Omeihe Tasks Rotary Club Of Isheri North New President On Membership Growth, Points Way Forward

The 2024/2025 President of the Rotary Club of Isheri North, District 9112, Rotarian Michael Omeihe Jr, has charged the newly inaugurated president of the club, Rotarian Philip Chukwuneme Osadebe, to prioritize membership growth and impactful service delivery in the 2026/2027 Rotary year.

Omeihe gave the charge at the club’s inauguration ceremony held at Beehive Hall, Alausa, Ikeja, on Saturday, July 25, 2026, where Osadebe was enthroned as the 6th President of the club.

Omeihe whose tenure was renowned and titled “The Magic Year of Rotary”, traced the club’s history, noting that Isheri North has had five presidents before Osadebe. They are: Rotarian Churchill as chartered president, Rotarian Olugbenga Babayemi, Rotarian Afam Daniel Nwejike, himself, and Rotarian Michael Adeleye.

In his advice to the new president he said, “All I have to tell him is he needs to unlearn and relearn. To be a president is service to humanity which means you must be dead to self. The motto of Rotary is Service Above Self. As president you need to be the epitome of that motto,” Omeihe said.

He stressed that Rotary leaders must “lead from the front” and “leaders eat last.”
“In this one year you need to ensure that around the seven areas of Rotary’s focus, you execute a project that will impact the lives of people in the community you serve,” he added.

Omeihe identified membership growth as critical to the club’s future. “Membership is very key for Rotary because we need to grow. Our club was an offshoot of the Rotary Club of Ojodu, so Rotary Club of Ojodu birthed our club. We need to grow in members, we need to grow to become a mega club to be able to birth new clubs. Rotary is over 100 years old because clubs have been able to birth new clubs,” he said.

He urged Osadebe to retain existing members, attract new ones, and work towards chartering a new club. “The incoming president needs to make this part of his priority. He can actually consider chartering a new club, or build on the momentum that will lead to it,” Omeihe said.

On the one-year tenure, Omeihe explained Rotary’s rotational leadership model. “One year seems not enough, but when you look at it, one year is actually enough. Rotary is a wheel. The presidency goes round. Anybody that has the opportunity can lead. Next year, another person comes in. It is a 12-month cycle,” he said.

He noted that this is why the club selects a president with the right capacity to deliver value within 12 months. “It takes exceptional skill. That means you have to prioritize Rotary above every other thing to ensure you deliver within 12 months,” he said.

Omeihe also explained the role of the president-nominee. “In our club, the incoming president is the president-nominee who is being ratified today as president-elect. He is meant to be the service chair of the present president. That means he is responsible for all the projects this current president will be executing. He will supervise all the committees to deliver those projects. This is to prepare him to understand what it means to be a president and the sacrifices to be made,” he said.

With about nine projects lined up for the year, Omeihe said the president-nominee will gain firsthand experience that will make his transition seamless.

The event ended with goodwill messages and renewed commitment from members to support Osadebe’s administration.