By Josephine Agbonkhese
THE Deputy Governor, Ogun State, Chief (Mrs) Yetunde Onanuga, has implored women to champion charitable causes that seek to improve the lives of the down-trodden in the society. She said that service to humanity constitutes the greatest legacy any woman can leave behind.
Onanuga who spoke in Lagos at the installation ceremony of Mrs. Adegbemisola Fathiat Amoke Rufai, a Director in the Lagos State Civil Service, as the 34th District Chairman of Inner Wheel District 911 Nigeria, said too many persons presently live in penury, with some being desperately in need of being as meagre as N10,000 to start or expand their businesses.
“Government cannot do it alone; the private sector has to come in and women can help instigate that. Inner Wheel has been doing a lot to support government in the area of women, children and youths and I enjoin more women to take up such causes so that together, we can leave a lasting legacy as women.
Contribution to development
“As part of personal contribution to development, I have a nongovernmental organisation, Child Uplifting Development Association, which caters for children within the ages of seven and 13. Some of them are street children, with some trading on the streets. What we do is take them off the streets, put them in our established home and after series of trainings, try to reunite them with their families,” Onanuga said.
Noting that the theme for her one-year tenure, Leave a Lasting Legacy, tallied with the deputy governor’s call to women, Rufai, shortly after receiving the mantle of leadership from the erstwhile District Chairman, Mrs. Oluwemimo Olasanya, said the district would partner the Lagos State Government and Rotary to have lasting impact on the lives of women and children.
“We are going to empower the down-trodden. This year will, however, be a different year because we will collaborate with the Lagos State government and Rotary to specially reach out to women suffering with cancer. By September precisely also, we hope to have a lecture on health. We will also go to schools to mentor them on safety, to address the spate of kidnapping in our society. Widows will also greatly benefit from this Inner Wheel year through vocational training and empowerment,” Rufai disclosed at the ceremony attended by the Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University, Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun; wife of the former Vice-President, Mrs. Titi Atiku Abubakar, and immediate past international president, Yemisi Alatise, among other dignitaries.
Meanwhile, President of Inner Wheel Club of Onipanu, a club chartered recently under District911, Mrs Jumoke Odulaja, has decried the spate of kidnapping in secondary schools lately. Odulaja, who said projects outlined for the club’s maiden year included seminars on safety which will be organised in various schools in the district, added, “As a widow too, I am very passionate about widows. Hence, the Inner Wheel Club of Onipanu will give support to widows in diverse ways. We will go to public schools to give talks and free educational materials to students. Our primary goal is to help build their self-esteem so they do not consider themselves inferior to children from wealthy homes. We will also conduct free health checks to address the spate of sudden death in our society.
Odulaja who spoke at a ceremony which witnessed the chartering of Inner Wheel Club of Onipanu in Lagos, said the newly-chartered club comprised government officials, top professionals, wives of top government functionaries, as well as business tycoons, who are also passionate about charitable causes.
The real estate entrepreneur and widow expressed optimism that the club formed one year ago would be birthing newer clubs in a few months, saying, “Women in this club are committed to selfless service to humanity. Thus, with the type of members I have, I can see another two clubs springing up from the Inner Wheel in the next few months, to further reach out to different communities.”
