By Christine Onwuachumba
On Sunday, October 15, 2017, Lions Club International, District 404 A1, formally inaugurated Olatunbosun Okpeseyi as the new district governor for the 2017-2018 Lion Year.
The event, which was held at the NAF Officers’ Mess, Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, attracted some eminent personalities, including Mrs. Bintu-Fatima Tinubu, the Iyalode of Lagos, Mrs Omolara Fashola, mother of the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Ambassador Segun Akinsanya, Archbishop Magnus Atilade and a representative of the Oba of Lagos.
The occasion also doubled as a fundraiser aimed at enabling the new governor to hit the ground running with regard to the district’s projects for the new Lion Year.
Okpeseyi, a director at Lord’s Cowries Limited, was voted to serve the remaining part of the term of his predecessor, Chief Olushola Dada, who died in July.
Immediate past District Governor, Ayodele Ajayi, in his valedictory speech, enumerated the achievements of the last Lion Year, including increased membership, formation of three new quality clubs and the inauguration of two landmark projects. These, he said, were the Oluwatoyin Lions Activity Centre, costing over N100 million, and the new ophthalmology department at the General Hospital, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
Ajayi commended the efforts of members of the club, especially in the area of the centennial challenge and legacy projects. He appreciated their tenacity through service to their communities despite the recession that was witnessed for most of the past year.
In his acceptance speech, Okpeseyi outlined the projects before the club, which included 20 cornea transplants, 100 cataracts surgeries and procurement of Braille machines. Other undertakings are provision of 1,000 customised bedsheets for displaced persons following the flood disaster in Benue, as well as enlightenment and awareness campaigns for diabetes and paediatric cancers and clean water programme. It was learnt that the projects for District 404 A1 for the year would cost at least N25 million.
In his speech, H.O.B. Lawal, a past international director of the club, declared his confidence in the new district governor.
“He is an experienced Lion of many years’ standing who has passed through the mill of leadership, having served in various capacities in successive district administrations spanning over a decade,” Lawal said.
One of the highlights of the day was a musical interlude by The Jesus People Enabled Band, a group of visually impaired musicians that performed to a standing ovation. They were presented with white canes in commemoration of the October 15 International White Cane Day.
The day also featured a lecture about cornea transplant by Dr. Mosun Faderin.