Over one million families in a section of the Niger Delta were fed in just three months by Rotary International District 0141 during the heat of the Covid-19 pandemic when families were starving. The district has 89 clubs in Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Edo states with Virginia Major, a pharmacist and life coach as district governor.
Major, who was installed in the heat of the pandemic on July 1, 2020, has just concluded a tour of the states under her and told newsmen that unique challenges of the core Niger Delta include collapsed roads, insecurity, environmental pollution, bad water, and poor learning.
The grand mother who joined Rotary 20 years ago said the philanthropist organization with over 1.2 million members worldwide has tried to provide food for the impoverished areas of the district. “We fed over one million families during Covid-19 crisis. We began with feeding 3000 families. We are still going on with this scheme.”
Speaking at the NUJ House in Port Harcourt, Major said the group also launched an economic empowerment scheme to rescue businesses during the pandemic and help others restart. “We also executed skills improvement and supported virtual learning especially during the pandemic. We tasked ourselves so much to provide water, sanitation, etc, in communities.”
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She thus said it is good to be in Rotary because, other things apart, it prepares one for leadership in every aspect of endeavour. She urged journalists to join the organization especially now that a new Rotary model has been floated that focuses on specific areas where the journalists can apply their passion and profession.
She mentioned Maternal & Childcare as a focus scheme now. “This is a critical area of focus for us. It is not acceptable that a woman should still die in child labour in the 21st century. It is wrong that infants should still die due to absence of basic healthcare. It is a challenge to Rotary. So, Rotary is involved in provision of equipment to healthcare centres and training of Traditional Birth Attendants (BTA). We link them up to the nearest healthcare centres.’
Major went on to say; “We are poised to changing the narrative, and it is our efforts that would achieve it. Our asset is partnerships with the media.”
Despite the volatility of the Niger Delta where she governs, she said each of the 534 district governors around the world is living in danger. “Rotarians adapt to any circumstance and that is how we have adapted to the Coronavirus pandemic year to still carry out our programmes.”
The District Governor highlighted the successful of kicking out of polio in Nigeria. “Nigeria is now out of polio and this is a very big feat. Nigeria was part of many countries with polio; then down to one of 10, one of five, one of last three. Now, Nigeria has exited the polio status and is now polio-free.
“This was achieved despite Covid-19 disruptions. We were worried because the world had spent billions of dollars and millions of vials of the vaccine to end this virus in Nigeria and just as we were about to wrap it up, the Covid-19 pandemic emerged. Abandoning the project would mean starting afresh some other time. We could not afford to take such a huge risk. We could not abandon it. Now, Nigeria and indeed Africa are out of polio, now on zero status. But, remember that no child is free until every child is free of polio.
“The world fought with Nigeria to achieve this, Nigeria too will fight with the world to free the two remaining countries; Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
She pointed to aggressive membership drive as a key success so far. “We need more hands to make the world better for everyone. We have however met 50 per cent of our target. We may surpass it by end of our target year. We are achieving this because many more people now see the impact and results of Rotary actions on communities.”
For those who wonder how Rotary raises funds to do these big and numerous projects and programmes, she stated: “We work with three Ts; Time, Talent and Treasure. You must have any or all of these Ts. Just come along and bring what you have. Others will complement your effort.” Answering further questions, Major said: “Unique challenges in the Niger Delta: Roads are very bad; security is a huge challenge such that one has to carry security support on trips at extra cost. It is not easy to carry on out of the zone because those challenges consume much of the resources set out for the projects.
“Because of insecurity, even some clubs stopped having meeting and gradually disintegrated. This happened in Bori due to threats and incessant kidnapping. If you send people to conduct needs assessment in communities, hoodlums drive them away, feeling they were from oil companies. We hope these challenges go away one day.
Responding, Rivers NUJ Secretary, Ike Nwigodo, hailed Makor and Rotary for saving lives during Covid-19 and for supporting journalists with face masks.
