By Josephine Igbinovia

A seasoned economist, Olugbemiga Olowu is the Rotarian overseeing Rotary clubs all-over Lagos and Ogun states, otherwise known as District 9110. Born in 1949 into the Abeokuta family of Obatolu Olowu of the Ile-Alafin of Owu Kingdom, he is a Rotarian with 30 years  experience! Also a multifaceted entrepreneur, Olugbemiga worked with the Mandilas Group for 15 years before co-founding a pharmaceutical business, Lutayo Pharmaceutical Limited, and later, Lutay Nigeria Limited, a joint financial and procurement services company. Seven Prints Limited, a monogramming and printing establishment, is also one of his innovations. In this interview, Olugbemiga debunks the claim that Rotary is a money-making venture and also explains why there are few Rotary clubs in Ogun State.

Service organisations have become synonymous with money-making; are you sure  you didn’t forsake your chains of businesses to occupy this position because of cupidity?

It’s unfortunate that people think that way! However, I must admit that it’s some other NGOs that have made society to begin to think that way. That is the opposite of what Rotary is, believes in and does. Rotarians offer humanitarian services free of cost and free of any benefit; we do not make money from Rotary. The motto of Rotary is, Service above self, and what we’re expected to give as Rotarians are three: our time, money and talents.

*Olugbemiga Olowu

These, Rotarians all-over the world, give joyously. All we’re seen doing in communities are products of our contributions and the Rotary Foundation; we seek funds only from those who have believed in us over the years. We do not use money for ourselves! In fact, Rotarians are not expected to benefit from any project we do in communities. We give scholarships to others without our children benefiting!

Rotary, is actually the largest private giver of scholarships on earth, and no Rotarian family is permitted to benefit from those scholarships! Our motto is service above selves, and we mean it! That’s why we do not go begging for funds like most NGOs do. As a matter of fact.  The benefits of being a Rotarian are enough for us because the Almighty blesses us Himself, in a lot of ways; we do not have to look for crooked ways of making money.

From the months you’ve spent in office as a governor, how can you prove that Rotarians are indeed truly serving above self?

Since July 1st this year that  I assumed office, our clubs have done so much. The Rotary Club of Agege has done a lot in the area of vocation skills empowerment, the Rotary Club of Gbagada has sunk a borehole and donated an incubator to the Shomolu General Hospital, the Rotary Club of Lagos Palmgroove Estate is presently running an eye-screening camp where it hopes to attend to a minimum of 1000 persons.

Surgeries for eye cataracts will also be carried out where necessary. I’ve also commissioned community vocational training programmes by different clubs and some clubs have donated books to schools. The main programme for the district this year is maternal and child health and we have identified three government-owned maternity centres to fully-equip. We are bringinging incubators which we will distribute to hospitals in Lagos and Ogun states.  We’re actually working with two districts in Australia for the supply of medical equipment.

In the area of water and sanitation, we’re beginning with ten schools and by the end of the year, we shall add 12 more schools. So, this year, as a district, we’re hoping to sink 25 bore-holes and toilets facilities in 25 schools. We’re also looking at 40 water and sanitation projects from the various clubs in our districts. We also intend to embark on a disease prevention and control project in collaboration with a Rotary group called Rotarians for Family Health and AIDS Prevention. Also, we have approved grants for clubs to do educational, micro-credits and other economic development projects.

As one overseeing Rotary clubs in Lagos and Ogun states, have you noticed Rotary has a very weak presence in Ogun?

We’re trying to increase the number of Rotary clubs in Ogun State, but one should realise that clubs start with the willingness of people to come together to form a club. It is the reaction of people to what they see round them and forming a desire towards addressing those issues. The response towards starting Rotary clubs in Ogun has not been as impressive as it is in Lagos.

Presently, we have 67 clubs in Lagos and 15 in Ogun. Over the years, there have been special efforts by district governors and membership taskforces to establish more clubs in Ogun State, and we’re also working towards that this year. Already, there are three clubs in the making in Ogun, but we’ll try and see if more clubs can be formed.