From John Silas, Lagos
It was the first of its kind in Nigeria as one of the foremost clubs; the Rotary Club of Ikoyi deployed Jazz music to create awareness on the dangers of breast cancer and importance of its early detection.
The event termed Jazz Nite which took place at the popular Adenuga Centre, Alliance Francaise, Ikoyi, Lagos State on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, was graced by crème de la crème in District 9110 of Rotary International comprising Lagos and Ogun States, and other men and women of substance in Nigeria were present also.
With the theme of creating Hope in the world Rotary International in 2024, has consistently brought succor to humanity through their various philanthropic and charity interventions in education, environment, maternal and child health, disease detection and treatment, among others.
For Rotary Club of Ikoyi, their Star Project, the breast screening and awareness, is yet another landmark project which is even very dear to the heart of their amiable and indefatigable President, Rotarian Funsho Gbogboade, as she pursues the project with passion within the club’s jurisdiction of Ikoyi/Obalande community.
The Jazz Nite was also organized to bring people of like mind together under the atmosphere of conviviality made easy by Jazz renditions to sensitise them on the dangers of breast cancer and the need to donate their widow’s mite so that the club would be able to continue its star project of offering free breast cancer screening in the area.
The elegant, ebony, waist twisting Yinka Davis with her Jazz Band electrified the Alliance Francaise entertainment theatre, even as the club recognised and presented awards to personalities within and outside the Rotary club, who have contributed or about to contribute significantly to the Foundation.
Rotarian Funsho Gbogboade, the President, Rotary Club of Ikoyi, speaking on the purpose of the Jazz Nite said it was designed to enlighten people about Rotary Club and to also solicit for funds to be able to carry out their star project, the breast screening. “We are here for the main purpose of awareness and support for Rotary Foundation. That is very very key to us, not only that, we are also here to enlighten our friends because we know that they are givers and supporters of Rotary, and as they are here we want them to understand what we do in Rotary. In Rotary we have seven areas of focus, but the main star project of this year which falls under disease prevention and treatment is breast screening.
“We are trusting that after this programme we will be able to be well equipped so that we can be in partnership with LCDA Obalende and then people can benefit by coming there to have their breasts screened so as to detect early whatever ailment or lumps they might have. We have done so many projects but we realise that this particular project is a key factor and we have decided to blow it up, we have decided to help society, we have decided to give the grassroots support that they would appreciate,” Gbogboade stated.
On his part, Jide Akeredolu, Chairman, Rotary Foundation, District 9110, who was the speaker on the night, disclosed that they were at the event to support what Rotary Club of Ikoyi was doing. “We are here in partnership with the Rotary Club of Ikoyi who are presenting their project. Rotarians and friends of Rotarians come together to try and make donations in order that this project is done in the community where they would benefit from it. It is also to promote that spirit of giving, the spirit of charitable giving, which is the backbone of what we do in Rotary. Most of the funds that we use, the projects we do in Rotary are from voluntary donations from Rotarians and friends of Rotary that share the ideals that we profess in Rotary, and they make voluntary contributions and we are able to muster those funds to do projects both locally and worldwide to help in various areas of focus, in education, in health, maternal and child health, protection of the environment, and many other areas where Rotary operates.”
Speaking on what he called levels of giving, he said that people should imbibe the spirit of charitable giving. “People should imbibe the spirit of charitable giving, it fits very well into the most of the major religions we have on earth for now, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and many other religions. Charitable giving is the backbone of most cultures and that is what we are highlighting by mentioning the areas where charitable giving is a cardinal feature in their religions.”
Akeredolu said Rotary International has consistently maintained 4Star rating as organized by Charity Navigator which grades Charity. “There are so many Charities all over the world, thousands and thousands of them and many people who want to give are confused as to who to give to because you don’t know how those charities are run. We are all privy to many badly run charities especially in Nigeria. When you give donations and it ends up in the pockets of those who run those charities, and if you give to some religious organisations it may end up in buying private jets for the owners of those churches. Charity Navigator is there to guide the people who have the will to give but they want to be sure that what they are giving are directed to what they wanted to do. And they grade charities by the number of stars, one star, two stars, three stars and 4 stars which is the maximum, and it is good news that for the last 15 years consecutively the Rotary Foundation has been getting the maximum four stars rating for these 15 years without break.
“To tell you how difficult it is to get the four star rating, I give you the example of American Red Cross, the American Red Cross has been able to get the three star rating, as big and well organized as they are, they have not gotten to that zenith, but Rotary Foundation has been at that zenith for 15 continuous years. That is to tell you that if you contribute to Rotary Foundation your funds would be managed exactly for the purpose that you meant it for,” he asserted.
He admitted that Ikoyi Rotary is one of the biggest clubs in the district. “Ikoyi Rotary is one of the biggest clubs we have in our District, and they have been doing wonderfully well in projects all around the community. I am not surprised that they have chosen the very important area, breast cancer as area of focus this year and, the impact they will have in reducing the incidence and death rate from breast cancer will go a long way in making an impact in their community where they are located.”
Rotarian (Dr) Austin Irabor, the Immediate Past President, Rotary Club of Ikoyi, speaking on the performance of his successor said, she is doing wonderfully well, as I always say, Rotary has the best succession plan in terms of corporate governance, so in whatever we are doing we have a succession plan, even the person who is going to take over from Rotarian Gbogboade is already known, so we have time to work together as a team and plan the year ahead of time. So definitely she has made a great impact diligently and well dedicated to the service of humanity, so I am quite happy with her hard work and commitment.
Irabor spoke on the significance of the use of Jazz in creating awareness. “Jazz is music that is loved all over the world, you can’t dislike Jazz, so we chose Jazz, we could have chosen other genre like Afrobeat, but we said okay Jazz cut across, so those with like minds will like to appreciate the music of Jazz, and Rotarians we like good thinks. That is why we chose to have the Jazz Nite.”
District Secretary, Tayo Adelaja, who represented the District Governor, Rotarian Ifeyinwa Ejezie said, “We are here today to spend this evening of Jazz with the Rotary Club of Ikoyi, the club is using Jazz to create awareness for Rotary Foundation, and to raise funds for Rotary Foundation. Imagine what Jazz does to mental health of any human being, it is massive and it goes a long way to refresh you.”
He said Rotary has seven areas of focus where it concentrates energy in touching the lives of people. “We have basic education and literacy, environment, conflict resolution, maternal and child health, and so on, so specifically the Rotary Club of Ikoyi has chosen disease prevention and treatment as their own area of focus for this year as their star project and going further down within disease prevention they have chosen to do breast cancer awareness, and from what we saw in their documentary, they have done about two exercises of breast cancer where over 500 women have been screened for breast cancer, and according to scientists and medical personnel, early detection of breast cancer should not kill.
“And if you go to the western world, the advanced countries of the world, I am sure nobody dies of things like this any longer because it is detected early and it can be treated. So I therefore, enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians and friends of Rotary to support the Rotary Club of Ikoyi and donate generously so that the work of service would have been carried on till eternity,” he stated.
Some of the personalities honoured during the Jazz Nite include Chief M.I. Okoro; Council Manager, Engineer Thomson, Chairman Hon. Fuad Atanda Lawal; Council Treasurer, Alhaja. Taofeekat Omolara Oshikoya,
Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu represented by Lady Shola Adesina; Iru Chairman, Honorable Rashidat Adu and Dr. Akintayo, LCDA, Ikoyi/Obalende.
