The Rotary Club of Abuja Jabi Lakeside, on Sunday, organised a one day Business Expo in Abuja to showcase the businesses and products of its members.
The event took place at the Grand Cubana Hotel Hall and was declared opened by the District Governor of Rotary District 9127, Rotarian Mike Nwanoshiri, represented by Assistant District Secretary, Rotarian Emeka Iroegbunam.
Rtn. Pat Ofik, Assistant District Secretary of Rotary International, District 9127, Rtn. Emeka Iloegbunam, President, Rotary Club of Abuja Jabi Lakeside (The Lakers), Rtn. Amobi Ogum and the President-Elect, Rtn. Caroline Morah, during a one day Business Expo organised by the Lakers in Abuja on Sunday.
On display at the exhibition were clothing materials, confectioneries, power inverters, security gadgets, food and beverages, insurance, jewelries and fashion.
In his remarks before declaring the business expo opened, the Assistant Governor of Rotary District 9127, Rotarian Iroegbunam, commended the Club, popularly known as the Lakers, for their innovativeness and zeal to ensure progress for the business of their members while giving back to the society.
He said: “I can see that we have an array of things from beauty, fast moving goods, aesthetics, electronics, travel, logistics to home food, environmentally safe electricity and so on.
“I mean, such an array of merchandise and services here today and I think we are so proud of what we are doing.
“Let me express my personal pride to be associated with the Lakers. This is really so wonderful.
“All I want is for us to be able to do what is important. The exhibitors have come here today waiting for us to patronise them, and we need to do that.”
In his welcome remarks, the President of the Rotary Club of Abuja Jabi Lakeside, Rotarian Amobi Ogum, said the event was organised to showcase the businesses and services being rendered by its members as part of the club’s membership retention and new club development month.
Ogum said: “Part of what we want to achieve is to ensure that Rotary is not just about giving to the community, but we also want to showcase what our members do so people can patronise them. You can’t give what you don’t have.”
He said the success of the business expo, which is the club’s maiden edition, would determine how often such events would be held going forward.
He said: “Our hope is that by the time we are done with this, we will see whether it’s something we can be doing once every month or once every quarter. But we must find a way of making sure that people sell their businesses and that’s why we are here.”
He said the exhibitors were 80 per cent Rotarians and a few businesses “who want to identify with our causes who decided to come and also exhibit.”
He said Club has put in place mechanisms to ensure that the products on display which were worth over N100million were offered to members of the public at discounted rates as a way of giving back to the society.
He said: “We are looking to ensure that people get discounts for what they buy. If you get in, there are some properties that are going for sale and they’ve offered as much as 30 per cent discount. It’s our own way of giving back to the society, the buying public and the selling public.”
He called on Nigerians to always make sure that those around them are happy by doing whatever little they can to ameliorate their hardships.
“Always give back to the community. Whenever you think things are getting hard for you, there are lots of people you are better off than.
“So by sharing a meal, sharing a drink, sharing whatever you can, always make sure the community around you are happy,” Ogum said.
