Politicians urge colleagues to serve beyond office

Political stakeholders, including lawmaker James Faleke and the Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Works, Dr. Adekunle Olayinka, have called on other well-meaning stakeholders in the political space of the country to join the course to serve humanity.

The duo made the call among other politicians gathered at the Charter Presentation of the Rotary Club of Dideolu Golden and the 20th Anniversary of the Rotary Club of Omole Golden on Sunday.

They called on their counterparts within the political space to join the necessity of greater commitment to the service of humanity, particularly in addressing critical needs when the country is experiencing a downturn.

They mentioned that while political office demands service to the public, there was more that could be contributed individually by stakeholders to form a stronger collective to help society.

Speaking, Faleke, who represents Ikeja Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, said political stakeholders should be positively disposed to making efforts to commitments “that would bring relief to the less privileged.”

“We are all elected representatives to support the people, and so we should continue to support the people as much as possible,” he said.

Charging Adeyinka, who was on Sunday presented with the Charter Certificate as Charter President, Rotary Club Dideolu Golden, Faleke said, “I think Rotary has its own modus operandi and the actors are developmental oriented, and what I expect from him (Olayinka) and the Rotary Club of Dideolu Golden is to promote proper development, infrastructure development for the people and to reach the less privileged in the society. That would be my expectation from him.”

On his part, Olayinka called on stakeholders, particularly in the political space, to contribute significantly to the course of helping humanity, maintaining that it is with a collective drive that the strains in the society could be pragmatically addressed.

“It’s a participatory thing; even governance is participatory; you need to be involved in all our programmes. You can see someone like me coming into the fold, and we have a lot of people deciding the fate of Nigeria also in that hall.

“So we are coming to recognise the fact that Rotary is the club that will give us the platform to reach out and get to more people in the communities and try and see how everyone at the grassroots can be affected.

“The hallmark of this new club is to further contribute to humanity and grow humanitarian services, as enshrined in the seven focal points of Rotary International.

“For me, it is just to further plunge into it, further expand it, and make services available to communities.”

Speaking, the deputy governor of Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, commended the contributions of the Rotary Club to the service of humanity, calling for more of such disposition and commitment from well-meaning and privileged  Nigerians.

Hamzat represented by the Chairman of Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Shittu Hakeem, said, “I want to appreciate the Rotary Club for what they have been doing in the course of humanity. They have partnered and assisted us in various ways, in education, health, and other sectors.”

Mentioning that the Rotary Club has been assisting development courses in the state, he urged the club “to look out for what is necessary and mobilise well-meaning Nigerians to assist, ameliorate, or intervene in the needs of humanity.”