Under-privileged residents: Rotary Club, Oyo to the rescue

The alarming rate of poverty in the society is a source of concern to patriotic Nigerians.
The less privileged are often seen as a scourge.
Many a times, they are treated by the privileged with so much disdain, making them feel they are responsible for their situation.
Such treatments include restriction of some of their rights to associate, belong and contribute ideas in their immediate
place of belonging.
Many of them are often snubbed, ignored and avoided, perhaps to prevent a spread of their misfortune on others.
Those of them who are petty traders are not patronised, irrespective of how affordable their products are, and how close, neat or receptive their stalls or business places are.
More so, the less privileged are often victims of stigmatization, ostracization and mind-breaking policies of the privileged. They are the ones who suffer the brunt of every stringent policy made by the government.
The less privileged form the crowd of patients at General Hospital
wards, government schools and other public agencies, when their
privileged counterparts can afford to educate and seek better health facilities abroad.
They are the ones who apply for jobs daily and are being denied it,
while others having the money to bribe their way are prevailing.
The list of this inhumanity is endless but in order to really hit the
nail on the head, George Orwell noted in his ‘Animal Farm’ that
although all animals are equal, some of them are more equal than
others.
Likewise in this bid, some less privileged are more privileged than others.
A typical example of a less privileged man or woman is one who cannot
help his or herself, and has no one to help him or her either.
It is disheartening to note that in our society, issues concerning the
less privileged are often time treated with levity, as people are
concerned with what they can gain without considering what they should
give back to the society.
However, the indefatigable social organisation of uncommon substance, the Rotary Club of Oyo’s laudable initiative is a precedence for others to follow.
One thing that beats one’s imagination is that the organisation is so
focused, so proactive and quite enthusiastic about the future.
Rotary Club of Oyo Metropolis was chartered in 2005, and had since been performing creditably well in its efforts to serve humanity.
Among the projects executed were donation of Mikano power generating
set, sinking of borehole and donation of life resuscitator to the
State hospital, Oyo; building of kitchen shed at the School of
Handicapped, Durbar, Oyo; sinking of deep-well at the Ajegunle market;
as well as donation of over N500,000 worth of
equipment to the physically challenged students of the Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo.
Others included free hernia surgery for over a hundred residents; sponsorship of education of a polio victim, Wasiu Yussuf, for seven
years, and provisions of wheel chairs for hundreds of other victims;
as well as sinking of borehole at Akeetan Bale market.
Recently, a new President, Barrister Olajide Olanipekun, who is the
12th on the roll call, was elected to run the Club’s affairs for a
mandatory tenure of one year, 2016/2017.
In his acceptance speech, Olanipekun stressed the need for individuals to be more interested in the less privileged in the society.
Said he: “It is true that organisations dealing with vulnerable people exist but, the question is how many are they, and how can these crippled, blind, deaf and dumb people approach them unaided? Until the welfare of the less privileged is viewed as a collective responsibility, we will still find it difficult to identify with the needy around us. Individuals should therefore adopt a hospitable nature that would enable them see the needy as people who should be cared for and not ostracized”.
“Little acts of enterprise by these less fortunate neighbours of ours
should be encouraged by our patronage, to give them a sense of
belonging. This is what the Rotary Club is all about. Communities
should also team up to help by creating centres where the homeless,
vulnerable and helpless can be attended to. By so doing, people will
be encouraged to volunteer help for the homes financially and in other
ways”.
Olanipekun explained that projects executed by the Club were carried out through contributions from members, and donations from well-meaning individuals.
“The Rotary Club is poised to contribute more to alleviate poverty in
Oyo town and its environs through projects that will put smiles on the
faces of the less priviledged in the society”.
The President enumerated some of the on-going projects embarked by the
Rotary Club to include, vocational training and empowerment for more
than one hundred residents, adoption of St. Patrick Catholic Primary
School, Fiditi, and Community Grammar School, Ladigbolu, Oyo, for
donation of educational materials like chairs ,desks , books and
renovation of the school’s classrooms.
Others, according to him are donation of over one million naira
exercise books to pupils and students of primary and secondary schools
in all the four local governments that constitute Oyo metropolis;
provision of toilet facilities in some areas lacking within the
metropolis and organization of career talks in secondary schools, to mentor the younger ones.