Sixty days may seem like a short period in the life of an organisation, but leadership is not measured only by the amount of time available. It is measured by what a leader chooses to do with that time.
On July 1, 2026, Rtn. Dr. Kester Awani assumed office as President of the Rotary Club of Eleko Golden with a clear philosophy: a Rotary presidency should be about more than occupying an office for one year. It should be about using that year to create lasting impact.
Sixty days into his tenure, that philosophy is already taking shape through initiatives spanning environmental sanitation, maternal and child health, disease prevention, leadership development, youth empowerment, membership development and community engagement.
But Awani did not arrive at Rotary without a history of service.
Long before becoming a Rotarian, he had embraced philanthropy and community development as part of his personal commitment to giving back to society. Through the Dr. Kester Awani Foundation, he has been involved in efforts aimed at making a difference in the lives of people and communities.
For him, therefore, service is not simply an obligation attached to a Rotary office. It is a personal value that predates his membership of the organisation.
That background is important in understanding the approach he has brought to his presidency of the Rotary Club of Eleko Golden. He comes to Rotary not only as a Rotarian, but as a philanthropist with an established commitment to community development and as a seasoned serial entrepreneur, project manager and business leader with years of experience in building enterprises, managing people, coordinating projects, solving problems and turning ideas into tangible outcomes.
These experiences have shaped his understanding of leadership.
Entrepreneurship teaches you to identify opportunities where others see problems. Project management teaches you that good intentions must be matched by planning, execution, accountability and measurable outcomes. Business leadership teaches you how to mobilise people, manage resources, build partnerships and make difficult decisions. Philanthropy teaches something equally important: that success carries with it a responsibility to give back.
Awani brings all of these experiences to Rotary.
It is perhaps this combination that explains the deliberate character of his first 60 days in office. His focus has not been simply on activity, visibility or ceremony, but on creating interventions that respond to genuine community needs while developing people who can continue the work.
His approach is rooted in a simple but profound question: When a leader leaves office, what should remain?
The answer, in his view, should be better people, healthier communities, stronger institutions, empowered young leaders and a culture of service that continues long after the person who initiated it has moved on.
That philosophy was evident in one of the Club’s early environmental interventions at the Sangotedo Ultra Modern Market, where the Rotary Club of Eleko Golden supported a community sanitation initiative and donated waste bins to promote responsible waste management.
It may be easy to underestimate an intervention such as the donation of waste bins. Yet, in a community where markets are central to economic and social life, proper waste disposal has implications for public health, environmental sustainability and the dignity of those who work and live there.
The intervention therefore went beyond cleaning a marketplace. It was about encouraging a change in behaviour and reminding members of the community that environmental responsibility cannot be left entirely to government or sanitation authorities. Communities themselves must become active participants in preserving the environments in which they live and work.
This practical approach to service has also been evident in the Club’s focus on maternal and child health.
Through its Mother and Child and Disease Prevention programme at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, the Club brought attention to maternal health, child development, mother-and-child bonding and community awareness.
The programme reflected an understanding that the wellbeing of mothers and children is not merely a healthcare issue. It is a development issue. When mothers are healthier, children have better opportunities to thrive, families are strengthened and communities become more resilient.
The Club subsequently reinforced this commitment through a virtual training programme themed “How Every Rotarian Can Save the Life of a Mother or Child.”
The training focused on emergency response, first aid, blood donation, health education and advocacy, with the underlying message that the ability to make a difference in a medical emergency should not be restricted to healthcare professionals.
A Rotarian who knows how to respond appropriately in an emergency, a citizen who understands the importance of blood donation, or an individual who can recognise a potentially life-threatening situation and seek help promptly can become a critical link in saving a life.
That is the essence of sustainable service: not simply doing something for people, but equipping people with knowledge and capacity to respond when help is needed.
Awani’s first 60 days have also demonstrated a strong commitment to investing in people, particularly young people.
The Rotary Club of Eleko Golden sent two Rotaractors to participate in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, popularly known as RYLA, giving them the opportunity to benefit from leadership training and development.
Such an investment may not immediately produce a physical structure or a headline-grabbing statistic, but its potential impact is enormous.
A young person who gains leadership skills, confidence, discipline and a deeper understanding of service can go on to influence a workplace, an organisation, a community and perhaps an entire generation.
For Awani, this is one of the most important dimensions of Rotary’s mission. The organisation must not only respond to today’s problems; it must help develop the people who will provide leadership for tomorrow.
His professional experience reinforces this conviction. As a serial entrepreneur and business leader, Awani understands that sustainable organisations are built around people. As a project manager, he understands that even the most ambitious vision must eventually be translated into objectives, timelines, resources, execution and results. And as a philanthropist, he understands that the ultimate value of resources is not simply what they can purchase for oneself, but what they can accomplish for others.
Those lessons have become part of the way he approaches Rotary.
This was also the thinking behind the Club’s Membership and New Club Development Seminar, which challenged Rotarians and prospective members with a thought-provoking question: “Why Rotary instead of simply volunteering elsewhere?”
It is a question worth asking in a society where many people already give their time and resources to worthy causes.
Nigeria does not lack generous people. Across the country, individuals routinely support families, schools, hospitals, religious institutions and community initiatives. There is a deep tradition of volunteerism and philanthropy.
But organised service offers something more.
