Rotary Club Donates Exercise Books to Students
Funmi Ogundare
The Rotary Club of Shomolu, District 9110 has donated a total of 10,000 free exercise books to some public schools in Shomolu, as part of its back-to-school project.
Speaking at the programme held recently at Angus Memorial High School, Shomolu, the President of the club, Mr. Lusty Mustapha said the gesture was designed to support them to enable them settle down in school, adding that some parents may not be able to provide exercise books for their children, which will hinder them from concentrating on their studies. “We were able to identify schools in our environment and we look for what we felt they will need when they are going back to school. It could be uniforms, text books or exercise books. This time around, we are giving out exercise books to students to enable them settle down.”
He said the club was motivated to give out the books when it previously offered the same gesture in Igbobi College in April, saying, “we did 1,000 exercise books at the school last month, it was wholesome; this necessitated us to do more. We now went ahead to get 10,000 exercise books so we could reach more students.”
He advised the students to make use of every opportunity to become something better in future and put in a lot of efforts to get to their destination. “We are teaching them so that when they grow up, they will be willing to give to others and realise that it is only through the act of giving that can help our environment. They should also be focused in what they are doing and know that there are people who don’t have, so when they grow up, they can add value to the society rather than hinder the economy,” Mustapha stressed.
He said the club’s other projects include construction of borehole and toilets in schools and communities, as well as immunization of community members.
“Our main objective is to give back to the economy and give health talk to support our community. The impact so far has been very wonderful, it is a small gesture, but the impact has gone a long way from the feedback we get from people. I remember when we did our ‘family health day’, when we brought doctors to do medical test and gave out drugs. It was wonderful to see the impact and people were getting free consultation.”
A past President, Mr. Saheed Ajao, said the initiative was introduced in 2011 when he became president, adding that the idea was to ensure that the ideals of rotary gets to the needy and serve humanity.
“We decided that we should continuously get involved in the distribution of notebooks every year. We have touched schools around Shomolu and Yaba, and ensured that we extend the love within our community first before others.
“We have carried out a survey and realised that at some point, there are students that go to school whose parents cannot afford one or two exercise books and since the idea of rotary is to give back, we want to ensure that those students who don’t have material to work with, get the books.
We want to distribute it straight to the students personally. We have this mind-set that if we give it to the school, it will get to the principals. The ideal of rotary is ‘is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? If it is the truth that we want to distribute these books, is it fair to all concerned? Will the books be getting to those who actually need them? We have also done other projects like borehole outside Shomolu.” L-R: Award Coordinator, Marist Brothers’ Juniorate Old Boys Association, Mr. Collins Ijeoma; the recipient of Leadership Award, Chuka Utahu; members of the association, Mr. Emeka Udemgba; and Mr. Bernard Nzerem, at the association’s 2019 reunion/annual general meeting in Uturu, Abia State… recently