Isheri North Rotary Club, District 9112 Enthrones Osadebe As President … Unveils Empowerment Programmes

Rotary Club of Isheri North, District 9112 has inaugurated Rotarian Philip Chukwuneme Osadebe as its 6th President for the 2025/2026 Rotary year.

The event, held at Beehive Hall, Alausa, Ikeja yesterday, brought together Rotarians, past presidents, community leaders, family and friends to witness the transition of leadership in the humanitarian organisation.

With the Rotary International theme for the year, “Create Lasting Impact,” Osadebe outlined an ambitious one-year agenda focused on health, education, youth empowerment and community development.

In his inaugural address, Osadebe said his administration will be anchored on service, sustainability and measurable community impact. “I’m the sixth president of this great club inaugurated today. Our theme is “Create Lasting Impact” and we’re going to carry out projects that will impact positively on our community,” Osadebe stated.

He announced a lineup of projects to be executed within the next 12 months. They include: Free cataract surgery; Maternal health outreach for pregnant and nursing mothers; skill acquisition and youth empowerment programmes; Information and awareness hub; career guidance and donation of free books to secondary school students; free health screening and drug administration; Christmas gift bank and carol for vulnerable families; environmental sanitation campaigns, among others.

Osadebe said the club will also prioritise partnerships with corporate bodies and individuals to fund and execute the projects.

The former President, Rotarian Michael Adeleye, charged the new leadership to uphold Rotary’s core values of service and sacrifice. “It has been a great opportunity to serve humanity as a president. Rotary Club has seven areas of focus: peace and conflict prevention, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, economic and community development, and the environment,” Adeleye explained.

He said if one wants to become a Rotarian, “you must have a heart of giving and to serve humanity because there’s a need to help in every community. Not that we have everything, but the little we have we invest it into people. We usually contact friends, family members to support us financially and morally to be able to carry out these projects.”

Adeleye disclosed that during his tenure, the club executed 9 impactful projects in Isheri community, up from the initial target of 7. “We carried out maternal and child health interventions, eye cataract surgeries, built a mega star project, and donated an ICT library to a secondary school, among others. I didn’t do it alone. I had the support of my BoT, other Rotarians, my family, friends and business associates,” he said.

He advised Osadebe to remain focused and resilient. “My advice to the incoming president is to surpass the successes laid down during my tenure. Be resilient, be patient. There’s going to be a lot of trouble coming to your table. The most important thing is for you to be focused. You already have a goal. Work with your BoT around you, otherwise you’ll get distracted,” he said.

The 2024/2025 President, Rotarian Michael Omeihe Jr, who served under the theme “The Magic of Rotary”, delivered a charge on leadership and membership growth.

Omeihe traced the club’s history, noting that Isheri North has had 5 presidents before Osadebe: Rotarian Churchill as chartered president, Rotarian Olugbenga Babayemi, Rotarian Afam Daniel Nwejike, himself, and Rotarian Michael Adeleye. “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 a major priority for the new administration. “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.

Responding to questions on the 12-month 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. If you’re a president, you can never be president again, so that anybody who has capacity can have the opportunity,” he said.

He added 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 prioritise Rotary above every other thing, even your classification, to ensure you deliver within 12 months,” he said.

Omeihe also explained the role of the president-nominee in the Rotary structure. “In our club, the incoming president is the president-nominee who is being ratified today as president-elect. He’s meant to be the service chair of the present president. That means he’s responsible for all the projects this current president will be executing. He’ll 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.