The 58th President of the Rotary Club of Ikeja, Rotarian Lanre Lawal has said that the priority of the club in the 2025-2026 Rotary year is to equip and furnish the vocational training building, donated by the club to Ikeja Junior High School last Rotary year.
Installed as President last Sunday at a colorful event at Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lawal promised that the club would make the facility fully operational.
She said: ‘We plan to install equipment that will support various vocational skills such as tailoring, fashion design, painting, barbing, shoemaking, and electrical works. These are trades that people can actually use to sustain themselves if they don’t secure formal white-collar jobs’.
Accompanied by her amiable husband, Alhaji Samusideen Oyeniyi Lawal, the new President, who is also the second female president of the 58-year-old club, further said: ‘We’re thinking long term. By the time students graduate from secondary school, they will already have marketable skills. Even while at university, they can generate income through these vocations, supporting both their education and their families.
‘We hope this project will birth job creators, not just job seekers, helping to reduce unemployment in the long run. It also allows these young people to give back to their communities as they grow.
‘Additionally, we are committed to supporting economic growth and improving livelihoods through these kinds of initiatives. Beyond that, we have other projects lined up, including the provision of potable water to communities during Rotary’s Water and Sanitation Month’.
The new President, who is a Charter Accountant, also said: ‘I joined Rotary Club of Ikeja in 2015 and 10 years later, God has positioned me as the President of the club. Our club is a very unique club and I am excited to lead the club at this time when we are united to continue to make a difference in the lives of the people. Service to humanity is a continuous process’
Lawal, who is the second female president of the 48-year-old club, was assisted in the inauguration of the club’s Board of Directors for the 2025-2026 Rotary year.
She was installed by some leaders of the club, led by the Doyen of all the Rotary International districts in Nigeria, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, a Past District Governor.
Some of the leaders of the club who were also present included Past Assistant Governor Dipo Onabanjo; Past Assistant Governor Ade Oyenekan; Assistant Governor Tosin Kadiri, Past Presidents Thomas Odegbami, Sola Akinsiku and Emeka Ibe, and Immediate Past President of the club, Kayode Situ.
