The Nation Newspaper

Tag: humanity

  • In service of humanity

    In service of humanity

    The Rotary Club of Festac Central, Lagos, has been chartered. Mrs Anthonia Agugoesi was decorated as its president. NNEKA NWANERI reports.

    IT pays to be good and to wait on the Lord. This maxion holds true for Mrs Anthonia Agugoesi who is now reaping the reward of her good works. The Rotary Club of Festac Central invested her as the first president. The club was also chartered that day.

    In line with the Rotary tradition, members were dressed in either traditional or English attires.

    Despite the rain, which lasted till noon, many guests came to celebrate with her at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Amuwo Odofin, venue of the induction.

    With the hotel decorated in the Rotary colours of blue and yellow, friends and various cliques occupied a table each.

    The District Governor, Dr Kamoru Omotosho, welcomed guests, saying, it is a thing of joy for a mother to have a new child.

    “Having been watching them with keen interest, I see this club is unique with a difference. Their expectation is very high. I see a lot of them adding value to the Rotary and my hopes keep rising for them,” he said.

    The District governor lauded the Rotary Club of Festac for the high quality of preparation and impressive preparation. He urged that because of the essentiality of service to mankind, it is important to use service to thank God so that all can live a fulfilled life.

    Omotosho was charged with the responsibility of performing the task of carrying out the induction and presentation of the club.

    Decked in a black agbada, Omotosho called on Mrs Agugoesi and her team to stand out. They all quietly filed to the front, wearing beautiful smiles. They stood tall and smart before their guests in front of the hall.

    He described the newly-inducted president as one with so much passion for the club.

    “She has been given a role to play having been exemplary in everything the Rotary stands for – strength and substance,”he said.

    After presenting her with a certificate of charter, he wore her the insignia of office and handed her a gong. She later decorated her officers with the Rotary lapel. The members of the board are men and women from various ethnic groups.

    As she performed the task, she spoke to them in low tones: “I give you this to wear with pride and defend what you believe in”. To another, she said: “This pin speaks volumes of who you are and what you believe in anywhere around the world.”

    In her acceptance speech, the new president gave a run down of some of the club’s project it hopes to undertake during her tenure, urging its members to employ prowess in nurturing and growing the club, as well as effective mentoring for members to be retained

    Right after the induction, the guest speaker and Director-General of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr John Isemede, took to the microphone

    He told of where the country was in the past and where it is gradually heading to. He said some actions should be taken lest Nigeria falls, adding that parents should go closer to their children to help them develop their future.

    It was fun all through the evening as the guests held a raffle draw. Many went home with various packages.

  • Service to humanity

    Members of the Pharmaceutical Association of Nigerian Students (PANS), University of Jos (UNIJOS) chapter, have held their maiden pharmaceutical outreach in a rural community in Plateau State. ESTHER MARK (Mass Communication) reports that the undertaking was tagged “community service”.

     

    For more than three hours, residents of Zawan community queued up at the Orphanage and Our Lady of Apostle (OLA) Hospital to benefit from the free pharmaceutical care by students of the University of Jos (UNIJOS).

    As the students arrived, they were welcomed by the locals, who trooped out in their hundreds to be treated freely.The hospital staff gave numbers to the beneficiaries to ensure orderliness.

    The exercise, organised as a community service, was the maiden outreach of the Pharmaceutical Association of Nigerian Students (PANS).

    The journey to Zawan began from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science where the students met with the Dean, Prof John Aguiyi, to showcase items such as syringes, drugs and other health gadgets they were taking on the trip. Afterwards, they hopped into two coaster buses and left for the community with some lecturers.

    As the exercise began, the students, who represented all levels of study, divided the tasks among themselves. Freshers and their colleagues in 200-Level co-ordinated the movement of patients to the Registrars’ Section. The Registrars were 300-Level students, who took the details of the patients, their 400-and 500-Level counterparts were in charge of administering drugs and taking of blood pressures and other preliminary tests.

    Some final year students with the lecturers and the hospital doctors formed the counselling team, which advised patients on health issues.

    As the exercise went on, officials of Dufil Prima Foods Ltd, manufacturer of Indomie, came with plates of cooked noodles for the patients.

    At the end of the two-day free health mission, about 540 patients were treated. Complex cases were referred to teaching hospitals for further treatment.

    Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, Dr Ignatius Okafor, a lecturer, said peptic ulcer, malaria and hypertension were some of the ailments recorded, adding that anti-ulcer drugs, anti-malaria and antibiotic drugs were given free to the diagnosed patients.

    Okafor said some of the patients suffered preventable ailments because of malnutrition and stress. Some of the ailments, he said, could have degenerated into serious health problems because of inadequate healthcare facilities in the rural area. The don urged the government to step up its rural care campaign by providing comprehensive health facilities and rehabilitation for the vulnerable.

    Some of the participants told CAMPUSLIFE their experience. Dalang Simdi, 300-Level student, said: “It has been a wonderful experience for me. Despite the language barrier, we were able to rescue some of the rural dwellers from untimely death because many of them did not notice the kind of disease they were carrying could have led to death. I will participate again if the exercise comes next session.”

    A patient, Roseline Thomas, 40, who was diagnosed of high blood pressure and sight problems, said after she was given free drugs: “I thank you people so much. God bless you for treating my baby and I. God will reward your good work. I am so grateful.”

    The PANS president, Paul Ikechukwu, described the organisation of the programme as challenging and rigorous, thanking all the sponsors and pharmaceutical bodies that donated drugs and hospital gadgets for the mission.

    To end the outreach, the association visited the orphanage home within the hospital, where it donated items including cartoons of Indomie noodles, groundnut oil, toiletries and food Items.