In Nigeria, one of the remaining polio-endemic countries, an early participant in the World’s Biggest Commercial is expected to be business leader and philanthropist Sir Emeka Offor, who in the lead-up to World Polio Day announced a gift of US$250,000 to Rotary’s PolioPlus Programme, which provides funding for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
“It is unacceptable that polio continues to affect our children and cause such suffering in Nigeria,” said Sir Offor, Executive Chairman of the oil and gas service conglomerate Chrome Group and founder of the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation. “I hope that my gift to PolioPlus will inspire other donors to step up, so that we can eliminate this terrible – yet readily preventable – disease forever.”
Offor’s quarter million dollar contribution to polio eradication follows the same amount to Rotary’s global peace studies programme in early October.
Excerpt from Rotary News Release, 18 October 2012
17 August 2012
Thank you. So much is set into motion with your investment in the Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution. Like you, I truly believe that peace is possible. Rotary International and our Rotary Foundation have a long history of bringing together people of various cultures and backgrounds to work toward a shared goal of creating healthier communities.
The best way to build peace is to train a new generation of peacemakers. Peace is not simply the absence of war; it is a shared system of ethics and values that protect the dignity of every precious life on our planet. Your gift has already made our world more peaceful, because through it you make a statement about the importance of each person in our world community. Your act of kindness will reverberate for years to come.
Wilfrid J. Wilkinson CM, FCA, CFE
Chairman, The Rotary Foundation Trustees
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