By Ola Williams-
Ikeja, Lagos — June 7, 2025
In a ceremony blending solemnity with hope, the Incorporated Trustees of the Lagos Country Club today swore in the 2025/26 Management Council, urging members to heal past wounds and propel the institution forward.
Aare Kola Oyefeso, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, opened with gratitude, praising God and the membership for restoring democratic leadership after nearly two years in crisis management.
“It would have been sheer indifference to inaugurate this Council as if nothing had happened,” he said, stressing the need to acknowledge recent events for the sake of transparency and institutional memory.
He paid warm tribute to the three ad hoc bodies that steadied the Club through its darkest days: the Interim Management Committee under Tony Awe, the Caretaker Committee led by Alhaji Moradeyo, and the final transition team chaired by Chief Olayinka Ogunmekan.
“To those who sneered at these great members, we beseech God to forgive them,” the Trustees added. “May they come to see how intrinsically beneficial it is to serve one another, the Club, and society.”
Oyefeso acknowledged the heavy toll of internal strife, calling on all stakeholders to move beyond personal rivalries and back the new leadership.
“Some have risen above ego and told Satan to get lost,” he noted pointedly, emphasizing that tradition alone can no longer hold the Club together in today’s social and legal landscape.
Turning to the Club’s governing document, he warned that decades-old assumptions have become legal flashpoints, fueling litigation and division.
“The impression prevalent is that we have a faulty constitution that was capitalized upon,” he said, urging a comprehensive review to prevent a recurrence of crisis.
At the heart of the ceremony was the swearing-in of Mr. Oluwaloseyi “Seyi” Adewunmi as the Club’s 25th President, alongside his team: Engr. Tunji Amosu (Vice President), Mr. Toyin Deinde (Secretary General), Otunba Abimbola Olaniyi (Treasurer), Mr. Francis Ofordu (Membership Secretary), Mr. Ose Lato (Social Secretary), Mr. Vincent Olasogba (Sports Secretary) and Arc. Tokunbo Ashiru (Council Member).
In his inaugural address, Adewunmi tendered “an unreserved apology to every member” for any distress since June 2023. Reflecting on childhood lessons, he recalled, “As a child known only as Tom Perry, I was made to apologize under an elder’s watchful eye. Today, as an elder myself, I must initiate reconciliation.”
He concluded by challenging his Council to deliver “exceptional membership services” without excuse and called on all members to embrace “synergy, mutual respect, and purposeful governance” as the Club charts its new course.
