naijacutee:

Please when/where was this interview? I would like to listen to it. I kind of disagree with you on the whole money part. You have to remember that since the charity is UK-based, expenditure would be in UK pounds, and I'm sure you're quite familiar with the high cost of living in the UK. I do some work for a small charity in the UK (Which I cannot mention for obvious reasons), and their expenditure easily goes over £250,000! The lease alone on the premises where they are located is about £17,000 minus bills. They also have 7 part-time staff - all of whom have families to feed! All this is without any work being done. By the time they print publication which the public regards as "free" (Don't forget that publishers/printers etc don't do stuff for free just because it's a charity - they are open for business), then rent halls, speakers, equipment for seminars, I'm even surprised that Debbie could keep costs down to £62,000!  

Also, I'm quite impressed by her work - a lot of us come here to talk and criticize those who are doing something when we are just sitting on our behinds. Please more grease to Debbies elbows. Even if she decides to pay herself a salary of £30,000 per annum, it is totally justified!

i understand where you are coming from.  i have 2 personal charities too and i am trustee for some others.  check that word charity and see what it means in letter and spirit. it is never meant to be source of income for the people setting it up.

you reserve the right to be impressed by anything just like i reserve the right to say i am not impressed.  i am not being critical of anyone just stating facts. for your info there is a difference in

£115,704  salaries and wages
£11,802    employers national insurance  
£10,191    staff pension    and
£15,715    rents and rates

Incoming resources
Incoming resources from generating funds:                      b]2008                                  2007[/b]
Voluntary income
Donations                                                                                                   883                             1,701
The Body Shop -                                                                                                                         10,000
Big Lottery child protection training for A.P                                                       62,034 -
Bromley Trust - Core Funding                                                                          10,000                  10,000
CYPF Grant Program (DCSF)                                                                            100,000                 100,000
Comic Relief (ECPAT)                                                                                        5,945                     5,370
Home Office                                                                                                   2,000 -
City Parochial Foundation                                                                                 21,700 -

                                                                                                TOTAL   202,562                 127,071

Total incoming resources                                                                         218,348                   146,954

i don't know what else you know about running charities, business and accounting. i would ask you to look at page 28 again and tell me which business you know using £4,329 as telephone bills this day and age. the right to collect public funds comes with the responsibility to use same judiciously[/b][b][i][/i]
Charitable Expenditure                                      2008                            2007

Activities undertaken directly
Rent and Rates                                                15,715                                           11,223
Educational Publication                                      21,778                                          12,604
Insurance                                                            353                                             306
Travelling expense                                             6,949                                          5,746
Telephone                                                          4,139                                         5,797
Printing and stationery                                    4,329                                              2,951
Online service                                                   552
Functions and events                                          905                                          4,366
Training and Conferences                                 3,979                                            2,210
Subscriptions -                                                                                                            75
Volunteers                                                      1,454                                            842
Child care                                                        675 -
Hotel and Accommodation                                1,629 -

                                        TOTAL                   62,457                                      46,120
Support costs
Victim support                                                   39                                         85

                             GRAND  TOTAL                  62,496                                      46,205

once more i ask you to take the pain to run through these figures and tell me why you love the £62k more  than £137k as wages, NI and pensions. while at it, how did you work out £30k from  £115,704 being paid out as wages?

naijacutee:

@ Punch article. My only joy regarding this article (hence the reason why I'm sharing it) is that the government have not a.) kept their mouths shut on this issue and thus b.) made it look as though Nigerians do not care about what is going on.

@ Regarding Debbie Ariyo. Please o, I do not intend on coming across as "holier than anyone", or to exempt her from criticism. I'm merely trying to point out in her defence, that charity expenditure covers so many things which are not necessarily listed in the account summaries posted online - therefore showing that £62,000 expenditure per annum can very easily be achieved. There doesn't have to be hanky-panky anywhere. Even though it may seem hard to believe, people in this day and age still do things out of the goodness of their hearts.

