Service in an Age of Despair, By Senator Babafemi Ojudu

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
Rotarians, friends, and fellow believers in humanity, good evening.

Let me begin by congratulating my dear friend, Rotarian Olugbenga Bolaji Kowe, on this well-deserved investiture as President of this noble Rotary Club.
This is not just a title, it is a call to duty, a moral invitation to lead by example at a time when Nigeria most needs men and women of conscience, character, and compassion.

We gather today in what I often call an age of despair.
An age when uncertainty has become our daily bread,
when prices rise faster than hope,
and when too many of our people wake up asking not what tomorrow will bring but whether there will be a tomorrow at all.

Yet, my friends, it is precisely in such an age that the call to service becomes most sacred.
When darkness thickens, even the smallest lamp becomes invaluable.
Let us be honest.
Despair walks our streets like a restless spirit.
You see it in the eyes of mothers at the market,
in the weary shoulders of fathers whose salaries vanish before mid-month,
in the silent frustration of young people who are educated but unemployed. In the eyes relatives of sick people in hospitals who do not have money for medications .

We are a nation where trust in leaders, in institutions, even in one another — is crumbling.
Many now ask: What is the point of doing good in a country that rewards wrong?

But I say to you tonight despair is not destiny.
Despair is not a final chapter.
Despair is a disease, and service is its cure.

The Power of Service

To serve is to rebel
to rebel against selfishness, corruption, and hopelessness.

When you choose to serve, you are saying:

“I refuse to accept that decay is our destiny. I will not surrender my conscience to convenience.”

That is what Rotary has always stood for.
Your creed “Service Above Self” is revolutionary in a self-obsessed age.
It tells us that success is not about how much we take, but how much we give.

Every borehole dug, every school rehabilitated, every scholarship awarded, every widow fed and clothed —
these are not mere projects; they are acts of faith.
They are proof that we can build from below, even when those at the top fail to inspire.

Rekindling Hope – From the Ground Up

Hope does not descend from government circulars or party manifestos.
Hope is built — brick by brick, by people like you.

When a Rotary Club adopts a village, when it sends a child back to school, when it gives dignity to the elderly
it rekindles something priceless: the belief that we can still shape our own destiny.

And that is the miracle Rotary performs quietly, daily, without fanfare
the miracle of keeping hope alive.

You remind us that leadership is not position; it is presence.
That wealth is not about accumulation; it is about contribution.

The Moral Challenge

My challenge to every Rotarian here tonight is this:
become a guardian of hope.
Fight not only the poverty of the pocket,
but also the poverty of spirit.
Build not only roads and clinics,
but also the invisible infrastructure of trust and compassion.

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Let us teach our children that service is not an extracurricular activity
it is a way of life.

If Nigeria is to rise again,
it will not begin in Abuja or Aso Rock.
It will begin right here
in Rotary halls, town squares, classrooms, and local communities
where citizens decide that enough is enough.

The Rotary Challenge

This Rotary year’s global theme “The Magic of Rotary” could not be more fitting.
Because indeed, there is a magic in Rotary.
It is the magic that turns despair into determination.
It is the magic that transforms good intentions into concrete impact.
It is the magic that happens when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things.

Let this club under President Olugbenga Bolaji Kowe be known for that kind of magic.
Let it be remembered not just for fine banquets and well-designed banners —
but for lives touched, communities transformed, and hopes rekindled.

The Call to Action

My friends, Nigeria does not lack talkers; it lacks doers.
It does not lack prayers; it lacks participants.

Rotary gives us a model a rhythm of civic duty that can inspire a new generation of Nigerians.
If every professional association, every alumni body, every religious group embraced this spirit of service above self,
Nigeria would heal faster than we think.

Let us therefore commit each in our small way
to be that healing force.
To replace despair with dignity, and helplessness with hope.

As we celebrate this new leadership,
let us remember that to serve is to live twice once for ourselves, and once for humanity.

Helen Keller once said,