It creates a platform through which individual goodwill can become structured and sustainable action. It brings people from different professions, backgrounds and areas of expertise together around common challenges. It creates networks through which ideas, resources and skills can be mobilised for the public good.
And perhaps most importantly, it transforms service from something people occasionally do into a culture and a way of life.
That, for Awani, is one of the enduring strengths of Rotary.
He sees Rotary not merely as a social organisation or professional network, but as a vehicle through which people can turn compassion into action and personal capacity into community impact.
His own journey illustrates this intersection between professional success and social responsibility. Entrepreneurship and leadership have provided him with opportunities to build, manage and create value; philanthropy has provided an avenue to return value to society; and Rotary now provides an even broader platform through which that experience can be deployed in partnership with others.
This is why he does not regard his presidency as a personal achievement.
Leadership, in his view, is stewardship.
For a limited period, a president is entrusted with the responsibility of guiding an organisation and mobilising its people toward a shared purpose. The responsibility is not to build a monument to oneself, but to leave the institution stronger, more purposeful and better positioned for the future.
That distinction matters.
Too often, leadership is judged by visibility, titles, awards, ceremonies and the number of activities completed. But the deeper test of leadership is what happens to people and institutions as a result of the leader’s tenure.
How many people became empowered?
How many young leaders were developed?
How many lives were touched?
How many communities became more aware of their responsibilities?
How many partnerships were created?
How many people who encountered the organisation were inspired to serve others?
And perhaps the most important question of all: what continues after the leader has left?
Those are the questions that underpin Awani’s approach to his presidential year.
His first 60 days have therefore not been about trying to do everything at once. Rather, they have been about establishing a direction—one in which Rotary service is connected to real community needs and where each intervention has the potential to produce benefits beyond the immediate activity.
The projects undertaken so far may appear diverse: environmental sanitation, maternal and child health, disease prevention, leadership training, Rotaractor development and membership growth.
But there is a common thread running through all of them.
People.
The trader who deserves a cleaner and healthier market environment.
The mother who needs access to health information.
The child whose future depends on the health and wellbeing of the family.
The Rotaractor who needs leadership exposure.
The Rotarian who needs the knowledge and confidence to respond to an emergency.
The prospective member who needs to understand that service can become a lifelong commitment.
These are the people behind the projects.
And ultimately, they are the reason the projects matter.
For Awani, the phrase “Create Lasting Impact” is therefore more than a Rotary theme or presidential slogan. It represents a philosophy of leadership that has roots in his life long before he assumed the Rotary presidency.
It means understanding that a waste bin donated today can contribute to a cleaner community tomorrow. A health education session delivered today can help prevent a tragedy tomorrow. A young Rotaractor trained today can become a transformational leader tomorrow. A Rotarian equipped with first-aid knowledge today may one day be the person who stands between a fellow human being and death.
The full consequences of service are not always immediately visible.
Sometimes the greatest impact of an intervention is something that happens years later, involving someone whose name the original volunteers may never know.
That is why service must be approached with patience and purpose.
Sixty days is only the beginning.
There are still months ahead in Awani’s presidential year, and there will undoubtedly be more projects, partnerships, training programmes and community interventions. But the direction has already been established.
The objective is not simply to have a busy presidency. It is to have a consequential one.
Not simply to organise activities, but to create outcomes.
Not simply to complete projects, but to build capacity.
Not simply to receive recognition, but to create value.
And not simply to be remembered as a president who served for a year, but as a leader who used his year to strengthen a culture of service that can continue long after his tenure.
This is why the story of the first 60 days of Rtn. Dr. Kester Awani’s presidency is not really a story about 60 days.
It is a story about what can happen when a leader brings together philanthropy, entrepreneurship, project management, business leadership and Rotary’s culture of service and directs them toward a common purpose.
It is a story about recognising that lasting impact does not have to wait until the end of a tenure. It can begin on the first day.
It is a story about understanding that leadership is not about how long one occupies a position, but about what one does with the opportunity to serve.
When Awani eventually hands over the leadership of the Rotary Club of Eleko Golden, the most meaningful measure of his tenure will not be the number of photographs taken, events attended or speeches delivered.
It will be whether the people and communities touched by the Club are better positioned because the Club was there.
It will be whether the two Rotaractors who benefited from RYLA go on to inspire others.
It will be whether the health knowledge shared reaches families beyond the original beneficiaries.
It will be whether the sanitation intervention contributes to a more responsible approach to waste management.
It will be whether Rotarians become more confident and capable of responding when lives are at risk.
It will be whether new members discover in Rotary not just a club to belong to, but a cause to live for.
That is the kind of legacy worth pursuing.
Because ultimately, leadership should not be about leaving behind monuments to ourselves. It should be about leaving behind people who are better equipped, communities that are stronger and a culture of service that is capable of continuing without us.
For Rtn. Dr. Kester Awani, the first 60 days have provided an early indication of that ambition.
The presidency will eventually end.
The projects will become part of the Club’s history.
But if the people touched by those projects continue touching other lives, if the young leaders supported today go on to support others tomorrow, and if the communities served become more empowered to solve their own problems, then the impact will continue.
And perhaps that is the greatest reward any leader can hope for: to know that the work did not end when the tenure ended.
After 60 days, the journey toward lasting impact has only begun.