Nigeria's Dash Me Foundation Thrives Five Years On, Proving Generosity Needs Trust

Five years ago, Kemi Adeosun launched Dash Me Foundation, a charity shop concept designed for Nigeria, facing widespread skepticism from friends and colleagues who predicted failure. The prevailing doubts centered on Nigerians' preference for giving items to family, spiritual reasons for discarding old clothes, mistrust of orphanage founders, and the lack of a strong volunteer culture for thrift stores.

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Nigerians give their unused items to their families.

Despite these predictions, Dash Me Foundation has thrived, opening five branches and raising over ₦450 million (approximately $378 million). The foundation adapted its model, using paid staff instead of relying solely on volunteers, and proved that the Nigerian impulse to give is strong when a trustworthy mechanism is in place. This generosity has funded significant projects, including building orphanages from scratch, supporting students, providing thousands of meals, and supplying medical aids like wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs.

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Many burn old clothes for spiritual reasons.

Adeosun reflects on how human beings often resist change, dressing their discomfort as concern or wisdom. This mirrors the initial reactions to Dash Me Foundation and, she suggests, plays out on a national scale, referencing the introduction of Nigeria's Whistleblower Policy in 2016, which aimed to incentivize citizens to report corruption by offering a percentage of recovered funds. The article implies that similar to the charity model, the success of such policies hinges on building trust and overcoming ingrained resistance to new systems.

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Some orphanage founders cannot be trusted.