shift from what it was yesterday to begin to embrace today’s realities.
Animashaun, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, while speaking on the topic, “Project Financing: Deriving Maximus Benefits through Smart Choices”, noted that smarter tools needed to be deployed to take the message of Islam to the grassroots.
“We need a change in orientation, a change in mindset and a change in the approach we have ever deployed in organising our programmes and activities. We are in a Smart Era where everything must be done smartly. This is why we must adopt the reality of the IT stage and then derive the benefits for our organisation.
“So, we must begin to shift from where we were yesterday and then work with realities of today, and particularly deploy the smart era tools so that the message of Islam can go down to the grassroots.
“What we have brought up today is an eye-opener, even for the government, Islamic organisations, NGOs and other faith-based organisations. It is not for TMC alone. But because we are always forerunners, coming up with new ideas. All other Islamic organisations, particularly, are expected to have a change in the approach of their activities.
“Project Management Plan is the approach where you highlight all activities and phases you need to complete a project, from the day one. You bring in all stakeholders and ensure to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s. Where this is done, certainly there would be success for the project. If organisations, institutions and government are passionate about success, the approach of project management should be adopted so that things are done in a smart way”, he said.
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