From left: Immediate Past President, Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metro, Florence Egbeyemi, New President, Laurine Ubanozie and Chartered President, Dr Mike Ileka at the installation of Rotarian Laurine as the 16th president the club in Lagos, at the weekend.

A financial expert and Executive Director of Heritage Bank Plc, Mr. Jude Monye has said that the world and indeed Nigeria will be a better place if everyone imbibes the spirit of giving and service to humanity for which Rotary Club is known across the globe.

Monye gave this charge when he delivered a keynote address entitled: ‘Giving’ at the official installation and fund raising luncheon of Rotarian Laurine Ngozi Ubanozie as the 16th President of the Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metropolitan, which took place in Lagos during the weekend.

Rotarian Ubanozie, who joined the club in 2017, emerged the President elect July 1, 2017, and is to pilot the affairs of the Club for one year during 2017-2018 Rotary year.

According to him, life will be better for all if everyone not only offers service above self but also subject such acts of giving and service to the four-way test and five avenues of the Rotary Club.

While citing the Bible, he described the act of giving to mean ‘Giving or offering service willingly without compulsion and without expectation’, insisting that all should support the good work of the Rotary Club in putting smiles on the faces of people, especially the less privileged by giving to support such humanitarian services of the Club.

“No one is useless, who lightens the burden of others”, he said emphatically quoting Charles Dickson.

He also said: “Giving ensures that the human race is sustained, giving does not diminish the art of living rather it promotes social connections. We should therefore give not only in terms of funds but also in service to enhance and sustain the social wellbeing of the human”.

Monye, who was before now a Chief Risk Officer at Wema Bank Plc, Citibank Nigeria and Bank PHB, now Keystone Bank Plc respectively with over 26 years of experience in the banking industry commended the Club for it humanitarian services especially in the areas of preserving the environment, providing health and educational services, provision of water and sanitation, among several others and therefore urged Nigerians to support the Club in these humanitarian services.

The newly inducted president in her acceptance speech thanked everyone that contributed in one way or the other to make the event successful, pledging that she would build on the successes recorded by her predecessor.

She hinted that the club under her watch would embark on an aggressive membership drive to ensure that it retains its succession plan, which might not be if new members were not admitted.

According to her, a target of 40 members has already been set for the next one year, disclosing that a total of 30 new members had already joined while five are concluding plans to join, thus leaving a balance of five new members, which must be delivered before the end of her tenure next year.

She also said that the club under her watch will focus on education, youth empowerment through vocational training and mentorship, elimination of the scourge of polio, building and equipping conventional and electronic libraries in secondary schools, donation of books and granting of scholarships to indigent students.

Other programmes include ecological preservation services under which it plans to plant trees to control pollution and flooding.

While pledging to adhere strictly to the Rotary tenets of integrity and accountability, she argued that Nigeria will be a better place if the country is administered the way Rotary carries on with its activities.

Meanwhile, the outgoing President of the Club, Rotarian Florence Egbeyemi, in her farewell speech, said that Rotary is accountable and has integrity, insisting that every money donated to the club must be put into judicious use for the good of humanity and must be accounted for.

She disclosed that during her regime under the 2016-2017 year, the club’s activities centred mainly on enhancing youth education as well as health services not only in Lagos but also in Ogun State.

She listed some of the core projects of the regime to include the donation of beds, bed spread and duvet, among others to the Ikoyi hospital, which had none then as patients were sleeping on the floor.

The Club also donated over 600 sets of chairs and desks to the Army Secondary School, Obalende while over 500 women were taken through cervical cancer checks and other medical tests during which it was discovered that some of them have advanced stages of Hepatises and HIV/AIDS, who are currently undergoing treatment at the expense of the club.

It was also gathered that the club donated over 200 units of rain boots and coats to operatives of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority LASTMA, establishment of two interact chapters of the club in two secondary schools located within the Ikoyi-Obalende axis, having won the Presidential Award for the Rotary International, among several other laurels.

She thanked the other members of the board that worked with her for the team spirit they exhibited, which contributed significantly to the huge success recorded by the club under her leadership.