Event
DG Abidoye Praises Ikoyi Metro for $136,000 Polio Eradication Donation
Rotary District 9112 Governor commends Ikoyi Metro as the award-winning club outlines fresh community goals for the new Rotary year
Rotarian Layi Abidoye, District Governor of Rotary International District 9112, on Tuesday visited the Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metro in Victoria Island, Lagos, commending the club’s leadership, organisational culture and commitment to service as it begins another Rotary year following an exceptional award-winning campaign.
Also read: Rotary District 9112 Begins New Era Under Layi Abidoye
The visit, held at BWC Hotels on July 7, made Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metro the second club in District 9112 to host the newly installed District Governor, just three days after he assumed office as the district’s third governor, succeeding Rotarian Lanre Adedoyin.
During Abidoye’s visit to Ikoyi Metro, the District Governor reviewed the club’s administrative workbook, assessed its achievements from the previous Rotary year and discussed its strategic priorities for the months ahead.
Abidoye praised the club’s unity and professionalism after examining its records and listening to presentations from members, describing the organisation as one that had laid a strong foundation for sustained impact.
Assistant Governor Dr Laurine Ubanozie, who chaired the District Governor’s Visit Planning Committee and also serves as the club’s Learning Facilitator and Sergeant-at-Arms, credited teamwork for the successful event despite a compressed preparation period.
“I rate this year’s DG visit ninety per cent, to be fair to myself,” Ubanozie said.
“Planning started late, but teamwork came into play. Everyone pulled their strength, time and commitment together within the shortest possible period. We woke up to the responsibility that the District Governor was visiting us, and I am happy that nothing we had lined up was left undelivered.”
Immediate Past President Alex Chukwu reflected on the club’s remarkable performance during the previous Rotary year, attributing its success to collective leadership rather than individual accomplishment.
“I feel elated that the global and district recognitions the club received happened during my tenure,” Chukwu said. “But this is not about me alone. I worked with people and only provided the leadership required, and I was able to motivate people to get the desired result.”
Chukwu disclosed that Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metro emerged first in seven out of 10 major award categories after an assessment involving more than 90 clubs across District 9112, while placing second in two other categories.
The club also recorded the district’s highest contribution to the PolioPlus campaign, donating US$136,000, while Chukwu emerged the highest individual donor during the Rotary year.
“There was no magic formula, only intentionality,” Chukwu said. “At the start of the year, our Public Image Director, Rotarian Toyin Ojo, told me she wanted the club to come first in public image. She worked towards it and achieved it.”
Past District Governor Ify Ejezie described the recognition as a proud moment for the club and expressed confidence that the achievements could be sustained.
“I am elated that our club came best overall in the last Rotary year, and glad the District Governor and his team were able to visit us,” Ejezie said.
“We did not let him down. We stayed true to our slogan, the Pride of Rotary, and I am confident we will repeat the feat, if not surpass it, this Rotary year.”
Club President Emeka Nwosu said the visit established an important benchmark for the new Rotary year, noting that the District Governor commended the club’s sustainability plans while offering guidance on areas requiring further improvement.
“Today is significant, as we have started the new Rotary year with an impactful visit from our District Governor, Layi Abidoye, in line with Rotary’s ethics and standards,” Nwosu said.
“He reviewed our workbook and commended the club for its culture and sustainability plans, while advising us on areas to improve. He also commended us for being the first club to pay our District dues.”
President-elect Anita Ugochukwu also attributed the club’s continued success to its collaborative culture.
“Everyone at Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metro is in sync, as we align with the vision we have set,” Ugochukwu said. “It is easy to fit in here because it is about everybody’s ideas, not one person’s idea.
The success we see today is a collective effort.”
One of the visit’s notable highlights was the club’s continued investment in education.
In keeping with its longstanding tradition, Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metro presented ₦250,000 scholarships to each of its three adopted public schools:
Ireti Senior Secondary School, Girls’ Secondary Grammar School and Government College, bringing the total educational support announced during the visit to ₦750,000.
The scholarships reinforced the club’s focus on community development, complementing its wider humanitarian activities beyond recognition and awards.
Abidoye’s visit also reflected the broader vision he has outlined for Rotary International District 9112.
The District Governor has prioritised the establishment of a specialist eye hospital in Imota, teacher training programmes across Lagos and Ogun states, and the creation of a media centre to amplify Rotary’s humanitarian work and public engagement.
Rotary International is a global service organisation with more than 1.4 million members committed to addressing challenges in healthcare, education, peacebuilding, economic development and disease prevention through volunteer-led community projects.
District 9112 oversees Rotary clubs across Lagos and Ogun states, where members implement initiatives aligned with Rotary’s international mission.
Having concluded the previous Rotary year as the district’s overall best-performing club, Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metro now faces the challenge of sustaining its impressive record.
