TITUS OGUNNYI: THE ESSENCE OF TIME, THE VALUE OF SERVICE; THE GRATITUDE OF A SERVANT

07:36

I have always held that the difference between words and action is the willingness to do; that, the beauty of service lies in the willingness of the plenitude of hands ready to commit to the task at hand.

In this speech, Titus Ayobamidele Ogunniiyi, Builder, entrepreneur, volunteer and philanthtropist takes us through his one year leadership as President of the Rotaract Club of Amwo Main, District 9110 Nigeria. In it, he takes us through his 12 months as President, leading a group of 17 people, who raised over N1.3m [more than $6, 000] he espouses the importance of time, the need for us to conmtinue to serve our community while remaining thankful fo the much we have been blessed with.

I hope you find a lesson or two from this, and better appreciate the work Rotary and Rotaract do in world today.

OjisiEmezie

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 says “There is a given time for everything and a time for every happening under heaven: A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting. A time for killing, a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building. A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing. A time for throwing stones, a time for gathering stones; a time for embracing, a time to refrain from embracing. A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time for throwing away. A time for tearing, a time for sewing: a time to be silent and a time to speak. A time for loving, a time for hating; a time for war, a time for peace”.

As president and even as a club member in the past year, I and every member of this champion club have passed through all phases of time and without doubt this is the time to handover. Just before officially passing the baton I would like to show appreciation; but just before that, some highlights of our time together as President.

At the beginning of the year we set for ourselves goals, we worked assiduously towards those goals, the following are our efforts;

Membership: we inherited 25, inducted 7 making 32 but had to let go of 15 with reasons ranging from default in attendance, finance; loss of interest, and permanent relocation. Today we are a club of 17 vibrant and active professionals working together to do much good in society.

Club Admin: we scheduled 22 meetings and held 20. The Amuwo Main Rotaractor, our bi-monthly bulletin was published in all of those times with club information, quality articles and jokes. We maintained our traditional fellowship drinks and also prepared a new club register. Family of Rotary was well celebrated as well as our We Care policy.

SAA: Through the very generous donations of extraordinary performance of our Sergeant-At-Arms, CP Bayo Oduntan, we raised over N310, 000 for lady charity and our club projects. This is more than 50% of N200, 000 target.

Projects: in keeping with the club’s strategic plan, our projects were in line with Rotary’s six areas of focus. Apart from our signature projects such as Aspire, Health and Fitness series, STAR programs, BEFA etc., we added Blood donation to the Amuwo Mother and Child Center, donation of 100 dictionaries to Ajegunle Junior High School, educational support facilities to 2^nd Avenue Primary School, and three outstanding international projects in Benin Republic and Ghana. In all, we spent over N1.3m [One Million, Three Hundred Thousand Naira] in projects and programs.

Together as a club we upheld the values we hold so dear – friendship, community development, service and networking. These were our guide in carrying out duty to the society. as an effective club, we remained active and served in crucial roles in District committees. some of our members also served in committees.

PP Chimezie was an Assistant District Representative, Chair Editorial Committee and Programme Coordinator at the highly successful 2016 District conference. CP Bayo was in charge of the Public Relations of the District and continued with his innovation, launching the District on Twitter and other social media platform. As President, I also served as Chair International Service and our West Coast Tour to District 9102 which comprises Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana and Niger is one that still be discussed in many quarters because of the impact we made.

We touched lives in all aspects required of a philanthropist during the year and we did so with poise and class. This is evident in the smiles on the faces of our beneficiaries and the joy in our hearts. Truly, we worked hard; deploying our time, talents, treasure and thinking in being gifts to our world. At a point, despite our various professions, Rotaract became a job we were glad to do, a career path in volunteerism and service we were too eager to pursue.

With the investments in service comes the time of reward; through sheer hard and team work, we did the required and surpassed expectations in the stipulated process breaking new grounds and setting higher standards. Our multiple awards and status confirms that we are truly Champions!

· Rotary International

2016-2016 Presidential Citation Award [one of only 3 clubs out 45 clubs in the District]

· ll Nigerian Rotaract Multi District Information Organization, NIGEROTA [NR-MDIO]

National Merit Award

Chimezie Judemary UDECHUKWU and Titus Ayobamidele Ogunniyi

· District Awards

Best Club in Administration

Best Club in Social Media

Best Club in DRR Visit

Most Supportive Club

Individually,

Overall Best Past President PP Chimezie Judemary Udechukwu

Most Supportive President, Titus Ogunniyi

2^nd Best ADRR Chimezie Judemary Udechukwu

Distinguished Service Above Self Award, Ngozi Monica Okereke and Titus Ogunniyi

This is aside the numerous seconds and thirds we emerged in, in other categories too many to mention.

Moving on, I can give nothing more than encouragement and advises that we up the ante this new year in all ways possible. Improve on all our pros and cut down the cons. This would mean steady improvement and growth. Maximum support for the President as she leads us to greater heights and a new phase were we can get stronger as a family and represent Rotary in Serving Humanity.

To God almighty, I can only Thank you for all the provision and protection plus everything included and excluded. To all those who supported this cause, I am grateful for all you gave willingly and freely both in cash and more in kind, measurable and immeasurable. To the Rotary Club of Amuwo, I appreciate your support that goes beyond sponsorship and partnership but real parental care and supervision.

Finally, as we said and showed last year. To all those #MadeTough, we together showed that we are #TogetherStronger and we are @ClubAmuwoMain. I thank you all for the multiple ‘T’s that you gave for the club. Thank you for the opportunity to serve.

On behalf of the 2015-1026 World Class Team, I am Titus Ayobamidele Ogunniyi, Immediate Past President of this champion club and more importantly a club member with the good of this club at heart.

Merci

Rotr. Titus Ayobamidele Ogunniyi II

President

Rotaract Club of Amuwo Main.
2015 - 2016

Titus Ayobamidele Ogummiyi II is a builder, Entrepreneur, Teacher and Immediate Pat President of the Rotaract Club of Amuwo Main, a community base service club for young professionals.Connect with on Twitter and Instagram +Titus Ogunniyi