I[b] do not think that £30,000 a year in the UK is an exorbitant salary[/b][color=#990000]. Considering that graduate starting salaries are anything between £18,000 and £24,000, £30,000 seems like what someone in a specialised sector, with considerable experience would earn. Based on the charity being active, plus the amount of work it seems to be undertaken, why can't she earn a decent salary? For all we know she may well be earning below (or above) this amount. [/color]

source  http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/ScannedAccounts/Ends27/0001093027_ac_20080331_e_c.pdf

thanks but how do we work out £30k from £115+ pensions and NI?

i asked that earlier too

once more i ask you to take the pain to run through these figures and tell me why you love the £62k more  than £137k as wages, NI and pensions. while at it, how did you work out £30k from  £115,704 being paid out as wages?

anyone good with figures will see something wrong here.  i am not here to defend nigeria but i hate seeing mis guided people tarnishing the whole country's image because  they want money from quangos. it is vile and wrong

naijacutee:

[color=#000099I know the question of funding has only come up after dissatisfaction with what she may have said during the interview. For all I know, as a Nigerian, I may well be offended if I hear some of the things she said too. . . [/color]

not true. that programme only went out last wednesday. i have known her work now for sometime. i wish you saw the rubbish she was saying on air during the victoria kimbie's case too. you would definately have been offended if you heard her. the trailer for the voice of africa programme was quite disgusting and annoying

naijacutee:

I'm not her lawyer - I don't know. . . Other employees/contractors perhaps?

employees/contractors indeed or in kind

naijacutee:

[color=#000099]@ Punch article. My only joy regarding this article (hence the reason why I'm sharing it) is that the government have not a.) kept their mouths shut on this issue and thus b.) made it look as though Nigerians do not care about what is going on.

maybe im being a cynic,but rightly so from past experiences,however providing funds for this kind of crisis/emergency should have even been done before coming onto the pages of newspapers because all it requires is for the presidency to just say the word to his many personal assistants/secretaries and they ll get in touch with the akwa ibom governor's office who will provide the needed funds, for all we know someone might have already approved and collected the funds meant for these children, its happened before in nigeria, the fact of the matter is that they do noit care and are only commenting on it for their bruised ego and embarrasement at their potrayal of being uncaring by a foreign news media

Video detailing the new 419 scams of many churches in Nigeria who label innocent children as witches in order to extort money from the parents by claiming to cure the children of witchcraft.
Many of the children end up dead , killed by fearful parents.

Video: http://livinginblack.ning.com/video/child-victims-of-419-preachers

how does akwa ibom equals nigeria?

Dear all,


i hope its not too late to comment on this thread. Im Debbie Ariyo of AFRUCA. My attention has been drawn to comments on this thread about our organisation AFRUCA - Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (www.afruca.org), and in particular insinuations that I must have been very active in fiddling AFRUCA's books for my personal benefit. It is very disappointing to hear fellow Nigerians make sure authoritative comments regarding things they know nothing about. i was amused to see that the fact that we spent £4000 on phone calls over a one year period, as an international charity with projects and collaborations in different parts of Africa is being taken that i must have embezzled AFRUCA's money!

I have used the name Joshua202 to highlight the fact that i am aware that this person who uses the name JJYOU and whose name is Pastor Joshua has been going all over the place making very provocative and highly libelous statements against me and my organisation. He seems to have some form of obsession with me as he tends to call in on every radio or tv programme i am on to abuse my person and make very libelous claims. He claims to be a pastor but his activities are very shameful to well meaning Christians. However, he had not been bold enough to reveal his identity because he knows he is likely to end up in court for libel.

AFRUCA is a bona fide charity with UNDERpaid employees who are working extremely hard to make changes happen for the benefit of African children. We are a well respected charity across the UK and we are well known for our positive work with african children across government.

It is a fact that there are many so called pastors who are using the cover of the church to abuse children and vulnerable adult. This pastor Joshua seem to be one of them because he has made it his life mission to attack our work against such evil practices. Many well meaning pastors and Christians support our work because they see the benefits. Our Pastor Joshua spends his time going through charity commission paperwork to find faults with our accounts so he can spread false information about us.

One of the reasons our continent is lagging behind is that those who choose to contribute their own quota are dragged through the mud, their work is destroyed and their person is attacked. Look at Ribadu. Im very ashamed about the things i have read on this forum. However our work continues unabated. I expect this pastor Joshua to continue on his destructive mission. He will get his comeuppance. best wishes Debbie Ariyo, AFRUCA www.afruca.org

@joshua020
while i commend the work you are doing as any charity aimed at helping the vulnerable is a good thing,however you have not addressed what the man/woman jjyou has asserted in his comments,if he insinuates by comments or innuendo that you are fiddling with funds then ill have though the right thing to do is to is address the specific allegations,remember this forum has a traffic running into thousands of people.

