Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State will be among the dignitaries expected at the investiture of Mr Sola Akinsiku as the 55th President of the Rotary Club of Ikeja, District 9110, slated for July 10.
Akinsiku, the Group Managing Director, Landmark Media Ltd., said this at a news conference on Thursday in Lagos.
According to him, Oba Victor Adesimbo Kikadejo, the Osemawe of Ondo Kingdom, is among prominent guests who will grace the occasion.
He said Rotary Club of Ikeja had delivered on its mandate through impactful projects and programmes aimed at improving lives.
“It is yet another Rotary year and I wish to state here that we are set to go and do all that is required for us to do, as a club, at every given year.
“The investiture ceremony of the Rotary Club of Ikeja in the 2022/2023 Rotary year, comes up on July 10, where by the grace of God, we shall be witnessing my investiture as the 55th president.
“It is about the first activity after that of the District Governors, which comes up on July 2.
“The investiture signals the beginning of the Rotary year officially. But much more than that, it is also a fund raising avenue.
“People who come, would also be availed the opportunity to know how money collected by rotary is spent on projects we plan to execute and how much is needed for such projects. All these, we will unveil at the investiture.
“At that ceremony, we will be expecting distinguished guests such as Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and the Osemawe of Ondo Kingdom, who will be the royal fathers of the day,” Akinsiku noted.
He added that the area of focus for the Rotary year which had been expanded to seven, was paramount to the club by way of impacting humanity.
“Some years ago, there were just five areas of focus. But as the need arose, Rotary International decided to add another, and another. For instance environment was not there before now, but it has been added. focus.
“It is thinking global and acting local. What is our need in terms of focusing on environment may not be the need in Ghana or any other place.
“Let me quickly add that Rotary is not taking over the responsibility of government or that of parents. Rather, it is only trying to ensure safer and better environment and society,” he said.
Akinsiku listed basic education and literacy, maternal and child Care, peace and conflict resolution, environment, economic empowerment, water and sanitation as some of the focus areas for the 2022/2023 Rotary year.
According to him, the club is committed in developing the mind.
“We need to make education and learning interesting and conducive for our children across board. For instance, in the area of basic education, we renovate schools, build blocks of classrooms, donate books, donate laboratory equipment and furnish ICT laboratories.
“Last year, we donated 22 table tops for children of SOS and a borehole in another school at Olusosun, that cost over N1.1million.
“We do all these things to as much as possible, take out-of-school children back to school.
“Do you know that some children stopped going to school because there are no classrooms?
“They get to school and sit under the tree to learn. So, Rotary now steps into such situation, build a block of classroom and this way, keep them in school,” he said.
The media executive added that the maternal and child care area of focus, was another key area of intervention for the club.
He said that members of the club visit the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) every Christmas to put smiles on children, women and pregnant ones.
According to him, every year, they carry out vaccination for polio eradication and some other diseases.
He noted that the club also played key role in preserving better environment for the society.
“Our environment is our heritage, it is our future. The way we treat our environment, we are also going to be treated the same way by the same environment, tomorrow.
“And so, we engage in tree planting, sanitation, to ensure that the environment is properly taken care of. We also organise seminars, workshops on climate change and how to make the environment friendly.
“Some of the things we are experiencing today by way of climate change, are as a result of the way we treated the environment some years back.
“So, Rotary Club is concerned about the environment. It is saying it needs to be managed so that it will not be hostile to us,” he said.
Akinsiku said that club was also involved in peace and conflict resolutions.
According to him, Rotary Club will not wait for conflicts to escalate in the country, as is obtained in some parts of the world before doing the needful.
“We are not yet in Ukraine. But our hearts goes to them. What we do is to see how conflicts could be resolved before it escalates and so every year, we send students of universities out for training in peace and conflict management, within and outside the country.
“We also send some policemen on such programme, to ensure that our world, our environment, is devoid of conflicts,” he added.
Akinsiku said that the club would confer awards to two prominent Nigerians at the event for their outstanding contributions to the development of education in the country.
The two prominent Nigerians are Dr Biodun Shobanjo, MD Troyka Holdings and Chief Michael Ade-Ojo, the Chief Executive Officer and founder, Elizade University.
