District Governor, Rotary International District 9112, Layi Abidoye, has performed the groundbreaking ceremony for a media centre at the Rotary Centre, Ladoke Akintola Boulevard, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.

The proposed facility will house a broadcast studio, editing suite, digital imaging suite and information centre aimed at strengthening the club’s public engagement and communication efforts.

Abidoye, who also inaugurated the District 9112 Public Image Committee on the sideline of the event, said Rotary’s global reputation for charity and humanitarian interventions had continued to attract strategic partnerships, particularly with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports several of the organisation’s health programmes.

According to him, Rotary’s flagship intervention remains the global fight against polio, a campaign launched in 1985 that has reduced the disease to only two countries — Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“Rotary is not relenting in its efforts until polio is completely eradicated from the world,” he said, noting that Nigeria was certified polio-free in 2020 after years of intensive vaccination campaigns.

The district governor also highlighted Rotary’s commitment to peace and conflict resolution through its network of Peace Centres located across the world, including one at Makerere University in Uganda. He explained that the centres offer certificate, diploma and master’s programmes to individuals interested in promoting peace and leadership.

Abidoye further outlined several ongoing health interventions being funded through The Rotary Foundation, including a multi-million-dollar Programme of Scale focused on reducing maternal and infant mortality in Nigeria.

He disclosed that Rotary is also implementing a malaria eradication initiative known as the Rotary Healthy Communities Challenge, a $33 million programme supported by the Gates Foundation, with pilot projects currently underway in Kebbi and Akwa Ibom states.

On education, he said Rotary is screening thousands of public primary school pupils for hearing and sight defects, stressing that many children wrongly labelled as poor learners are often struggling with undetected health challenges.

He added that Rotary continues to support vocational training, microcredit schemes, scholarships for indigent students and disaster relief interventions across communities.

He urged more Nigerians to partner with Rotary and join its membership, saying collective action remains the most effective way to tackle societal challenges and improve lives.

The Chairman, Public Image Committee, 2026-2027, Past Assistant Governor Chinedu Ebo said the Committee was inaugurated to tell the District’s performances story in the right manner, putting the right brands as well as building a good public relationship.

“We realise that we need infrastructure such as a Media Centre where we will teach our Public Image Directors in all our 90 clubs in District 9112 on how to tell those stories in such a way that more people will join us,” he said.