The District Governor, Rotary International, District 9110 has stated that to be a good speaker, one must join the Rotary club.
The Rotary DG made this statement at the just concluded debate competition organized by Rotary Club of Abeokuta for schools in Ogun state.
The District Governor who presented the grand prize to the winning school revealed that the debate competition falls under one of Rotary’s seven areas of focus which is Basic Education and Literacy.
According to the District Governor while delivering her speech, “This debate will help to build their confidence and teach them how to speak up in public which most of us lacked while growing up. That is one thing that Rotary also teaches us to do, so if you want to be a good speaker, join Rotary”.
“In Rotary, we are passionate about the youths. We recognize that the youths are our future leaders, that’s why we like to train them, develop them, and prepare them for the future. This is one of the areas through which we prepare our youths for tomorrow”, she said.
The keenly contested competition tagged: ‘With modern technology, we are better off than our forefathers’ started from the first stage at the zonal level until it got to the final stage held on Thursday, November 9, 2023 during which top four winners emerged.
Iganmode Grammar School, Ota emerged first position, Ijebu Ode Grammar School emerged second position, Methodist High School, Arigbajo emerged third position, and Christ Redeemers College, Sagamu emerged fourth position.
While the first position received a trophy and a cash prize of N100, 000, the second position received a trophy and a cash prize of N50, 000, and the third position received a trophy and a cash prize of N30, 000.
The club president, Rtn. (Hon) Adijat Adeleye who is also the Ogun State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development in her welcome remarks, noted that “the gathering exemplifies the club’s commitment to nurturing intellectual growth and encouraging thoughtful discussions among the bright minds of our community”.
She also rewarded all 12 contestants of the debate with 1 participant with sponsorship for the Rotary Youths Leadership Awards (RYLA) holding in January.
The Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu commended the club president for organizing the debate competition which he described as “very significant”.
“I am not surprised because Rotary club does things that ordinarily, the government should be doing so it’s like they are a set of shadow government when it comes to impacting on humanity”, the Education Commissioner said while appreciating Rotary club.
The Ogun State Commissioner for Housing Rtn. (Hon) Akande Omoniyi who was also present at the event, presented a cash prize of N10, 000 each to all non-competing students who also went on stage to speak for or against the motion as a reward for their courageous act.
Present with the District Governor were District Executive Secretary Tayo Adelaja and District Treasurer Alex Ajibo. Assistant Governors, Hope Presidents including the Captain of Hope Presidents for Ogun State axis, Rtn. Michael Oladapo, Deputy District Secretaries, and an host of other Ogun state Rotarians and government dignitaries were also present.