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Tag: ROTARY

  • Missouri Gov lauds Nigerian Rotary scholar, Ayinla

    Missouri Gov lauds Nigerian Rotary scholar, Ayinla

    The Governor of the State of Missouri, United States of America, Mike Parson, has commanded a Nigerian, Muritala Ayinla of the University of Central Missouri for winning the prestigious Duane R. Sterling Rotary International Scholar.

    Speaking with the Rotary scholar at a meeting held at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri, Governor Parson welcomed Ayinla to the seat of the Missouri General Assembly and the executive branch of government of the state of Missouri and congratulated him for being a good ambassador of the University of Central Missouri and Nigeria.

    Governor Parson stated that the United States creates an enabling environment for growth and actualisation of dreams.

     “You are welcome to the United States and the Missouri Capitol. Congratulations on being a Rotary Scholar! The US serves as a land of hope for many. I will like you to meet Vivek Malek, the State Treasurer. Vivek came into the United States with just $300; he is today the state’s Chief Financial Officer. So, you will be great in the United States,” Parson said.

    Read Also: Rotary solicits funds, honours three at event

    The governor, who also described the Executive Director for Governmental Relations at the University of Central Missouri, David Pearce, as a great man and an outstanding former lawmaker in the state, said the state would always appreciate his contributions in the legislative arm of government.

    While hosting Ayinla in his office, the Missouri State Lieutenant-Governor, Mike Kehoe, congratulated the Nigerian for winning the prestigious Duane Sterling Scholarship, saying it gladdens his heart to see organisations making positive impacts on the lives of the people.

    “You have given me hope, too; we are glad to have you in Capitol. I will give you a challenge coin as a symbol of support and encouragement. Go and become a great guy. It was a pleasure to have you at the Capitol; I am delighted to have you in my office,” Kehoe said.

    On his part, Ayinla, a former Nigerian journalist who is pursuing a post-graduate degree in Technology Management at the University of Central Missouri, emerged as the recipient of the much-coveted Duane Sterling Rotary Scholarship for the 2023–2024 academic session. The scholarship, which is sponsored by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International in conjunction with the University of Central Missouri Foundation, is designed to increase the number of trained professionals who, through education, will be prepared to devise, plan, and implement strategies and solutions to identified issues in developing and emerging countries.

  • Rotary International president seeks nationwide expansion of family reproductive health project

    Rotary International president seeks nationwide expansion of family reproductive health project

    President of Rotary International (RI), Gordon Mclnally, has advocated for the expansion of the maternal and child advancement project of the organisation to the 36 states of the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The three-year Rotary International project with the theme: “Together for Healthy Families in Nigeria” is currently being implemented in six states.

    The RI President McNally, who is visiting Nigeria for the first time, made the call in Abuja on Saturday during a Rotary Community Dialogue held at the Kuchingoro Primary School.

    He also said Nigeria must continue to sustain its surveillance strategy to ensure that the country remains polio-free.

    Mclnally who described the “Together for Healthy Families in Nigeria” project as “wonderful” said its impact should be felt across the country.

    McNally said: “One of the things that we need to continue doing (in Nigeria) is to be vigilant and to continue our surveillance to ensure that Nigeria remains polio free. But also the project we are visiting here today is a wonderful project.

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    “It’s a multifactorial project. It’s a project improving families here in Nigeria. And of course, it’s doing that by giving women access to reproductive advice, giving women access to contraception, encouraging the men in their lives to be part of that decision-making process, and it’s also encouraging pregnant women to take good care of themselves during their pregnancy and then at the point of delivery.

    “Because as we know, many women continue to have babies at home, and that is where the mortality is highest. If these ladies can have their babies and deliver their babies safely in a clinic environment, then the chances of them suffering the ultimate of losing their life, suffering in the delivery, and the possibility of the babies being delivered stillborn or losing their lives in an early stage is very much reduced.

  • Rotary solicits funds, honours three at event

    Rotary solicits funds, honours three at event

    Rotary Club of Onigbongbo in Lagos State has solicited funds to enable it complete  projects and programmes.

      It gave awards to three Nigerians: National Representative and President of All Inner Wheels in Nigeria, Mrs Osenike Ajadi; founder/Chief Executive Officer of GoldCard Ventures, Mrs Adejumoke Odulaja; and retired Chief Superintendent of Police, Mrs Abimbola Sorinolu.