Also read: Olutoyin Odulate Assumes Office as 66th Rotary Club of Lagos President
Members expressed confidence that maintaining the standards that earned widespread recognition, while expanding community impact, would remain the club’s defining objective in the year ahead.
Event
Seyi Tinubu Colloquium: To Unlock Youth Potential, Public Policy Must Align with Private Capital – Obasa
The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Dr Mudashiru Obasa, has called for an aggressive and deliberate alignment between public policy and private capital as the surest path to unlocking the full potential of Nigeria’s youth population.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the inaugural edition of The Seyi Tinubu Colloquium held in Lagos on Monday, October 12, at the Eko Convention Centre, Victoria Island, the long-serving lawmaker insisted that tomorrow has already arrived for the next generation. Therefore, he continued,
structural inclusion is no longer a political favour but an urgent economic necessity.
Obasa said, “The theme of this first edition – Shaping the Future Together – is both an intellectual blueprint and an urgent governance directive. It acknowledges an undeniable reality: we cannot architect a sustainable, prosperous future if we lock the very visionaries of that future out of the room today.”
He maintained that political rhetoric has for too long comforted young people with the cliché that they are the leaders of tomorrow, but that the nation no longer has the luxury of waiting for the future.
Speaker Obasa directed a sharp call to action at the captains of industry, policy makers, tech ecosystem builders, and media executives, noting that government alone cannot carry the weight of national transformation. He challenged corporate leaders to view the country’s brilliant young minds not merely as consumers or an audience, but as venture partners.
He urged the private sector to move beyond traditional Corporate Social Responsibility activities and commit to deep, structural investments in early-stage equity, institutionalised mentorship infrastructure, and high-impact incubators. Such investments, he said, must be deliberately matched by enabling public policies if they were to scale and endure.
Highlighting his legislative track record in the nation’s economic hub, the Speaker noted that the Lagos State House of Assembly, particularly, has consistently refused to be a passive bystander.
The Assembly, he said, has deliberately driven funding into localised tech hubs, expanded digital literacy, and created environments where young entrepreneurs can thrive without systemic bottlenecks.
He pointed to critical frameworks such as the Lagos State Wealth Fund and the progressive work on the Lagos Innovation Bill as concrete examples of public policies designed to complement and attract private capital.
While commending the host, Seyi Tinubu, for his ingenuity and foresight in establishing the colloquium as a vital cross-generational bridge, the Speaker concluded that the true success of the maiden edition will not be measured by the eloquence of speeches, but by the velocity and volume of actions and its ability to serve as an incubator for strategic public-private alliances.
The Seyi Tinubu Colloquium is an annual high-level intellectual platform designed to foster national development through public-private synergy and cross-generational leadership.
Centred around the themes of leadership, patriotism, innovation, enterprise, and collaboration, the inaugural edition brought together corporate titans, policymakers, and next-generation innovators, among others, to co-create actionable blueprints for economic self-reliance, technological inclusion, and sustainable national progress.
Organisers of Real Talk With Kike have unveiled a high-profile lineup of speakers for the programme’s seventh anniversary celebration, which will also commemorate ace broadcaster Kikelomo Atanda-Owo Abati’s more than 20-year journey in the Nigerian media industry.
The milestone event will hold on October 10, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos, bringing together leaders from government, business, media and culture for conversations on Nigeria’s future.
Leading the keynote sessions are Dr Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat, Deputy Governor of Lagos State, and Mr Vlassis Liakouris, Group Managing Director of Mandilas Group Limited.
Also confirmed as distinguished speakers are Mr Kola Adesina, Group Managing Director of Sahara Group, and Dr Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, Founder of Rise Network, while Mrs Bola Adesola, Chairman of the Board of Ecobank Nigeria, will deliver the goodwill message.
The speakers will engage the theme, “The Future of Nigeria: Where Leadership, Innovation, Culture and Media Converge to Shape Nation Building,” exploring how governance, enterprise, innovation and storytelling can shape national development.
According to the organisers, the theme reflects the philosophy that has defined Real Talk With Kike over the past seven years as a platform for meaningful conversations on leadership, society, business, relationships, culture and contemporary issues affecting Nigeria.
For Kikelomo Atanda-Owo Abati, the celebration marks two significant milestones. Beyond the programme’s seventh anniversary, it also celebrates more than two decades of broadcasting, making the occasion a tribute to longevity, impact and the power of dialogue.
The multidisciplinary speaker lineup mirrors the event’s nation-building focus. Hamzat is expected to share perspectives on public leadership and governance, while Adesina and Liakouris will discuss private-sector leadership, enterprise and innovation. Akerele-Ogunsiji will contribute insights on education, youth development and innovation, with Adesola bringing the perspective of corporate governance and financial-sector leadership.
The October gathering is expected to attract policymakers, business executives, media personalities, creatives and guests who have been part of the Real Talk With Kike journey since its inception, reinforcing its reputation as one of Nigeria’s leading platforms for thought-provoking conversations.
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