The Rotary International President, Gordon Mclnally, will be on a three-day working visit to Nigeria starting Friday with a fresh donation of $7m for eradication and disease prevention.
The latest grant is in addition to the $14m Rotary gave to Nigeria about two months ago through the WHO for technical assistance on polio surveillance.
Nigeria is also an awardee of Rotary’s $2m grant for improving Maternal and Child Health.
There were indications that Mclnally may have an audience with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on other areas of assistance, such as disease control and child and maternal health.
According to a statement by the Coordinator of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Prof Emmanuel Dolapo Lufadeju, and the Co-coordinator, Dr Goddy Nnadi, the visit will enhance the ties between the Federal Government and Rotary International.
The statement said, “Rotary International is a non-governmental, foremost humanitarian organisation with over 1.5 million members worldwide. It enjoys diplomatic status and has sat at the United Nations as an observer since 1948. The organisation has been instrumental in the eradication of polio in Nigeria.
“This visit cements the already strong bond between the Federal Government of Nigeria, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), and other stakeholders.
“Nigeria is the awardee of the 2nd ‘’Programme of Scale (PoS), a $2m grant, for improving the Maternal and Child Health code-named – “Together for Healthy Families in Nigeria.
“Also, recently, Rotary, through the WHO, gave the Government of Nigeria a new grant amounting to US$14m to enable WHO to provide technical assistance on polio surveillance.
‘The grant was also a support to avert a resurgence of wild polio and to eradicate the Circulating Variant Poliovirus Type 2 (CVPVD2) in the country (CVPVD2).
“Another $7m is to be donated by Rotary to UNICEF for eradication and disease prevention in Nigeria.
“It is important to note that Rotarians are actively involved in implementing all Rotary projects in Nigeria, working closely with the Federal Ministry of Health, the State Ministries of Health, and other national and international partners.”
The statement explained why Nigeria was a priority nation to Rotary International.
The statement added, “Nigeria is a priority country in Africa and indeed in the world for Rotary International.
“The country has four Districts, and because of the phenomenal growth of membership, the Rotary Districts in Nigeria will increase to six by July 1, 2024, making it the country with the highest number of Districts in Africa and the highest contribution in humanitarian giving in the Africa Zone.
“The country is duly recognised for being given the longest duration of Rotary International President’s visit in his Africa Hope Tour.”
