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By Sunday Ani
On Sunday, September 25, the Rotary Club of Greenfield, Okota, Isolo, Lagos State, officially joined other Rotary clubs in Nigeria, as its pioneer executive, under the leadership of the chartered president, Francis Opute, was installed. The investiture attracted families, friends and lovers of the club and its activities from across Lagos and beyond.
The beautifully decorated hall was filled to capacity with guests, who were treated to melodious tunes by Ay Sax, the popular saxophonist. It was, indeed, an evening to remember as there was enough to eat and drink for guests and members.
Opute said the event was significant because a new chapter of Rotary had been born in Okota and its environs. He explained that the club’s name, Greenfield, is just a mere coincidence with the Greenfield Estate in Okota, as the club was for everybody in the neighbourhood, including those who are far off.
He called on those who live in the estate and its environs and even far off to join Rotary and know what it feels like, even as he assured that anybody that joins Rotary Club would never regret. “This is because Rotary is a beautiful place to be. In fact, it is a new tribe in the world because once you join it you become a member of any other club in the world,” he added.
Speaking on the theme of the event, “Imagine Rotary,” he said: “It simply means that without Rotary in the world a lot of people would have suffered. Imagine that Rotary is helping thousands of people, helping people in the hospital and doing so many wonderful things and humanitarian activities that you can imagine. That is just what the theme is all about.”
Expressing his joy over the number of membership that the Club has already attracted within a short time, he said: “I feel fantastic and overwhelmed because I have never seen any club whose investiture is as massive as this. We are exactly two years and two weeks old but we are already over 65. There are clubs that have existed for over 30 years and they don’t even have up to 50 members. I think it is a new thing to happen in the Rotary world.”
Also in his brief comment, the installation committee chairman, Nnanna Nwakamma, welcomed everyone, describing it as a memorable occasion. “This occasion is memorable because this is the first outing for the Rotary Club of Greenfield. We have come to celebrate the birth of a new Rotary Club,” he stated.
As part of the activities lined up before the investiture, members of the club converged on a hotel the previous day to look at the issue of conflict and its management.
Speaker after speaker including Opute, Nwakamma and others, took turns to speak on the best way to avoid conflict and live in peace with one another. They all agreed that to prevent conflict is far better than to resolve or manage it.
According to Nwakamma, “conflicts arise because of personal interest. When personal interest is above public interest, conflict is bound to set in and because in Rotary, the slogan is service above self, conflict hardly arises. So, we are saying that conflict is not good and all hands must be on deck to prevent it rather than resolve or manage it when it happens.”
They also visited the Open Arms of Mercy Orphanage, Okota, where they donated various items, tubers of yam, bags of rice, cartons of noodles, cartons of biscuits and toiletries, among others.
