Award-winning Catholic Sister in Nigeria Urges Donors to Partner Directly with Faith-Based Organizations in Africa

Abuja, 27 August, 2025 / 11:08 PM

A Nigerian member of the Religious institute of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus (HHCJ) and winner of the 2024 Opus Prize of US$1 million has emphasized the need for donor institutions, including the World Bank, to consider working directly with faith-based organizations.

Speaking to ACI Africa in an interview, Sr. Francisca Ngozi Uti observed that the approach by donor institutions to channel support through governments fails to benefit needy communities in Africa due to corruption.

“Some of these big organizations would rather work with governments. I’m not saying that is entirely bad, but we have seen what is happening. We cannot all shy away from the fact that corruption is the bane of our suffering in Africa,” said Sr. Ngozi in the Tuesday, August interview.

She added, “If you know that things cannot work directly through governments, why don’t you go straight and meet those who are on the ground? There is no need to avoid that reality.”

The founder and Executive Director of the Abuja-based Center for Women Studies and Intervention (CWSI) noted that faith-based organizations, especially those run by women Religious, have historically been at the forefront of humanitarian response, offering critical support during crises.

“These organizations cannot deny the fact, and you see it, that those who show up during difficult times are faith-based organizations. Over the centuries, women Religious, reverend sisters, have been at the forefront of humanitarian services,” she said.

The donor agencies “should find a way” to partner with faith-based organizations, she emphasized, recalling an encounter with the World Bank during a leadership program at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center in 2023, where a delegation of 10 Catholic Sisters from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Ghana had presented a similar appeal.

“One of the things we put across to them at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., was that the time had come for them to work with faith-based organizations directly,” she said. 

She said that donors who want a way of monitoring run by faith-based organizations “can always get it”, adding, “It is not difficult.”

During the August 26 interview with ACI Africa, the Nigerian-born Catholic Nun also blamed bad governance and poor leadership for forcing the continent into donor funding dependency and external borrowing.

“We have to see it as it is. Bad governance and poor leadership have left us where we are. Otherwise, we should not be begging,” she lamented, and added, “At this stage, we are still depending on humanitarian aid when God has blessed us abundantly and because we keep borrowing, there is no hope for the future.”

Sr. Ngozi emphasized that governments and global institutions must show the political will to act decisively and prioritize ending poverty and hunger, while also addressing issues such as climate change, trafficking, and flooding.

“If people are hungry and poor, is there any meaning in life for them? That must be one of the main priorities. If they have the willpower to tackle these issues, they will do it. And the focus should be more on women, youth, and children,” she stated.