THE District 9110 of Rotary International has empowered 80 women and youths through its economic and community development programme.
The project, which began on November 14, climaxed with a graduation ceremony at the club’s district office in GRA, Ikeja, where the graduands were presented with certificates of competence.
The District Governor, Pat Ikheloa, who noted that the project was the first of its kind in the district, said the graduands were expected to directly or indirectly act as Rotarians and impart the knowledge they received to those around them.
He urged them to be good citizens and use their attitude to promote their businesses as an international brand.
Ikheloa said: “While I was still a Governor- elect, I had a dream on tackling poverty and eradicating it from our community. The idea is to make people independent in their community. Skill acquisition will go a long way in eliminating poverty in our community.
“We have given them the skills, but yet to empower them. So, this is just the first phase of helping people to fend for themselves. The next edition will hold in March.
“It takes between N180, 000 and N200,000 to equip each of the 100 persons and the resources available still can’t cover what we have. So, we are still raising funds towards that.”
He announced the inauguration of treated water in four communities, stressing that he and his team were in the forefront of eradicating polio in the world and in Nigeria in the next one year.
The Empowerment Committee Secretary, Victoria Kuteyi-Ogundemuren, said what the beneficiaries learnt during the three-weeks’ programme was “about beautifying individuals and the world and impacting additional knowledge and value on others”.
The Chairman, Taiwo Shonubi, urged the participants and their instructors to be members of the 111-year-old club.