25th Anniversary Welcome Address
WELCOME ADDRESS BY. MACE SOYEMI OLADAPO COKER, EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT, MACE CLUB OF NIGERIA
@ THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY LECTURE/DANCE PARTY, TODAY, SATURDAY, 25TH JULY, 2009.
Your Excellency, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Governor of Ogun State and our own Mace Grand Patron, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Aremu Adedotun Gbadebo, the Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egba Land, Mace Royal Father. That Chairman of this occasion, Chief Mike Ayinde, our Chief Patron, Alhaji Yaya Soaga, Mace Chief Patroness, Iyalode Alaba Lawson, other Patrons of the club here present, invited special guests, distinguished ladies and gentlemen.
It is indeed a thing of joy for me and other members to welcome you, our distinguished guests to this grand finale programme of our week-long 25th Anniversary celebration which started last Sunday with a thanksgiving church service. On Wednesday, we were at some selected Charity Homes to share our joy with the under privileged while yesterday, we attended the Jumat Service to give thanks to God Almighty for His mercies and benevolence towards the club these past 25 years of our existence.
THE JOURNEY SO FAR
Permit me to briefly highlight the history of this unique club. The Mace Club of Nigeria was conceptualized and established on 1st April, 1984 by a group of friends, mostly young school-levers then seeking admission into Higher Institutions of Higher Learning. The Club was incorporated on 4th December 1990 and since then, it has been growing by leaps and bounds. From a modest membership of 15 at inception, total membership today is 36. By the special grace of God, we have remained focused on our mission and vision, which are geared toward provision of a common platform for pooling the resources of members together for community and leadership development as well as promotion of the progress, unity and dignity of our fatherland.
As a social and humanitarian organization, the club has recorded many achievements over the years. Some of our outstanding and very remarkable performances are our humanitarian intervention roles at the lepers’ colony at Iberekodo where some years back,, we built a block of six toilets for the convenience of the inmates. It has always been our duty to ensure that we put smiles on the face of the less privileged in the society, through financial assistance to deserving individuals. We have offered at least one full-scholarship to one indigent student who today is a graduate of the Tai Solarin University of Education. In addition, Mace Club also lent a helping hand to our immediate community and to the government by assisting in road rehabilitation. Mace Club has trained and produced men of excellence in all facets of life who in turn uses their wealth of experience in National Development. Most of our members who were young school levers then have grown to become successful professionals in various fields, and even employers and providers of job opportunities, all to the glory of God Almighty.
Two years ago, we inaugurated what is now turning to an annual programme in the field of education. As a prelude to this 25th Anniversary, the 2nd edition of the Mace Club Inter-Schools Debate Essay-Quiz Competition amongst students of Secondary Schools in Ogun State was held on Wednesday, 20th May, 2009. Again, the concept of the schools debate is our own modest way of complementing the stake-holders efforts at reviving and enhancing the culture of reading, positive interaction and exchange of great ideas amongst students of today. And for two years running, we have used the schools’ Debate and Quiz Competitions to also draw more attention to and campaign against the killer disease, malaria through a wholistic environmental sanitation and community-based treatment, involving all levels of government.
Through this programme, we have been able to highlight the danger that malaria disease poses to the health and growth of the nation and the fact that concerted efforts at eradicating it should become a more serious issue on the agenda-table of every government from local to the federal. While we appreciate the tremendous support and partnership we have enjoyed from individual and corporate organizations towards our anti-malaria campaign programme through the inter-schools debate initiative, we also like to place on record our eternal gratitude to the approving authorities in government, notably the Ogun State Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, for sharing in our vision for these capacity-building events.
The Anniversary Lecture: Today shall be raising the bar higher on these intellectual and capacity building initiative as professor Lai Oso would be delivering a keynote lecture on the theme: “Rescuing Nigeria’s Education Sector From Total Collapse: The Way Forward”. Collectively, we hope that we must play our part as solution-providers by identifying areas to channel our energy and resources towards a lasting solution to the problems of education in Nigeria.
PERMANENT CLUB’S HOUSE:
It;s gratifying to mention that the club’s resolve to develop a befitting permanent house received a positive boost recently when we made the final payment for 2 acres of Land allocated to the club by the Ogun State Bureau of Lands along the Kobape-Sagamu Express Way. The processing of necessary documents and deeds of allotment is now in progress and this will facilitate the commencement of development of the site, which we hope to embark-upon after this silver jubilee. Apart from the Club House, we intend to also have in place, a Clinic for “Free Malaria Treatment” as well as various recreational facilities within the structure. We hereby solicit for the support of both local and international donors for this worthy project and the process will start here today in the course of this anniversary.
AWARDS OF RECOGNITION & EXCELLENCE:
Your Excellency, Kabiyesi and distinguished guests, it is our tradition in Mace Club to recognize and reward selfless service and contribution to a common public good. By this, we not only motivate but also encourage further meaningful contribution to the cause of the society at large: Along side our members and honourary members, we have also identified some members of the public who in their chosen fields of endeavour had distinguished themselves with quality service delivery, employment generation and contribution to the socio-economic development of our society. We shall therefore be giving awards of excellence to such individuals and organizations at today’s ceremony.
OURS IS A COVENANT CLUB:
Our dear and highly referred Mace Grand Patron, His Excellency, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, His Imperial Majesty, the Mace Royal Father, the Chairman of today’s occasion, other distinguished special guests, ladies and gentlemen this address will not be complete without returning all honours and adoration to God. We look back these 25 years all we see are the hands of God. That’s why we at Mace Club have always made prayers our bedrock. Every 1st of April, we organize special prayers. Every month we open and close our meetings with prayers. Last Sunday we held a thanksgiving service, yesterday we were at the Jumat service to thank God for our very modest achievements. It is also important to note that apart from one member, Mace Muyiwa Akanni that we lost at the early inception, and our Patroness, Alhaja Bola Olatunji (Balafic) who we also lost few years ago, God has been so marvellous to us. May their gentle souls rest in peace. It is on this note that we covet your prayers as we embark on another year that God will continue to guide and direct our paths so that we will continue to render very passionate service to humanity.
Thank you for sharing in our joy today. God bless you all. Amen.
MACE DAPO COKER
President