-
For LAGOS Country Club, As President
Mr. Seyi Adewunmi is a respectable gentleman who recently became the new President of Lagos Country Club, in the Ikeja GRA area of Lagos. He and his Executive Management Council members have spent a ltitle over 100 days in office, and they are doing a great job of improving the state of facilities, all around the 74 year old club.
Let’s quickly tell you a little about him. He is very urbane & cosmopolitan in his actions and world view. He sees his assignment as President of LCC as a task and job that must be done and accomplished within a short period of time. And he is putting in his best, along with his team. He is a corporate player who plays big in the Transport & Logistics sector of the Nigerian economy. He is the MD/CEO of KK Leasing Ltd.
Seyi Adewunmi leads a team of very vibrant professionals who form the exco, currently running the club. In the last 100 days, they have been able to do a few things. This is because they hit the ground running, to enable them actualise their agenda of Infrastructural development. They plan to give all the infrastructures of the club a facelift. For instance, work has already started on the carpark area, within the premises of the club. There is a lot more to do and they know that time is of the essence, because another election beckons in a few months time.
The new President is a successful entrepreneur. He is also an experienced Transport & Logistics business manager. He is an expert in Transport Planning, Safety Management, Intelligent Transport Systems and Crowd Control.
He is a former GM of Conoil Plc, former GM of Conoil Producing and a former Country Manager of British American Tobacco, The Gambia.
As the former Regional Head of British American Tobacco, he was responsible for Trade Marketing and distribution of global drive brands in BENITO (the Benin, Niger, and Togo markets).
He is the founder & current MD of KK Leasing Ltd, a 3rd & 4th party logistics provider that provides, maintain and manage vehicles for corporate organisations like Lafarge, MTN, Flour Mills, 54 Gene, Panafrican Equipment, etc it focuses on services like staff buses, status vehicles, tools of trade, project vehicles, pool vehicles, and short hires, KK Leasing is also a certified fleet management business that provides, maintains, and manages vehicles for corporate organisations.
He is also a fellowship member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK).
He has a BSc from Unimaid, MSc Unilag and MBA FUTA, Fellow, CILT (UK). IK is married to Ifunanya Adewunmi, Fellow of ICAN.
A few days back, the soft-spoken Seyi Adewunmi told City People what he plans to do for the club as its new President. How does he feel being the new President of Lagos Country Club, we asked. “It is a life long aspiration that I have always had. And eventually it came to pass. I am really very happy about it and I feel very fulfilled. I have every course to rejoice”
What are his plans for the club, as the new President? “Of course there is a lot of work to be done around here. I think the 1st thing for me to do is to bring every member together because as you know, everybody was in different camps during elections. So, now that I am the President, I have more responsibilities today, tomorrow and forever, to ensure that we bring everybody together and let everybody’s voice be heard.”
Since he took over the reins of leadership, there has been noticeable changes in the environment. There has been the painting of the buildings, all around the club. Why did he decide to embark on a facelift? “It is not my personal effort. It is the effort of the Management Council as a team. And the administration of the club is a continum. What you are see happening are the low hanging fruits that we feel we can actually quickly fix. For example, some of the restrooms have been upgraded. We have inter faced with other clubs like the Yoruba Tennis Club, Ikoyi Club, Eagle Club and other clubs, so that we can all come together as a united force and interface with each other and had exchange programmes, that we normal have together. One of the major projects that we have is the remodelling and renovation of the Car park, which we have just started.”
We asked him what stands Lagos Country Club out from other social clubs in Lagos. What makes it different from other clubs? “Lagos Country Club is very different. First, from the location where we occupy. We are in the heart of Ikeja, which is the Central Business District.”
“We are just a stones throw away from the Airport. And wherever you are going, within Lagos, the club is well-positioned to give you access either outside Lagos or maybe to the Island or even to Sango, or anywhere. So the location is fantastic, first of all.
The 2nd thing is that Lagos Country Club is a family club, meaning that once you join, your children and your wife will become members automatically. As a matter of fact, if they get to a certain age, your children can then upgrade so that they can become members on their own. So, that family heritage is some thing that is very, very important to us. We have had cases where by the father was President and also the son. That has happened at Lagos Country Club.”
