The Rotary Foundation Club of Nigeria has promised to build a polio rehabilitation centre that will rehabilitate all survivors of polio in the country.
Mr Akabom Enobong, the Governor of Rotary District 9140, made the promise in his acceptance speech while being sworn-in as the new governor on Saturday in Calabar.
Enobong said that the promise was made out of the commitment the foundation “has in eradicating polio out of the country and the world at large’’.
According to him, the rehabilitation centre will be located in any part of the country that will be willing to donate a parcel of land free to the foundation.
He said that the land if donated, would determine the capacity of the rehabilitation centre.
“I am happy to be installed today as the 38th Governor of District 9140. In my tenure as the governor, I promise to embark on the building of a rehabilitation centre for polio survivors in Nigeria.
“I want you all to support me in moving from eradication to rehabilitation.
“This centre will conscript of all polio survivors in Nigeria. We are determined to give them a life they deserve.
“So many polio survivors’ live on wheel chairs, rehabilitating them should not be beyond us,’’ he said.
According to him, the foundation will seek financial and material assistance from local and foreign Rotarians for the actualisation of the project.
“Rotary is service to humanity. Polio is almost being eradicated from the surface of the earth. In the last one year, only 74 cases of polio were reported around the world,’’ he said.
He solicited the cooperation of all Rotarians to help him succeed in his administration.
Earlier, Mrs Ijeoma Okoro, immediate past governor of the district, said that rotary foundation had contributed immensely to the eradication of polio through awareness campaigns, education and financial contributions.
Okoro advised her predecessor to see the foundation as a gateway in the service to humanity.
She called on all Rotarians to give the new governor the necessary support that would enable him move the foundation forward.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Rotarians from the South-South and South-East zones that make up the District 9140 where in attendance at the celebration.
(NAN)
