The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Rotary International Foundation, Mark Maloney, will on January 15, visit Nigeria for advocacy and enlightenment on the activities of the foundation in Nigeria, including symbolic polio immunisation of children.
At a press briefing, Tuesday in Abuja, on behalf of all the six Rotary Districts in Nigeria, the past District 9127 Governor and Chairman, Trustee Chairman’s Visit to Nigeria Committee, Dr Victor C. Onukwugha, said Maloney will use the opportunity of the visit to Nigeria to visit President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to discuss the programmes of the Foundation in Nigeria.
He said Maloney will leave Abuja for Lagos on January 18 and will leave the southwest state on January 20 for a visit to Accra, Ghana, saying the visit to Nigeria is the first of its kind and important to Rotarians in particular and Nigerians in general.
Onukwugha said the Rotary International Foundation single-handedly sponsored the research into polio vaccines for the first time, with Afghanistan and Pakistan the only two countries that are not polio-free in the world.
He further said Nigeria is the greatest beneficiary of the Rotary Foundation as Nigeria had more cases of polio than other countries of the world before the donation of funds by the Rotary Foundation for the eradication of polio in Nigeria, with Nigeria being certified polio-free in 2020, after the eradication of polio in Nigeria in 2016.
He said: “Rotary Foundation created the Programme of Scale and Nigeria benefited from the two million dollars donated for maternal and child care. On the 15th of January, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Rotary International Foundation, Mark Maloney, will visit Nigeria. There will be no activity on this day. He will be in Abuja from the 15th to the 18th before leaving for Lagos on the 18th.
“On the 16th, while in Abuja, we will start with symbolic polio immunisation. We will go to IDP camps here in Abuja, and then there will be a town hall meeting. There will be serious advocacy at the townhall meeting, which will be interactive, beyond the symbolic immunisation, so the visit of Mr Maloney is very important to us
“A visit to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be on the 17th as he will brief the president on the programmes the foundation has in Nigeria. The two million dollars in the Programme of Scale will equally be explained. As you know, the Rotary Foundation has been the engine room of Rotary clubs, covering over 200 countries of the world. We are very excited that the Chairman of the Board of Trustees is visiting us for the first time in the history of the Rotary International Foundation.
“Nigeria has been the greatest beneficiary of Rotary International Foundation interventions. We have a lot of donors who are not Rotarians, including Sir Emeka Offor, Aliko Dangote, and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, among others, who have donated funds to the Rotary International Foundation. This is because they are sure once they donate, the money will be used judiciously. Rotary International Foundation is adjudged the best NGO in the world.”
