The Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu will be leading other eminent personalities including Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Troyka Group, Dr. Biodun Shobanjo, Founder, Elizade University, Chief Michael Ade-Ojo as well as His Royal Majesty, Oba (Dr.) Victor Ademefun Kiladejo, the Osemawe of Ondo Kingdom to the investiture of Rotarian Sola Akinsiku as the 55th President of Rotary Club of Ikeja and induction of the new board of Directors for the 2022/2023 Rotary year.
The investiture, which is to raise funds for the Club’s humanitarian projects, is scheduled to hold on Sunday, July 10th at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Ikeja.
According to a press release signed by the club’s Director of Public Image, Rotarian Segun Adebowale, the club will be bestowing awards of recognition for commitment to humanitarian activities on Akeredolu, Shobanjo and Dangote at the event which will have pioneer Managing Director of Seplat Nigeria Limited and Executive Chairman of AA Holdings, Mr. Austin Avuru as the guest speaker.
The release added that the club would also confer honorary membership on other eminent personalities like the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Esso Nigeria Limited, Dr. Smith Ezenagu, Alhaji Idris Salihu, Chief Emmanuel Ajufo and Mr. Emeka Okeke.
The incoming President identified basic education and literacy, maternal and child care, peace and conflict resolution, environment, economic empowerment, and water and sanitation as some of the focus areas for the 2022/2023 Rotary year.
Akinsiku added that that the club ïs committed to developing the mind of school children, insisting that there was a need to make education interesting and conducive for children across board.
He said, “At Rotary club of Ikeja, we are always committed to renovating schools, building blocks of classrooms, donating books, laboratory equipment and an ICT laboratory.’’
He added that these interventions were necessary to take out-of-school children back to school. “Do you know that some children stopped going to school because there are no classrooms? They get to school and sit under the tree to learn. So, Rotary steps into such situation, build a block of classroom and this way, keep them in school.”
Akinsiku noted that the club would also promote a sustainable environment for the society.
To him, the environment is the nation’s heritage, “It is our future. The way we treat our environment is how we would be treated by the same environment tomorrow.
“We engage in tree planting and sanitation to ensure that the environment is properly taken care of. We also organise seminars, and workshops on climate change and how to make the environment friendly.”
Born in 1958 in the prominent Erinketa Quarters of the Ondo Kingdom to Mr. Adeniyi Moses Akinsiku and Mrs. Mogbonjubola Beatrice Akinsiku, Akinsiku, a fellow of the registered practitioners in adverting in Nigeria, had both elementary and secondary education in Ondo and then proceeded to Saint Peter’s Teachers’ College Akure where he obtained Grade II Teacher’s Certification. He also attended the Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, for the National Certificate in Education (NCE) and later obtained his first degree in English Language (with Education) from the University Ife (now, Obafemi Awolowo University) Ile-Ife in 1987.
In 1989, he obtained a PGD in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos; and in 1982, obtained the M.Sc. also in Mass Communication from the same university. He is currently, a Doctoral student with focus on Development Communication in the same department and university.
He started his advertising career in 1992 at Rock Forte Advertising Limited as a Client Service Executive and later became a Senior Client Service Executive. In 1994, he joined the Research and Public Relations Department of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, and was later moved to the highly demanding Vetting and Inspectorate Department, and as Secretary to the Advertising Standards Panel, ASP.
Having had a fulfilling career in APCON, under the leadership of Dr. Josef Bel-Molokwu a thorough bred gentleman, Rotarian Akinsiku moved over to the Marketing/Customer Service Department of Optimum Exposures Limited, one of the leading Out-of-Home Advertising media firms in Nigeria, and a member of the Troyka Group.
Married to Mrs. Damilola Mercy Akinsiku with children, Akinsiku started private practice in Out-of-Home media in 2001 when he co-founded KOK Visibility Edge with two of his cousins (Adegunloye Gilbert Robert and Adebayo Folasele Felix). Today, KOK is a leading member of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), and operates in six geo-political zones of the country.
