District Governor, Rotary District 9112 Olayioye Abidoye, has described sports as a vital tool for driving Rotary’s mission of service to humanity.
Abidoye stated this at a media parley in Lagos, heralding the Rotary Sports Festival (RoSFest) 2027, emphasising that sports foster unity, teamwork and healthy living, which align with the organisation’s core value of impacting society,
Rotary Sports Festival is an annual event, a six-month fitness and fellowship fiesta designed to keep Rotarians mentally and physically sound to carry out humanitarian service.
According to the Rotary District Governor, “When you participate in sports, you are mentally sound, you are physically sound and your health is in the right frame to do service and to function in your family. We Rotarians who have dedicated our lives to serving humanity must be fit mentally, physically and health-wise,”
While stating that District 9112 currently has over 2,700 members across 96 Rotary Clubs, which he supervises, he said that RoSFest was one way of taking care of those who take care of others.
Enumerating some of the interventions that his organisation had embarked on, he said it included: donation of learning materials to Ojuwoye Inclusive Nursery and Primary School for children with visual and hearing impairments, observance of Disaster Relief Day, and screening of public primary school pupils for sight and hearing defects under the Legacy Programme to prevent mislabelling poor performance as dullness.
On the other hand, he appealed to Rotarians to ensure effective participation at RosFest 2027, quoting WHO’s definition of health: “Health is wealth. When you are not healthy, that is the only thing you think about. We can only mind other people’s business when we are healthy.”
On her part, Chairman of the RoSFest 2027 Committee, who is also the past president, Chinyere Madueke-Onwo, described RoSFest 2027 as a platform for strengthening the relationship between Rotarians and Rotaractors, adding, “We recognise the energy, creativity and enthusiasm that Rotaractors bring to the Rotary family, and we look forward to meaningful collaboration that will promote unity, leadership, development and active participation’’
She further explained that the RoSFest 2027 edition would feature12 sporting activities, six indoor games which include Ayyolopon, draughts, Scrabble, chess, table tennis and snooker.
While the six outdoor games, she said include: 100m dash for both male and women, relay race, tug of war, football, volley ball and golf.
The objective, Chairman of RoSFest 2027 Committee said was to create opportunities for participation, healthy competition fellowship while encouraging Rotarians and other participants to embrace physical fitness and an active lifestyle.
“We intend to make this edition more inclusive, engaging and competitive, with every participating Club having the opportunity to demonstrate its sporting strength and team spirit. Medals and points shall also be awarded to Clubs according to merits.
“RoSFest 2027 presents a valuable opportunity for corporate organisations, institutions, individuals and Clubs to associate with an initiative that promotes health, youth development, community engagement and excellence.
On his part, Augustine Irabor of Rotary Club of Ikoyi and member of RoSFest Committee, explained that the media parley aimed to announce dates and mobilise Rotarians and the public.
Irabor, who was among those honoured for their roles in the last edition for participating in football, tug of war and golf, said RoSFest awareness is growing.
While recalling that last year’s RoSFest recorded huge success, he said that this year’s edition would be more impactful.
It is interesting to note that the qualifying games/tournaments will run from 31st January to 31st March 2027. While 2nd April would witness the opening ceremony of RoSFest Week.
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