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| Rotary Club District Governor 9110, Dr. Jide Akeredolu (2nd left) presents certificate to one of the participants, with him is Mr. Sanjay Srivastava, President Elect, Rotary Club Lagos Island (2nd right) and others |
Speaking at the end of the programme which took place
at Ishak Tolaram Foundation Building, Fadeyi, lagos, the District Governor
said that, the programme was held, in order to salvage humanity! He urged the
participants to strive to make positive changes in their various communities, that,
Rotary Club is a community of humanitarians touching people’s lives, “we expect
that you also will go back to your communities and affect other people’s lives
with what you have learnt these two days. Please go to your communities to
impact their lives,” he said.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Assistant Governor of
the District, Omotunde Lawson said that Rotary Club involvement in the vocational
training is because “we in Rotary Club are dedicated to optimal performance and
service. Our club wants to further empower people, that is why we bring these
young women and men together, they are entrepreneurs in their own right and the
topic today is on energy management and you know energy is a major issue in our
country. This training will enable them to be better equipped in their daily
work. She also added that, “the certificate we are going to give them can be presented
anywhere to show that they were part of this impactful training.”
On his part Mr. Sanjay Srivastava informed that, “For
the Rotary club of Lagos Island, this is one of the many series of training
that we do. We also do training for people in other areas of human endeavor. So
it is almost a regular thing. As the need arises, we bring resource persons
together to train people. The benefit is that we are out to serve humanity, to
improve the state of things in our communities, and beyond. We aim to make
people self-sufficient in whatever they are going to be doing that contributes
to the society. So after the training we are happy that they are doing things
on their own. So we do this free of charge to people who are less privilege in
the society.”
And true to promise, the 2-day empowerment programme
ended on Friday evening with the Club’s top official led by the District
Governor, taking turns to present certificates to the beneficiaries.
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| Oluwadurotimi |
Some of the beneficiaries spoke to us after receiving
their certificates: My Name is Oluwadurotimi Akinbolayan, I read Mechanical
engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University. I saw the flyer bearing the
information about the seminar on social media. I made research and contacted
the phone numbers and I found out that it was authentic so I decided to attend.
Honestly I am shocked about the content of the programme. When I first saw the
flyer I was skeptical. But when I saw Rotary Club I was more confident about
attending. We were informed through the flyers that we would pay N5000 for the
seminar but on getting here, we even found out that it is totally free plus refreshment
and a proper lunch. I go for programmes like this and I know how much I pay for
such. What they have done today is very humanitarian. Rotary Club has lived up
to its name and reputation.”
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| Jonathan Chinedu |
Another beneficiary Jonathan Chinedu, said that, “the
programme has been educative and impressive. My brother who is based in Port
Harcourt sent me the information. He said he got the information on the social
media. So he told me to attend. Registration was termed N5000 but on getting
here, Rotary Club declared it free, no fee paying seminar. I have come to see
that the energy problem in Nigeria is simply political and can be overcome. I
have collected the certificate today and it is going to open new doors for me.
Two of the resource persons at the training also shared
their views:
“I am Engr. Austin Duru. I am a licensed engineer, a member of
Nigerian Society of Engineers, Victoria Island branch and one of the executive
officers. I belong to Nigerian Institute of Power Engineers as well and the Nigerian
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
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| Engr. Austin Duru |
“Today’s seminar is about energy service management and
the opportunities in Nigeria. Basically we discussed about energy generation,
distribution and service generally whether it is grid base or off grid base. We
are trying to encourage people to go into the electrical service industry to
enhance the sector which is obviously in a poor state. It has been two days
training and the participants have been awarded certificates. These two days
training has actually been compressed, the training material is actually meant
for a seven days training but because we have made it interactive it became
simpler. The material we have given to them can help them build their technical
competence in terms of electricity, power supply as well as business materials
including regulations to kick start a small energy even if it is from their own
compound and then extend it to street level then estate level and then probably
to a big community.
“The impact we are hoping is for them to be able to
become energy providers after this training. We know that it is not going to
happen overnight but the knowledge that they have got here would probably help
them to plan and execute an energy service company that offers power purchase
service and agreements to communities in the next few years. Hopefully I want
to see that Nigeria’s electricity problems can be solved even from this minor
group. And when others do the same and more people are trained, then we could
have a bigger social impact. The return on investment is high so we will
continue to do this training and advocacy to many to enable them enter into the
energy space.”
Mr. Prasanna Kuppuswamy an Indian who was also a
resource person at the training had this to say: “I represent Enpee Group.
“From my interactions with these participants, I see them making impact with
the knowledge that they have gained today in two was.
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| Prasanna |
“Also the knowledge they have gained today will enable them to know what to procure, how to procure and whether to procure the infrastructure and materials needed in the energy sector and how to do installation of electrical and solar energy amongst other things.”
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