    Read Also: Rotary inducts president, honours Babalola, others

     Club President, Razaq Salau, spoke at Super Thursday/Rotary Foundation Nite in Ikeja, Lagos.

    He listed the projects as a N65 million health centre at Irawo, Ikorodu, construction of toilets at Oshodi Model Primary School and Estate Primary School, Ogba, Ikeja.

    He said the health centre would be completed in May.

    Salau said the awardees gave to humanity; Ajadi, retired nurse, touched lives during her work and ‘’through her scholarship, Odulaja, a lawyer, did humane work in Inner Wheel.

     Ajadi thanked the club for the honour.

     Guest speaker, Layi Abidoye, 9112 Governor-Nominee-Designate (DGND), who spoke on ‘’the good work of Rotary’’, urged Nigerians to donate to the club to enable members to do more.

    “There is opportunity for us to assist the less privileged by donating to Rotary Foundation – for the money to be used for specific purposes,’’ he added.

  • Rotary inducts president, honours Babalola, others

    Rotary inducts president, honours Babalola, others

    The Rotary Club of Ado-Ekiti,  District 9125, Ekiti State, has installed Akinwale Olasusi as its 41st president.

    Speaking at his investiture, he pledged to work for the development of the club and betterment of the society.

    He said he would continue the club’s tradition of serving humanity and helping the less privileged, especially giving hope to the hopeless and providing quality education for youths.

    Olasusi added that during his tenure, essential projects with lasting impacts on humanities and communities would be executed.

    He thanked members for the confidence reposed in his leadership and promised to build on the achievements of his predecessors.

    Read Also: Rotary club holds seminar for officers

    At the event, awards of excellence were bestowed on the wife of renowned legal icon, Chief Modupe Babalola, senators Michael Bamidele, Yemi Adaramodu, Air Vice Marshall Adeniyi Ojuawo (rtd), Erelu Kemi Elebutte-Halle and Tope Ogunleye for their contributions to the development of the society.

    Other personalities given awards were Ekiti Commissioner for Environment, Tosin Aluko, Prof. Femi Akinwumi, Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board, Ekiti State and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Prof. Tajudeen Opoola.

    Babalola thanked Rotary Club for the honour bestowed on her and pledged to be more dedicated to human and societal development.

  • Rotary holds seminar for officers

    Rotary holds seminar for officers

    Rotary District 9111 is training leaders under its District Team Training Seminar (DTTS) series for 2024/2025.

     District Governor-elect, Dr.Wole Kukoyi said the training would hold from March 2-3 at Orchid Hotel, Lekki Lagos.

     Kukoyi added the Presidents-elect Training Seminar (PETS) for club presidents would hold from April 5-7 at this same venue.

    Read Also: Obasanjo lauds Rotary Clubs Int’l

     He added District Training Assembly (DTA) for officers would follow between April 19 and 20, also at the same venue.

    Past District Governor, Omotunde Lawson, District 9111 Learning Facilitator, Kukoyi added, would lead resource persons.

  • ‘Rotary assets worth over $2.5b’

    ‘Rotary assets worth over $2.5b’

    The assets and investments of Rotary Foundation has grown to over $2.5billion, a Past District (9110) Governor (PDG), Kola Sodipo, has said.

    Of this amount, he said Nigeria has benefited from projects worth $300million from the foundation, which is the charity arm of Rotary International.

    He spoke during the ‘Super Thursday’ hosted by the Rotary Club of Onigbongbo, at Ikeja GRA, Lagos.

    Sodipo, who was the guest speaker, spoke on “Rotary Foundation Basics”.

     He said the foundation grew out of an endowment fund created in 1917 with the motto: “Do good to the world.” It made its first donation of $500 to crippled children.

    Later, the Paul Harris Memorial Fund was developed to immortalise the founder of Rotary in 1947 and they merged it the endownment.

    The seed fund, he continued, started with a mere $26.50 but that later “contributions began pouring in” and that with prudent management and care,  it metamorphosed into a global foundation.

