•Outgoing Club President 2019-2020, Rtn. SYLVIA ABDALLA Gives Account
Beautiful Rotarian Sylvia Abdalla was the President of Rotary Club of Ikeja, GRA, 2019 and 2020. She took over the leadership on 4th July 2019 with a Fund Raiser then. She hosted distinguished guests like past district governors, like Rotarian. Kola Sodipo and Rotarian Osomo, past presidents, presidents and members of other clubs. Rtn Ganiyu Solomon was there. So also Mr. Donald Duke, friends and families. The International Year Theme was Rotary Connects The World.
Who is Rtn. (Pastor) Sylvia Abdalla? Let’s tell you a bit about her. She is an ordained Pastor and MD of Vintage-SMA Resources Limited. She has a background in and many years of work experience in Marketing.
She is the immediate past president of the Rotary Club of Ikeja GRA under the Rotary International District 9110, Nigeria.
Her classification: Clergy & Business. She joined Rotary Club of Ikeja GRA on the 20th of August, 2015. She was the Club’s Treasurer for 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 Rotary years.
She was President Nominee 2017/2018,
President Elect – 2018-2019 and Club President, 2019-2020.
She is currently serving on 2 committees at the District Level. There are The “We Care” Committee and The “Public Image Committee”.
Rtn. Sylvia has a passion for the service of God and Humanitarian Service. She is blessed with children and grandchildren.
What did she achieve during her tenure? During her tenure, the club came 4th and 5th positions in the Rotary’s “Areas of Focus” and “We Care” Categories and 6th position, overall in District 9110, made up of about 103 Clubs.
On the International rating, Rotary Club of Ikeja GRA got The Prestigious Rotary International Presidential Award with Distinction for 2019-2020.
“These are quite laudable and could not have been achieved without the unflinching support, in quantifiable selfless service in giving of resources and commitment of all the past presidents, Executives and Club Members”, She explained.
“I want to seize this opportunity to thank them all as well as our amiable District Governor Rtn. (Dr.) Jide Akeredolu whose Leadership is invaluable, all District Leaders and Staff; our Friends and Families who supported us throughout the year.
God bless you all”.
“In my service year, I learnt a lot. Some of which are: That we are all at learning curves at different times and in different situations; no one person knows it all; that the TEAM Spirit is most essential as “Together Everyone Achieves More”.
Leadership is not being the “Boss” but it is about selfless service and support for and from the team, helping others realize their potential and giving them the opportunities required in excelling in their areas of strength, helping others to work on their seeming weaknesses with the goal of achieving the required results for the holistic good of the Club. Needless to say, as a Leader, you are responsible for the overall success or God forbid, failure of your team.
Therefore the onus is on you as a good Leader to find ways of actualizing your set goals as nicely but as firmly as may be needed. It means working by exhibiting good and Impactful character and examples. It means rewarding and celebrating the achievements of others so they are encouraged to do more.
It’s like being the Shepherd of a flock by caring an looking for others even beyond the Club level.
For us, it was an all-inclusive one where Members had their own inputs in the Club activities so it was very easy to get the much-needed support and encouragement.
I really could go on and on”.
For me, Leadership is also actually adhering to the 4 Way Test of Rotary which in summary reminds us to be truthful, be fair to all, encourage goodwill and better friendships and be sure it is beneficial to all concerned in all that we do or say whether on the Club or on personal levels.
Let’s tell you a bit about Rotary Club of Ikeja GRA. It was birthed by the Rotary Club of Akowonjo, on the 17th of October, 2012 And the Charter President is Rtn. Adewale Osomo.
Other past presidents in order of sequence are Rtn. (Prince) Ade Akinfolurin; Rtn. Godwin Osemede; Rtn. Assistant Governor, Rtn. Bukola Bakare (the very first Female President of the Club); Rtn. Akin Soyoye; Rtn. Marcel Eguabor; Rtn. Eghosa Uwamuse.
and I am the immediate past president, the 8th and 2nd Female President”.