It has also become noticeable that there is a mix between the older members and the younger ones. How did they achieve that mix, we asked “Don’t forget that the Elders of today were the Boys of yesterday, and of course, the Boys of today will become the Elders of Tomorrow. Given the fact that Lagos Country Club is already 74 years old, you then can imagine the reason we have a lot of Elders. Of course we value them, because we benefit from them in terms of Knowledge, history, norms, practices and procedures. They always guide us. They will tell us, this is the way it has been done. And this is the reason we had to do it like that. So, it is now left to the youth to now take it forward from there, because the prayer of every elder really is that you want your younger ones to succeed you.”
“The youths will then bring their own flavour into it and then see the possibilities of bringing in innovation or doing it differently, especially, in this Digital Age & Time.” The Lagos Country Club is a big club with many distinguished members.” Like how many members does the Club have, we asked the President?
“The Nominal number on our data base is 14,000. But in actual fact, we have members that use the club on a regular basis. They are about 2,800. The membership is divided into categories. We have Life members. We have Financial members. We have Junior members. We have Couples. We have Singles. So it depends on whatever strata of life or whatever situation that you find yourself, you will be able to fit into that particular strata of life, or whatever situation you find yourself, then you will be able to fit into that particular category.”
“For example, if you are a Single member, that suggests to me that you are not married. But the moment your status changes and you become a married person, then you can also include your wife, so you become double member. So that is the way it works”.
How many Sections does the club have? “In all, we have 10 active sections. We have Other Games, Scrabble section, Snooker, Billiards, Badmington, Darts, Tennis, Table Tennis, AerobicsTakwando, Swimming and Squash.
“Each of these sections are run independently by their own chairmen. But at the centre, which is where I oversee, usually we provide a level playing ground for everybody, that will allow for development, templates and policies formulated at the centre, so that everybody can be able to thrive in their own section. And each section on their own, have benefits for each game. For example, if you play Scrabble, you will improve your vocabulary. You will learn new words. You will be able to enrich yourself with a lot of words. So you learn a lot from there.”
“In Other Games, they play Chess and that tells you that if you are able to play chess, very well, you will be able to strategise even in the market place. Same with Tennis. You will learn Resilience, because you are not playing with any other person. You are there all by yourself and you are playing against your opponent. So you will be forced to learn how to rely on yourself. You will be forced to learn strategic deep thinking. So, every game has its own benefit.”
For the benefit of those who are interested in joining Lagos Country Club, what is the procedure? “The first step is that you obtain a form. After that, you fill it out. And you will indicate the kind of membership that you want, in there. Then you will submit it to the Membership Screening Committee. They will look at your profile, because in the club there is a cadre, or some level of people that we want to be able to attract, like decision makers, accomplished Civil Servants amd opinion leaders. Those are the kind of people we want to be able to attract because it is an elitist club. Once all of that is done, you will get a communication from the Membership office telling you whether you have qualified or not qualified. If you are qualified you will then move on to fulfil all other protocols, like paying the fees, induction and so on.”
“During the period of induction, we would watch, and observe such that we would be able to know whether this person has the kind of temprament or the character of the person is such that it is not questionable. And whether the person is fit to be a member of the club.”
The new Management Council is usually on for how long? “Every year, we run elections. And for every time you contest, you are only asking for 1 year, but renewable 2 times. So, that means that you can only be in office for 3 years. There will be another election next year and if I do not do well, whatever the people say is what is going to prevail. If they don’t want me to continue, they will vote me out and if they want me to continue, then, I will continue”.
So, what will he call the strength of Lagos Club, we asked? “The strength of Lagos Country Club actually varies. The biggest one I would like to talk about is the camaderie. One of the things that I am always usually proud of is that we have seen instances whereby there is a deceased members, and the rest of the members and his friends will rally round and make sure that their children complete their education. There are instances whereby some members fall sick, and some members of the club will rally round such people and help to offset the medical bill, including having to send the people who are sick abroad.”
“In this club, there is no limit and there is no boundary. You can be a staff today amd tomorrow you will become the President. We have seen it happen here before. So, it is a club of boundless possibilities.”
Send Us News, Gist, more... to citypeopleng@gmail.com | Twitter: @CitypeopleMagz
