Remember Nnamdi Azikiwe the great Zik of Africa and his propensity for coining words from English and Igbo languages, well I am borrowing one today, and that is the word IDIKONOTUISM!

"Idiko no tu" is an Igbo expression which means to live together as ONE and the major prerequisite for this is peace. Peace encompasses love, sharing & caring. It is a real goal that can be achieved.

Peace is not something that can only be achieved through agreements by government, or through heroic struggles. It is somethin that we can find, and achieve, everyday and in many simple ways. One of such ways is Service.

Life is not all about making more money, it is about helping others achieve their goals. When we do this, we build peace.

The idea here is focusing our individual energies to attaining a common goal, shared by all, instead of promoting our own selfish wants, in doing this we are laying foundations for sustainable peace to reign.

We must know that any peace enterprise must start with us. Be the change you want to see. If we wish for peace, we must start to live in peace in our families and communities. We can promote peace when we serve our neighbors by learning to look beyond color, race, religious affiliation, social status, etc.

Unlike some pessimist conclusions, peace is possible particularly in our dear country Nigeria; yes we are a people of diverse cultures & tongues, but we draw strengths from our unique distinctions. This is what makes peace inevitable, our UNITY!

As we begin a new Rotary year today, emphasis is on Service ! We believe that peace is a realistic goal that can be achieved and we rely on our motto “Service Above Self“, which underscores the reason for creation, to help each one of us reach our targets.

We all complain of a variety of modern challenges ranging from leadership failures, a dearth in infrastructure, a rising decay in morality etc.,  we are quick to castigate and point fingers at those who make efforts to give themselves while we yet make any attempt.

You see dear friends,  until we give ourselves in the service of one another, then we really do not show that peace is attainable and thus we deny the fact that Light is beautiful! Make an effort to be good gifts to the world today and watch as you light up our world, and show the beauty of light.

The story of Rotary will no doubt interest one who has a passion for service, service without borders, service without an expectation of reward. It is said that service is the rent we pay for living on earth.

In Rotary, our business is not profit. Our business is PEACE! Our reward is not financial but the happiness & satisfaction of seeing a better, united & more peaceful world, one that we have achieved through our collective efforts.

Service is the language of peace. Peace is the currency for development! Since 1905 Rotary has been in the business of providing services to the world without counting cost or return.

The Rotary year starts from July 1  - June 30, and there is a whole lot to talk about with regards to how Rotary has fared in the areas of healthcare, maternal and child mortality, peace and conflict resolution, community and economic development, literacy and education, water sanitation etc. Perhaps our biggest success story is the giant strides made towards eradicating polio in world today.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative started in 1986 as a collaborative project with the WHO, NGOs, National Governments and Institutions and today, after Immunizing more than 2.5 billion children while spending billions of dollars through the donations of development partners, Polio is down to just Afghanistan and Pakistan with Nigeria looking forward to certification as a Polio free country in 2017.

This year, Rotary International President John F. Germ has chosen the theme Rotary Serving Humanity. This theme further underscores Rotary's commitment to service and global development. 

According to him;

"Today, we look ahead toward a Rotary year that may one day be known as the greatest in our history: the year that sees the world’s last case of polio. Wild poliovirus caused only 74 cases of polio in 2015, all of them in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As we continue to work tirelessly toward our goal of eradication, we must also look beyond it: preparing to leverage our success into even greater successes to come.

We know that if we want to see Rotary Serving Humanity even better in the years ahead, we’ll need more willing hands, more caring hearts and more bright minds to move our work forward.

Looking ahead, we also see a clear need to prioritise continuity in our leadership. We in Rotary are all playing on the same team, working toward the same goals. If we want to reach those goals together, we all have to move in the same direction — together.

Every day that you serve in Rotary, you have the opportunity to change lives. Everything you do matters; every good work makes the world better for us all. In this new Rotary year, we all have a new chance to change the world for the better, through Rotary Serving Humanity."

HAPPY NEW YEAR FAMILY OF ROTARY!

OjisiEmezie!