Our 9th and current President for 2020-2021 is Rtn. Alex Abah.
Incidentally, Alex and I are both ex-students of Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School, Ikeja.
The Club started meeting at the Lagos Country Club and later moved its meeting venue to the then Protea Hotel GRA, Ikeja now Radisson Hotel Ikeja GRA.
“I must acknowledge and thank the Hotel Management for their magnanimity in giving us the use of the Hotel at a highly discounted rate in spite of their excellent and high worth service.
We usually meet on Thursdays by 6.30 pm but with the pandemic, we are limited to virtual meetings which I must say are still interesting, resourceful and rewarding”.
“We currently have over 30 members made of different professionals and varying she groups, with about 8 prospective ones who should be joining us soon.
We earned the acronym “The Excellent Club, in our 4th year under the Leadership of Rtn. Bukola Bakare and we have since done all to maintain that tradition of excellence in all we do”.
“Rotary Club of Ikeja GRA is a young Club but has definitely made its mark among older ones at both the District and International levels”.
What are the highlights of her exco’s projects? Highlights of our Projects and Activities for the year include • Environmental Cleaning and Sanitation of Ikeja Local Government Area in collaboration with LAWMA and the Local Government • Save the Earth Tree Planting at the LAWMA Headquarters in Ogudu to support a healthier environment • Polio Vaccinations in conjunction with the local government and awareness talks on Polio eradication • Donations of fans and Seminar on “Career Mismatch: A mission to suicide and depression” at the Ikeja Senior High School GRA Ikeja • Rotary Family Health Days where held at the 9th Brigade Army Cantonment Ikeja (in collaboration with their Medical Centre) where full medical screening, medical consultations, treatment (and referral to hospital for further medical attention where needed) and drug administration my qualified Doctors, Nurses and Lab personal were in attendance.
We have over 820 Beneficiaries of this project in the 3-day activities.
We got huge sponsorship of Drugs etc from Pharmaceutical Companies like
Fidson, Ranbaxy, Alpha Pharmacy and Adler Products. Our Rotary District, District 9110 also supported by donating drugs etc to each Club in the District. The Club also augmented where it was needed.
In all, we had about N4.5m worth of medical supplies in drugs etc • Our Club donated drugs, multivitamins etc to the Medical Centre of the 9th Brigade Army Barracks Ikeja • 4 Youths were sponsored for the annual Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, an intensive leadership program where Youths develop their skills as leaders while having fun and networking held at the Sea School in Apapa, Lagos • Membership Development and Donations to The Rotary Foundation were two major areas of focus as well for the Rotary Year and we were able to Induct 7 new Rotarians and made a worthwhile donation to The Rotary Foundation.
We have a total 12 of Paul Harris Fellows and one Major Donor in the Foundation • We keyed into ou District’s Star Project, “Vaccination of the Girl Child Against Cervical Cancer” by donating into the Project • We held various Seminars in Waste Management and Recycling of Wastes; Empowerment; Talks on Disease Prevention and Treatment; How Rotary Shares Love through Service and Giving; Your Rights as A Citizen; Seminars on Membership Development and Retention; The History and Prevention of Polio and it’s eradication in Nigeria to mention just a few.
We held an end of Year Picnic for Family and Friends in December 2019.
We ensured that our Members were not left out through our “We Care” program, visiting and celebrating with one another as the occasions arose.
The Club donated Palliatives to the Hearts of Gold Hospice, a home for disabled children in Surulere, Lagos.
We produced and shared a Video Campaign on the Prevention and Fight against COVID-19 via various Social Media and is ongoing.
Rotary International is very strong on Training and Seminars for Development of Rotarians through the various Districts as well and our Club participated in practically all at the District level.
We also participated in the Virtual 2020 District Conference and Rotary International Convention as they could not be held physically.
To the glory of God, our efforts did not go unrewarded as we got recognition in the following areas.
