Passion for service has kept me going –Lions club district governor, Senbanjo

The newly elected District Governor of the Lions Club (District 404B2 Nigeria), Mr. Tolulope Senbanjo, is reputed to be the youngest person in Africa to have ever held this position before now. But he does not see his age as a challenge, rather it is a motivation.

“Being the youngest District Governor of the Lions Club in Africa comes with its own challenges and opportunities. For me, it comes with the opportunity to bring in our own innovation, bring in new ideas that can transform the way we serve our community. In terms of challenges, I think I have been able to overcome that, and the major challenge is the acceptance of the older generation that someone younger would become the District Governor. But over time, they have come to accept the fact that maybe that is what we need to actually move our district forward. So, I have the mandate of the people; I have the support of Lions and Leos to ensure that I achieve success in this assignment, and I believe that with the support of the people, I am good to go,” he said with an air of confidence.

Senbanjo is a seasoned professional who graduated from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, Nigeria where he studied Mechanical Engineering and later proceeded to Middlesex University in London to obtain a Master’s degree in Project Management. He began his career in banking in 2015 and has grown to become a Financial Expert in the global market. He is an associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers Nigeria (CIBN). He is also an event manager and entertainment consultant.

The passion for service kept him in the Lions programme where he eventually became a charter member of Ikeja Dynamic Lions Club and in time became President. He was appointed as the Zone Chairperson for Zone 3B in District 404B2 Nigeria for 2019/2020 Lions service year and Cabinet Treasurer in District 404B2 Nigeria for 2020/2021 Lions service year. He also served as the District Administrator as well as District Committee Chairperson for Information and Technology for 2021/2022 Lions service year. Senbanjo was elected as the 2nd Vice District Governor for 2022/2023 Lions service year at the Multiple District Convention held in Warri in May 2022. He was elected as the 1st Vice District Governor in Abuja, in May 2023 and later elected as District Governor at the 2024 Multiple District Convention in Ibadan.

He has contributed immensely to community development in the society through various service projects including building of toilets for schools, donation of reading materials and school uniforms to different schools, diabetes awareness and treatment sponsorship, vision screening and provision of eyeglasses as well as cataract surgery for visually impaired people within the society among other numerous projects. He has also facilitated numerous trainings across the Multiple District 404 Nigeria and he is a recipient of various awards both locally and internationally.

Lion Senbanjo is a Progressive Melvin Jones Fellow and a Major Donor to Lions Club International Foundation (LCIF). He is also a Five Star Diamond fellow of the Nigerian Lions Charity Foundation (NLCF).

One of his most ambitious yet realistic plans is to raise N250 million for the establishment of a world-class food bank in Lagos. This transformative initiative aims to serve at least 100,000 people yearly.

He explained: “You know we are an international organisation, and our international president has mandated us to make our mark, and that means in terms of leadership, in terms of service, in terms of membership growth; all Lions are mandated to make their mark and for us in District 404B2, my theme particularly for this year is Service First and creating a lasting impact. So, we believe that we should put service first before any other thing for us in this Lions service year. So, when we talk about service first, we are going to be carrying out service along our global causes. There are eight of them: Environment, hunger relief, diabetes, vision screening and awareness, paediatric cancer, disaster relief, humanitarian efforts, youth empowerment and protecting the environment. In the month of July, the Lions club already started work on the environment. We have seen people planting trees, sensitising the community regarding the cholera awareness, cleaning up the community, going to schools to educate children on the need for proper hygiene. We already started doing that this July and you know our Lions year starts in the month of July and ends June 30 (the next year).

“In August, we are focusing on youth empowerment and development. We have a youth symposium coming up on August 12 where we will engage youths. It will start with a walk to sensitise the members of the community and then we have invited seasoned professionals to come and talk to the youth. We are focusing on literacy in the month of September; October is for vision while in November, we will be talking about diabetes screening and awareness. We will be engaging the old people in December; we will also do a little bit of hunger relief project but that is not to say that the core project for this Lions service year is actually on hunger. We plan to build a food bank in Ikeja, Lagos, which will cater for about 100, 000 people yearly and we are seeking the support of members of the public and governments to partner with us.”