    In the United States, he noted, a charity assessment organisation, Charity Navigator, has given the foundation a clean bill of health for 14 years, with a four-star rating, the highest by any non-governmental organisation (NGO) in the U.S.

    Sodipo explained that the foundation has seven focal areas: promotion of peace, fighting of diseases, and provision of clean water. Others are saving mothers and children, support for education and the environment and growth of local economies.

    Relatedly, the foundation’s main mission, the PDG further said, is the eradication of poverty, improvement of health and advancement of goodwill and peace.

    Read Also: Rotary Club installs Oyebamijo as president

    To execute its projects, the foundation offers grants to clubs, which are expected to match them with their counterpart funding. Since 1985, it has spent $1.5billion on its flagship project, the eradication of polio worldwide, he added.

     On how the foundation generates its huge funds, Sodipo said they come from Rotarians, non-members, organisations and the government. He cited the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as an example of a good donor.

    Sodipo urged Nigerians to donate generously to the foundation, adding that they would benefit more from it. Also, he advised Rotarians to continue to donate to the foundation if they want to execute big projects in their areas. An active member is the one who always donates, he said. He tasked the club on funds drive and that they appoint a member to be in charge of it.

    He challenged them to join the major donor group who are expected to donate $2,500 between next year and 2025.

    President, Rotary Club of Onigbongbo, Rasaq Salau pledged the club’s support for the foundation.”This year (2023/24), our goal for Rotary Foundation will be achieved. We are passionate about it,” he added.

  • Rotary lifts Lagos general hospital 

    Rotary lifts Lagos general hospital 

    The Rotary Club of Abule-Egba Metropolitan has donated medical items to the Orile Agege General Hospital, Lagos.

    The items include stainless baby cots, mattresses and phototherapy light.

    The club’s President, Raphael Oyebamijo, said the donation was executed under its Child and Health project. Earlier, he said, the club dispatched its team to the hospital to do a needs assessment and that they found out that its management needed these items for children.

    Oyebamijo, while asking the hospital management to make judicious use of the products, said this was the beginning of more good things to come and a longer relationship. “This is the first time we are donating to Orile-Agege General Hospital. It is from the club to the society. It is a yearly programme that we must take part in at all cost,” he added.

    The hospital’s Head of Clinical Services, Dr. Taiwo Oluyemi, praised Rotary for the gesture. “We celebrate you on this project. We appreciate what you have donated. It will help us to render better services,” she said.

    Dr. Oluyemi, who represented the Medical Director/CEO of the hospital, also said the hospital had restrategised and restructured for quality  service delivery.

    Read Also: Rotary Club of New Lagos gets third president

    She urged the Rotarians to visit the hospital wards to see things for themselves and the buildings that understood construction and renovation  and how they could help them, adding that they would boost patients’ treatment and were doing everything possible to boost it.

     Also, Dr. Oluyemi asked Rotary to donate incubators to the hospital to enable more premature babies to live. She said gone were the days when people thought such babies could not survive because of their condition.

    She said with more incubators, all things being equal, their chances of surviving were high.

    At the event were the club’s past presidents Adelusi Adeniyi; Alhaja Bolanle Ogunleye and Yomi Aderibigbe.

    Others were a senior medic in the hospital, Dr. Temidire Akinola; Apex Nurse, Kemi Adeyinka and Head of Medical Social Service, Miss Aderonke Adeluyi.

  • Rotary Club of New Lagos gets third president

    Rotary Club of New Lagos gets third president

    Mrs. Omolara Ojo has been elected president of the Rotary Club of New Lagos, Ikeja. She is the club’s third president.

    A 12-man Board of Directors, Committee chairpersons were inducted, and awards were presented to distinguished personalities.

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    Ojo said it was a great honour and privilege to stand before eminent people as the third president of the club. She thanked her mentors at Rotary Club and other members, as well as friends who exhibited leadership style worthy of emulation and shaped her life. 

    She said she was sure she would succeed, considering the positive spirit that pervaded the atmosphere of Rotary Club of New Lagos, Ikeja. 

    Former president Olumide Lawal congratulated Ojo ‘as she takes the club to another level’, and promised to support her.

    The investiture was attended by over 50 Rotarians, Rotaractors, friends and guests of the club from Nigeria and other parts of the world.

