Rotary Club unveils projects for Lagos communities

The newly chartered Rotary Club of Eko Signature has unveiled community projects focused on sanitation, maternal and child health, waste management and economic empowerment as it formally installed its first president in Lagos.

The club, officially chartered on July 28, 2026, has 20 charter members and was created to bring together young professionals interested in community service and sustainable interventions for underserved and vulnerable communities.

The formal installation of Rotarian Davina Ogbue as Charter President, Rotary Club of Eko Signature, also marked the launch of the club’s Eco-Health projects.

According to Ogbue’s charter president’s speech, the vision for the club began in March 2026 with the aim of creating a professional platform where youthful innovation, fellowship and community service could come together.

Speaking on the club’s approach, Ogbue stressed that Rotary’s work extends beyond helping individuals because interventions can benefit entire communities. “Rotary does not just impact one person; it impacts a community,” she noted.

The club’s first project is the Rehabilitation of Sewage and Toilet Facilities at Victoria Island Secondary School. Ogbue disclosed that Dharmattan Nigeria Limited sponsored the project, while Mr and Mrs Molokwu generously donated towards the execution of two projects.

“We do not want to just carry out the project and abandon it and go. We are fully committed to following through over the years to ensure that these projects that we carry out with maintenance are done and they are sustainable over time,” she stressed.

The club’s Project Director, Rotarian Adebayo-Abass, said the interventions were selected within Rotary’s framework, including basic education and literacy, maternal and child health, disease prevention, water, hygiene and sanitation.

The second project targets maternal and child health at Igwefo Health Centre. The club plans to provide blood pressure monitoring machines, glucose monitoring machines, weighing scales, and other medical essentials, as well as improve seating arrangements for antenatal and postnatal sessions.

The third intervention focuses on waste management and drainage. It involves cleaning and desilting an obstructed drainage system, removing non-biodegradable waste, and improving water flow. The club also plans to provide about 100 mosquito nets and more than 50 large waste containers.

The fourth project is an economic empowerment programme targeting individuals who will receive sewing machines and three months of training. “If you imagine you don’t have tailors, of course, I will have clothes to wear too. So we have people; we can’t all be the same,” Adebayo-Abass remarked.

Ogbue disclosed that the club would initially empower seven individuals. “We’re not just giving them this equipment; we’re also going to be extending to them three months’ training, so that they learn and are able to actually make money for themselves and for their families,” she explained.

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Speaking on the significance of the new club, Past District Governor, Rotary International District 9112, Rotarian Kola Sodipo, linked the creation of more Rotary clubs with an expanded capacity to reach people in need.

“What we expect from this Rotary Club is to reach out to more people to join us in Rotary, have more members, and at the same time, reach out to the community to do more good in the world,” Sodipo explained.

On government collaboration, Sodipo said, “The government should look more into addressing the basic needs of the community. And in doing that, Rotary is ready to partner with the government,” he maintained.

At the ceremony, District Governor, Rotary District 9112, Rotarian Layi Abidoye, congratulated the charter members and urged them to remain committed to service and uphold the values of the organisation.

For Ogbue, corporate partnerships will remain central to the club’s funding strategy. She said the club had targeted about N11m from the event and surpassed the target, although the amount raised was not disclosed.

“We are leveraging corporate partnerships. And it’s one of our strategies to raise, in fact, our core strategy to raising funds for our projects,” Ogbue explained.

The club began with 20 members and plans to add about three to five more members by the end of the Rotary year. Beyond its current projects, the club plans to support children from underserved communities with access to basic education and work with a foundation focused on the girl child.

Ogbue described the club’s longer-term objective as delivering projects that remain meaningful and sustainable beyond the tenure of its founding members.

“We do not just want to carry a project and mark it that we have carried that project. We actually want to carry out projects that are meaningful. That actually would live beyond us,” she maintained.

She also called for greater recognition and cooperation from the government, stressing that Rotary’s interventions are intended to complement government efforts.

“Recognition for me. Recognition because once you get recognition, you will have a lot of bodies who would work with us. Partnerships and recognition,” Ogbue appealed.