Anonymous Donation of N250 Million to Kings College, Lagos &Edo College, Benin Sparks Debate over Anonymous Vs. Publicized Donations

In a society where the practiceof donating anonymously is almost extinct, an anonymous donor has given one million pounds sterling (about N250 million) to Kings College, Lagos and Edo College, Benin . The Chairman of the British-Nigeria Education Trust (BNET), David Reeves , said on Wednesday in London that the donation was for the upgrade of the two schools. According to Premium Times , he said at a reception organised by the Nigerian High Commission for BNET that the donor specifically requested for the money to be spent on those schools. “ We have been most encouragedby a recent anonymous donation of one million pounds sterling; the donor has charged us with negotiating the use of this very generous amount of money with two of the major schools in Nigeria. The schools are Kings College in Lagos and Edo Collegein Benin. We are already in discussion with them and hope toidentify a major project in each ofthem, ” Mr. Reeves said. He said that part of the money would be set aside for scholarshipschemes for the less privileged students. *** This is indeed a laudable donation. God bless the heart of the person that did this. It would go a long way in touching the lives of thousands of students and in turn, generations to come. It however brings the topic of anonymous donations to the fore. Often times, when public figures like politicians, celebrities, business moguls and so on make large donations for charity causes, it makes the news. Sometimes, they are pictured giving these items to the people they are donating them to and gothe extra mile to ensure that the information about their donation gets out on social media, blogs, newspapers, TV and other media. It has been a topic of debate as people argue that donations are best when they aren’t made public. Meanwhile, others say there is nothing wrong with publicizing a donation as long as it gets to the appropriate party and is used for the right cause. What are your views on anonymous versus publicized donations? Are there any right orwrongs ways of making donations?