secondly while i must confess i only read about your charity in an article where it was mentioned,i really didnt see that much in your website,while i dont know what you have been doing in the past or how far you have gone,i dont think your charity is really justifying the hundreds of thousands in grants neither is it really going far enough to help the people who actually need help,abused children in various villages are being raped and abandoned in many villages in nigeria,they are going hungry with a government that doesnt care about them,i have seen 10 year old children being raped every night by disabled middle aged men because they all sleep under the ikeja bridge and get paid 200/300naira,i have heard worse stories from the lips of these children most of them not up to 12 years old e.t.c
these are the real abused children your charity should be helping,these are the vulnerable children,you dont need countless symposiums,seminars e.t.c where speaker after speaker state the obvious drinking bottle water and tea and biscuits.

and frankly speaking its a real shame that it took a white man living in the united kingdom with no ties to africa to highlight the child witches saga,while you a nigerian,running a charity aimed at alleviating the plight of abused nigerian children and running with government grants did not see it coming,i cant make a judgement on what you are doing presently to help out in akwa ibom,almajiri kids in the north,kids under the bridge in lagos e.t.c because im guessing you are going to or are already doing something concerning that in the little way you can.

i am not running you doan as i am not jjyou neither do i know him,but rather than continue the personal beef you have with him on here ill suggest you
1.clear the air on the allegations he has leveled against you,remember many tax ppaying nigerians who are resident in uk visit this site as well.
2.if you have not started already,help the real abused children who need your help in akwa ibom,in the north,under the bridges of lagos e.t.c
3.if you have started on all these things ,then try and update your website with pictures and a chronological statement of your achievements in africa.
4.while i totally agree your staffs have to be paid due to their work with you being a full time job,i think you should think about going to the universities for volunteers,the programme on channel4 has stimulised people to the plight of the children in africa/nigeria,and volunteers wont cost you as much as full time staffs as all they need is feeding,transport,training and you will always find as much people as you need rather than paying fuul time staffs to do administrative duties.
5.just to comment on the ribadu you mentioned cause i am one of the critics,ribadu is a victim of his creating,he played politics with efcc,he was riding the waves on this for a while untill he went too far to the shallow end and got drowned.

we cherish and applaud anyone doing a good job,this thread was brought about by a non nigeria(south african i think)lady and she was well commended for it and i including others have even emailed her to see what we can do,if you do what we think is commendable then i personally will be the first to commend and applaud you,however for now these are my totally objective criticisms of your charity, ignore whatever you have against the pastor and answer his allegations and everyone on here will be a judge

Ludacris,

thanks for this. these are not criticisms but innuendoes, wrong accusations based on malicious falsehood. Clearly you dont understand how charities work and these are obvious from your comments. I can feel your concern, even anger about my inability to take it upon my small self to solve all the issues affecting all the children in Nigeria. I see that as a very big challenge which i will work very hard towards, but at this stage AFRUCA, my organisation has never been given money by any agency to work in Nigeria. Gary of Stepping Stones receives money from agencies in the UK to do the good work he is doing in Akwa Ibom State. AFRUCA does not. I cannot divert the funds we have been given to work with street children in the North of Ghana or with African parents in London for work in Akwa Ibom simply because i am Nigerian and i want to help children in Nigeria. it might be well meaning but it does not work that way!!

2. I will enjoin you to go back and do your background reading, read our annual report, not just pages 19,20 21 as pointed out by the deluded pastor Joshua. Also, please go back and read details of our work on our website. It speaks for itself in terms of our achievements as a small charity. Im sorry if you feel that all these amount to nought in your eyes, but in comparison to the funds we receive, i think we have done very well as an organisation. that is why we have received many awards and accolades across the UK. yes we have received £200k + in funding last financial year but did you check our annual report to see for what purpose? it might interest you to know that we had 5 members of staff last year paid from this money you are making a fuss about. These are different people from different african countries working very hard for little pay to make life better for others. It is very distressing to see that their work is being belittled by people who have never had to make such sacrifices in their lives. Can you see details of all our funders in our report? Please also let me clarify something important to you: when an organisation applies for a grant, that grant is given for very specific reasons to do specific work with specific targets. if you do not meet the conditions of the grant, then the funders withdraw their funding. You are expected to provide quarterly reports of your activities with evidence of what you have done. There is no way a UK charity which diverts money for other purposes, or to use your crude words, which steals money it has been given will continue to receive money. Such an agency will be known by all funders as a fraud. If as our pastor friend has insinuated i have stolen my charity's money, i can assure you that YOU would have heard about it from more credible sources. it would not have come from one deluded person who clearly has some very sick obsessions with me. This man is a stalker and you are clearly encouraging his sick perversion. You do not know him and you do not know his true intentions.

