Teacher receives award from Rotary Club of Ikoyi for service to mankind

Lagos Best Teacher for many years, Obiwunmi Temitope, has been honoured by the Rotary Club of Ikoyi for her exceptional service for the uplifting of mankind.

Rotary Club of Ikoyi, District 9110, in its humanitarian service has recognized and rewarded individuals who have offered their time, talent, and treasure in the service of mankind.

Temitope was rewarded during the Vocational Service/Award Night of the club held at Westwood Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos State recently.

The Award Night was part of activities designed to mark this year’s Vocational Service month of Rotary, which usually takes place in January of every year.

Speaking on the award ceremony and the significance of the ceremony, Sir (Rotarian) Uche Obienu, President, Rotary Club of Ikoyi disclosed that the club recognizes vocational service and individuals who devote their time, talent, and treasure in the service of mankind.

He said, “In Rotary Club we value vocation, when you give in your time, talent, and your treasure towards any particular part of service, we recognize you, but most especially, the three awardees this night are deserving awardees.”

Obienu explained what qualified the awardees to be so recognized:  “First of all, the Best Teacher in Lagos State for many years and in 2022, Mrs. Obiwunmi, has performed creditably and exceptionally well, she is in a Public School but she still leads all other teachers, also the other Awardee who is the staff of Westwood Hotel, he has dedicated his time, every Monday, to make sure we have a conducive place to have our meeting.

“Finally, we have our Super Cop, Rotarian Celestina Kalu, you are aware that she saved an armed robbery victim, she paid all hospital bills by herself, she is a superintendent of police, not just here, she has received international awards but we decided to reward and award her because she is a member of this club.

“Let it be all known that Rotarian Celestina Kalu is a member of Rotary Club of Ikoyi, and that is one aspect other media that have told her story have not reported, that she is a Rotarian, not just a Rotarian but a member of Rotary Club of Ikoyi. So we decided to reward them today to make them do more, contribute more, and act more for the good of the society”.

Rotarian Celestina Kalu, while speaking to Journalists said “This award is for people that excel in what they do, mine happened in 2019, I saved the life of a boy that was shot by an armed robber, so I took him to the hospital and made sure he was treated, and by God’s grace he survived the gunshot and that was why I am being honoured by the club today.”

Answering the question if the police is still the friend of the public, Kalu responded “Police is your friend whether you like it or not, if your neighbor slaps you, you can’t go and call a tug to slap him back, definitely you are going to run to the police, if robbers break into your house, you must call the police, whether you like it or not, you must associate with the police, that is why we say, police is your friend, anytime, any day, when you call  the police, the police is there to carry out their responsibilities.”

Lagos Best Teacher for many years, Obiwunmi Temitope, said, “I am elated; I am excited, I can’t thank Rotary Club enough for this wonderful recognition, this will encourage me to do more.”

On why she was recognized and honoured, Temitope replied, “My exceptional passion for my work, exceptional passion for children generally, trying to motivate children and channel their minds towards positive thinking, making them to believe in themselves, and also make them see reason to contribute to society at large.”

Omololu Kayode, a  staff of Westwood Hotel, a Meteorologist, who works in the Banquet Department, was rewarded for always arranging the Hall for the Rotarians’ meeting every Monday.

In his response, Kayode said: “I feel good, I am truly, truly excited, it is a wonderful experience, I was not expecting it. You know an award like this is an encouragement for more work.  This award is a motivation for me, this is the kind of thing that motivates; in fact, I will up my game,” Kayode said.

Dr. David Ogbeidi is a Senior Research Associate on Governance and Political Economy and also has professional experiences in diverse industries that cut across Banking, Telecommunications, among others, spoke on the topic ‘Vocational Service’.

Speaking to the Rotarian, Dr. Ogbeidi said as professionals, they are required to render specialized services and having acquired skill sets, they are expected to either open their own firms or join one.

He urged them to create a niche for themselves because they render professional service of the highest quality. He called on them to serve humanity creditably in whatever they do.

Speaking on other national issues, Ogbeidi argued that individuals should ensure that they work for the improvement of society in their small spaces, and by doing so society will get better, he argued also that change should start with the people. “So when it is said change begins with us, it is true, it doesn’t begin with the government, we are the ones that will enlighten the government in our small space here as Rotarians.”

He advised the educated and the enlightened individuals and groups to play active roles in guiding and being watchdogs on the political leaders. He advised the people to come up with an alternative manifesto to guide the government “Have we been able to come up with a people’s manifesto, these are the things we think the government can deal with all year, looking at the tax budget, this is how much you think they can spend on a four years vision

“People, NGOs, organizations, other people should be able to come up with ideas that they will give to political leaders. We have passed the stage where our leaders would tell us they want to build five bridges, without telling us how much they have in their pocket, they haven’t told us whether they are going to borrow money from China.

“So, what is currently happening in Nigeria is a collective failure, therefore,  it is our responsibility, those of us who are conscious of this failure, we have a lot of jobs to do, first to conscientize those who are not conscious of it. And of course, education is very fundamental to know where you stand, we have to do more in our little spaces, not just in Rotary Club, but in our homes, our offices, and wherever we find ourselves”,  Ogbeidi said.

For a better society