Rotary Invests Adelaja 2017 President

                

                          By Bayo Ogunmupe

    The Rotary Club of Ikeja, Lagos State penultimate Sunday, invested Adeniyi Adelaja as its 51st president of its district. The well attended ceremony was graced by the representatives of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos and the United States ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington. Then, Adelaja inducted his ministers, his 2017 board of directors before giving his inaugural address.

      The installation began with saying the Rotary Grace, the inaugural address and the Guest Speaker's Speech. The guest speaker, Ambassador Symington of the USA was represented by the US commercial counsellor and head of its Lagos consulate, Brent Omdahl, a Mormon American with six children one of whom he adopted from Vietnam. Omdahl's speech was very enlightening. He said Nigeria's population would overtake America's by 2050; that 20 million Nigerians live in the USA and that Nigeria has the fourth largest Diaspora remittances in the world.

    Omdahl said the challenge from our expanding population is that we should make it a dividend rather than a bubble. The kernel of his message is that we must invest on leaders of integrity, quoting the 34th president of the United States, General Dwight Eisenhower on integrity as the soul of leadership to buttress his point.

    In his goodwill message delivered by the Secretary to the Lagos State Government(SSG), Tunji Bello, Governor Ambode was full of appreciation for the efforts of Rotary clubs in the development of Lagos State. Ambode said Rotary clubs' humanitarian activities have impacted positively on the economy of the state. The governor said that in the last 50 years, Rotary clubs have been partners in progress through their development initiatives to alleviate the needs of the Nigerian people. They have complemented government's efforts in the provision of the basic needs and infrastructure, he said.

    Ambode urged Adelaja as the 51st president of the Rotary Club of Ikeja to imitate his illustrious predecessors such as the late Chief Anofi Guobadia, Prince Julius Adeluyi and Chief Bintan Famutimi. The governor solicited the support of Rotary members in the development of Lagos state by keying into their vision of creating a sustainable climate of entrepreneurship and the provision of world class infrastructure.

    As the ceremony drew to a close, Adelaja briefed the press on his plans for the development of Lagos. He said he has six projects in view and craved media support and public cooperation for success. Among his projects are conflict resolution, disease prevention and treatment; water provision and sanitation, vocational training for the unemployed and polio in Lagos state. With a budget of N12.6 million, his immediate projects are provision of adult literacy, renovation of dilapidated classrooms and the donation of furniture to schools.

      Born in November 1969 at Ibadan, Adeniyi Adeola Adelaja graduated with honours in architecture from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso in 1998. He now runs his own interior design and renovation company. He is married to Yetunde Adelaja and they are blessed with two children.