Posted on Sep 20, 2017
 
“Whatever Rotary may mean to us, what it means to the community is what matters a lot”, Pacesetter District Governor, Rotary International District 9110, Nigeria, Rotarian Dr. Wale Ogunbadejo has inspired members of the Rotary Club of Victoria Island East.
 
The District Governor commended the Rotary Club of Victoria Island East on the donations and the laudable projects the club has executed so far during his official visit to the club on Tuesday, September 20, 2017.
 
Rotarian Ogunbadejo made the commendation on his visit to the club’s board meeting and induction of new members, where he was joyfully received by the board members, past Presidents, and other club members, lead by the President, Rotarian Tayo Adebiyi.
 
DG Ogunbadejo, who was accompanied by the District Secretary, Rotarian Segun Adewakun and some other District leaders, while going through the club’s report, described the efforts Rotary Club of Victoria Island East in the area of service programmes as “so much.”
 
“Whatever Rotary may mean to us, what it means to the community is what matters a lot”, the Governor told Rotary Club of Victoria Island East members noting that the club has extensively impacted on the life of people in its immediate community through several meaningful projects.
 
The DG cited some of the projects to include the provision of public toilets at Eleko Beach and refurbishment of Victoria Island Primary School, among other projects that the club has successfully executed, even without global or district grant.
 
However, he advised the club to apply for grants as this will add to their internally generated funds which will then enable them execute bigger projects.
 
The Governor also encouraged them to do more in terms of donations, especially to the Rotary Foundation. They should think out of the box and innovate various ways of generating funds in contribution to the Rotary Polio Foundation from both members and non-members of the club, the DG said.
 
DG Ogunbadejo also identified the major challenge of the club to be membership, while pointing out the need for the club to bring in new members who are professionals in various fields such as Doctors, Lawyers, etc, as this will help to provide the needed expertise in executing projects across various fields of human endeavour.
 
He further encouraged the club to leverage technologies like Skype in engaging members who, for one reason or the other, couldn’t be physically present at meetings.
 
For potential members who may say they are too busy to be active members of the club, the Governor advised the existing members of the club to make the potential members understand that they can join the club as Honorary Rotarians who don’t have to attend meetings but can become corporate partners with the club.
 
According to DG Ogunbadejo, these Honorary Rotarians can attend meetings once in a while and can eventually become active members after some time. He explained that the District has witnessed such situations in some of its clubs including the Rotary Club of Gbagada.
 
The Governor also identified the stagnant number of female members and urged the club to put in more effort in other to bridge the gender gap and also increase the number of members that are between the age brackets of 40 and below.
 
This feat, he said, can only be achieved by bringing in new members and devising new ways of retaining them. “The future of Rotary is in Africa because this is where we have people who are relatively young”, DG Ogunbadejo charged members of Rotary Club of Victoria Island East.
 
Responding to the Governor’s observation, the board members revealed that the club is currently focusing on bringing in new and younger members who wouldn’t have to pay as much as older members, but will have the much needed time for the club activities.
 
The Governor’s visit ended after he shared fellows with the club members, during which he inducted two new and younger members into the Rotary Club of Victoria Island East family.