  • Pomp as Rotary marks 40th anniversary, reiterates commitment to service delivery

    Pomp as Rotary marks 40th anniversary, reiterates commitment to service delivery

    Penultimate Saturday will go down in the annals of the Rotary Club of Opebi under the District 9110 as a memory to remember as the club feted members of the community.

    The occasion was the commemoration of the Club’s 40th anniversary celebration.

    Speaking at the event, the District Governor, Rtn Ifeyinwa Rita Ejezie said Rotary Club being one of the world’s biggest non-governmental organisations, has impacted positively to humanity with life changing projects covering health infrastructure provision and medical assistance.

    “We are serving humanity, creating hope to the hopeless in the world. We are putting smiles on the faces of those that have lost hope and our integrity, transparency and accountability continue keeping us together since the establishment of the Rotary Club 118 years ago.

    Read Also: Rotary, Lagos promote basic education

    While commending the Opebi Rotary Club for touching the lives of people positively, Rtn Ejezie said Rotarians are humanitarian service providers who believe in making life better for the less-privileged in the society.

    In his welcoming address, the Club President, Rtn Femi Olaleye, said the entire members of Opebi Rotary Club would continue to remain loyal and grateful to the funding leaders, saying putting ‘service above self’ has been the guiding principle of the club over 118 years of existence.

    “As we reflect on the journey that brought us to this moment, let’s cherish our executed projects, bonds of friendship and the lives we have touched through our collective efforts. Our 40 years of service has been a testament to the enduring spirit of Rotary,” Rtn Olaleye, added.

    The Chairman of the occasion, Dr Godwin Ehigiamusoe, appreciated Rotarians for using their resources to cater for the well-being of the uncommon people in the society.

  • Rotary, Lagos promote basic education

    Rotary, Lagos promote basic education

    • Hold quiz contest

    Six clubs in Rotary International District 9110, in conjunction with the Lagos State Government, has stressed the need to hone the skills of pupils through quiz competitions.

    They are the Rotary Clubs of Gbagada, Gbagada South, Ikorodu Metropolitan, Maryland, Ikeja, Onigbongbo and Akute. They sponsored the grand  finale of the competition with the state government at the Rotary Centre, Ikeja.

    Ten schools in the state Education District Two made it to the finals of the  competition, which started at the zones in September. They were  Government  Senior Model College, Evans Adelaja Girls Secondary School, Oworonsoki, Ajegunle Senior High School, Ogudu Senior High School, Ipakodo Senior High School, Lanre Awolokun High School, Gbagada, Community Senior High School, Wasinmi, Jagunola Girls Senior High School, Kosofe Senior College and Ojota Senior High School.

     Three pupils represented their schools. They were tested in Maths, English Language, Economics, and Information Communication Technology (ICT).  Others were Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Current Affairs. Each school answered 30 questions.

    At the end of the keenly contested event, which lasted over two hours, Evans Adelaja Girls Secondary School came top with 39 marks. It was followed by Government Senior Model College and Lanre Awolokun High School with 35 marks each.

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    The first position winner was represented by Miss Okegbola Treasure, Adeniran Favour and Michael Dolapo. Dolapo expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the contest. She said the preparations for it gave them the opportunity to learn more.

    Coordinator of the competition, Rotarian Afolabi Olusamu, also expressed satisfaction with the programme, which, he said, started in the  2017/2018 academic year. He said the event is held every September to commemorate Rotary’s Basic Education and Literacy Month. This year, he added, the first winners got iPad phones; others phones, and the participants received Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionaries. Quiz Master, Bello Ahmed, praised the programme, saying that the contestants gave a good account of themselves, indicating that they were well prepared. He announced that from next year, no SSS Three pupil would be allowed to take part in the programme.

    A representative of the state Education District Two, Olowo Kehinde Bunmi, thanked Rotary for partnering the government on the hosting of the programme to promote education.

    Earlier, the President, Rotary Club of Maryland, Victor Anosike, their objective was to motivate the pupils in their studies, adding: “If you don’t win, don’t lose hope. Prepare for next year.”

    RI District 9110 Governor, Rita Ifeyinwa Ejezie, said the programme would assist to task the pupils in preparing very hard, noting a pupil should be an all-rounder in academics. She enjoined them to go and win.