This is how it works: if you believe someone is stealing public funds, then as a whistleblower, you report to the police with all your evidence. or write a petition to the charity commission to investigate. This man only writes false rumours against us on unmoderated websites such as this, on radio and TV call-in programmes. he is an attention seeker. he has never revealed his identity apart from calling himself pastor joshua. It is obvious that his interest has nothing to do with charity work, public good will, best interest of children or anyone.


Aside that, Ludacris, it is not gentlemanly to spread false rumours against organisations or individuals especially people you dont know, people you have never met. It is called defamation of character. it is not only wrong, but it is clearly a sin as someone who claims to be a pastor should know.

I do hope this is useful for your purpose. I have nothing more to say on this but please lets respect each other and stop destroying other people's characters. its one thing to want more from those who are helping to make changes happen. its another to attempt to ruin their reputation based on false allegations. this is the last comment from me. best wishes Debbie Ariyo

I found this thread while chasing after Naijacutees every post. I would have kept silent about this all because some folks on nairaland see it as an avenue for showing their rudeness (I did said some folks, not generalisation). Having said that, i need to comment about debbie ariyo's AFRUCA.

I worked with AFRUCA as an intern for about 6-8 Months in 2003/2004 (can't remember fully now) and i can vouch for debbie Ariyo as i have known her ever since. At the time i worked there, every member of AFRUCA were unpaid, inclusive of debbie herself( i don't know now). I remembered getting only stipends for transport and materials used etc. Now, that is not the issue of the day, but i did say that to highlight that JJYOU's allegations are totally untrue. JJYOu did first of all attacked debbie for being a member of Holy grail. It is totally wrong of him to consider the fact that debbies campaign against fake and abusive pastors is born out of her religious inclinations. I am a christian, and virtually everyone who worked with debbie( at the time i did) Were christians and there was no trait of whatever JJYOU said.

Concerning funding, Afruca does not even get nearly as much funds as most NGOs in Nigeria, who write proposals and share their funding with the officials who gets the funding out. I do remembered that we write quite a lot of proposals on helping young africans in the Uk and Nigeria and we do not get fundings for that. As at that time, AFRUCA was the only african organisation based in the UK working against child abuse.


I have seen, interviewed, met young african children who have been abused and threatened. AFRUCA was the only organisation in the Uk that helps out on that. Debbie herself has been a subject of abuse, not based on what i heard, but what i see. abuse varying from verbal attacks and threats for helping out young children.

I remembered a situation where a young girl (about 16yr old) was brought to the office by immigration officials. In actual fact, she was being trafficked to spain via the UK borde. She was brought down to the office because she wouldnt talk due to fears of being attacked by witchcraft and voodoo.

While quite a lot of people think debbies work is restricted to the Uk, she does extensive work In Nigeria, in the area of awareness. However, there are a lot of restrictions based on funding.

@lubracasi, i do feel every word of your post, but i must say as well, that every funds you get as a charity organisation has to be spent on the proposed program you applied for for the funding.

I can beat my chest and vouch for debbie anywhere, and like she said, if JJYOU thinks any organisation is guilty of manipulating accounts or diverting funds, such organisation should be reported to the police, or the charity commision instead of making false allegations without a basis of proofs.

I know my post will generate abuse from some who are sentimental about the issue at hand, however, i will not respond to any abuse whatsoever.

Channel 4's show was to create enough instinct in every person living in the UK to TAKE ACTION. i believe the intent is not to paint us blacvk as africans. I would feel bad like i always do each time i watch young kids being paraded on cnn to be used to raise funds for charities, however, We take things too sentimental. This thing is happening in Nigeria, and someone did a documentary on the situation. It is our responsibility to take action in whatever way we can instead of refering to other problems in other parts of the world.