We need more support from all.”
Why Ikeja for the food bank; why not Lagos suburbs like Ajegunle, Okokomaiko, among others?
Senbanjo responded: “Well, we looked at Lagos that even though it is a metropolis, a lot of people are still hungry in the land particularly with the present economic situation. Lagos may be overlooked as being an urban area but deep down, there are a lot of people facing hunger. So, we decided that we look at Ikeja; more so, our District covers Ikeja, so it will be nice to give back to where our District is based. The Food Bank project is three legged, and the reason we picked Ikeja is, ease of access to partnerships with corporate bodies. Even though the Food Bank is based in Ikeja, it will be accessible to everyone in all parts of Lagos but Ikeja was picked because of proximity; so people can come from all parts and get food items.

“The second leg is the outreach part. There would be days in the week we reach out to a particular community and go give them food from the food bank. We have over 2,000 volunteers that we will deploy to make the food distribution process seamless.

“The third leg is the primary and secondary school students where we will visit their schools. We already have an agreement with local food vendors in the area and we will give the students vouchers where they can redeem them at the local food vendors.

“Every year a new District Governor assumes office, what is called a public presentation of the District Governor is held. I am the newest District Governor and my public presentation will come up on August 3, 2024, at the Jewel Aieda Centre, Lekki, Lagos by 2pm. We have invited people from all walks of life, people that have resources to give back to humanity. We invited them to come and donate to support our cause. We started reaching out to people since the beginning of the year and most of them have started responding. We set a very ambitious target of N250 million but if we break it down, it is just 250 people giving us a million each or 500 people giving us N500, 000 each.

“People will see the figure of N250 million and say my 10,000 cannot make any difference; that is not true. N1,000, N5, 000, N10, 000, if you remove it from N250 million, it is no longer N250 million. As much as possible, we encourage people to donate any amount you have to our cause and you know that Lions International is a very transparent organisation; 100 per cent of donations to the Lions club will not be used for administrative expenses at all. All those donations would be used for service activities. We fund our administrative activities through the dues of members. That is why we are adjudged as the most transparent non-governmental organisation by Financial Times and we are also the largest service organisation in the world with a representation on the UN board.”

How does he hope to manage his time between business and Lions club activities as well as family?
“Well, true, but one just have to know how to delegate and then time management is also key. I have been able to create a structure that ensures that my business does not suffer while my service to humanity through the Lions Club also does not suffer. So, I have this perfect work life balance, if you would excuse me the use of that phrase. I have people in place in terms of business execution and I have a wonderful team of Lions as part of my cabinet that ensure I don’t lack both in my service to the Lions club and humanity and my business. Also, my family is there, my wife and children, I thank them for their understanding and as much as possible, I try to balance all these three core areas of my life,” Senbanjo said.

Passion for service drives the youngest Lions Club District Governor in Africa. His words: “For me, it is passion, passion for service. I started my service journey quite early enough, as a Leo, as far back as 2016. And as a Leo, I was a student. So, you will understand that I did not have so much resources, but out of the little I had that my parents gave me, I still squeezed out a few naira here and there to impact the community. So, it is passion for me and that has kept me going till when I became a Lion. It is passion for me to serve and in our organisation, we don’t get paid for the services we render but the payment we get is the smile on people’s faces when you do something for them and you know that you don’t need them to be grateful but you know that they are grateful for the little you do for them in the community.”

The lingering worldwide economic situation may appear to be a challenge also for the club. But Senbanjo said: “We are an international organisation and we also pay dues and these dues are paid in foreign currencies, so imagine the exchange rate that keeps going up. How do we get members to even pay these dues?

The economic situation in the country at the moment is not too friendly, what with increase in petrol prices; food prices are off the roof. All these are challenges but one thing we know is that our members value service to humanity above every other thing. So, we believe that that passion for service is what is going to keep us going this year amid the economic downturn all around the world, not just in Nigeria only. We can only hope that the policies being implemented by the federal and state governments will begin to have positive impact in our lives soon. The situation might seem bleak but if we just give a little time to the policies of our government, we will begin to see the RENEWED hope as promised.”