@joshua020
while i really do not know the technicalities of how charities work in the u.k.i have a competent and knowledgeable over view of how it works but thanks for educating me more on it,first of all i do not know who the man jjyou is neither am i trying to hold brief for him,just wanted to clear the air on that,the only reason for my comments is what i personally see as perceived failings or where i think you can apply more efforts and actually do a lot.

in the history/write up on your site,you said something about the government giving you a hard time because they felt there was enough charities dealing with abused children in the uk and all that before they eventually approved yours,well to be honest with you, i agree with them as well,and i will re iterate the comment i made before which is that, nigerian children in nigeria need your help much more than the children in the united kingdom,the children in the uk have more than enough help especially as the system put in place by the british government to take care of kids will continue to do a good job irrespective of what your charity does, all you can hope to do really is to make a small impact supporting the major responsibilities the government has and continue to undertake,you might not share my views on this but that is the gospel truth, if you have to re apply to include children in nigeria like stepping stones are doing then im sure you agree with me that its well worth it as you and your charity will be better appreciated helping children who dont know the meaning of coco puffs or cadburys chocolate,who get abandoned by the roadside,raped e.t.c

again im not encouraging the man but voicing the same concerns i would have to you directly even if i was living in your house,the point of my preamble is this,
1.there are more than enough children's charities in the uk which you said yourself on your site gave the people funding you concerns before they agreed,all we have in nigeria is stepping stones and i think one or two more reputable ones meaning your purpose/mission statement will be served better by actually helping where it is most needed that complementary help where though it is needed but just to complement government efforts.

2.criticism is not defamation of character,pls let us as nigerians stop this, why is it that anytime a nigerian is criticised,we always turn it into something else?no one has called you names or abused your person,all that is being done here is voicing legitimate concerns about very vulnerable children in our country and i think that should be enough reason to take any criticism on board and actually consider it rather than this counter attack.

while the facts and figures the man jjyou has posted brought all this on,i personally think if not for your sake but for the sake of the bottom line which we are all on about(african children)you should ignore his perceived negative mien and attacks on your person and address the issues he has raised,as for me and my comments pls point out where i have impunged on your character or judged you based on false rumours, as far as i am concerned when i see your name and afruca my only concern and all im seeing is a charity run by a nigerian for nigerian children and my comments are based on the premice that it could be untilised better for maximum and to the point help for nigerian kids finish,and i think the public especially nigerians have a right to voice concerns and criticise without you taking it personal,i dont know you so it ll be a sin and dissservice on my part casting aspersions on you, all the issues i have raised are based on what i have read prior to making my comments

@gbengaijot
the fact that she is from a particular sect is personally not my concern,for all i care she might even be a babalawo,a pastor in the church of satan or even a member of alquaeda and i believe anyone that makes that an issue is has ulterior motives and not the issue at hand,if you check my comments i have not talked about her personaly because i dont know her and her private life has nothing to do with the charity.
most english men/women dont believe in GOD,neither do they go to church e.t.c amongst their many vices but they give overwhelmingly to charity and even raise pertinent issues about our country's children that we as nigerians have conviniently ignored.

now while i totally agree with you that afruca does not get as much funding as other ngos,dont you think this is because the government aparatus in the uk have enough agencies dealing with child trafficking,child abuse e.t.c i dont need to mention them cause im sure you know them as debbie ariyo does.
she is the only charity dealing with child abuse because the government of the united kingdom have more than enough agencies dealing with children irrespective of their country of origin,a lady in my former church when i was in london who brought a girl to uk to be a nanny for her kids had issues with the girl and the girl ended up being picked up by social services,she had no passport as she was smuggled into the uk with a passport tht looked like her without the woman's knowledge(she paid an agent to bring her in)and in spite of all this the british social services took the girl in,found foster parents for her and the last i heard she was in college and would even be in her final year of university now, the point here is that afruca is only complementing the government's effort and not doing anything new,the fact that funds was even approved for the charity is probably to fill a minority quota,if you disagree with me then i enjoin you to state one single thing afruca is doing that the british government doesnt do for kids?

while her work in nigeria spreading awaeness is quite appreciated seeing as she is doing somehing at least compared to people who do nothing,awareness is not enough as there is enoguh awareness and what is needed is proactive action to combat the crisis in our own little way,as for channel4 no matter their underlying intentions,or any charitie's intention to use these children to raise money, they are doing a damn sight better than nigerians and nigerian charities including me,you and afruca e.t.c are doing

gbengaijot:

I found this thread while chasing after Naijacutees every post.

its human nature to be barbaric period.

Those people or parents sending those children out have just drawn the battle line between thenselves and the children because the witches around will use the anger inside this children to wreck or bring havoc to all who are concerned.
those children will all be initiatd if something is not done fast . abi dem catah bone for the children hand?