-Willy Okonji, Lagos-
This is to bring to attention the news of the purported closure of Lagos Country Club signed by the Chairman of the erstwhile Caretaker Committee of the Club and its Vice Chairman, Chief Muniru Moradeyo and Mr Sunny Ukhuelegbe. It will be recalled that in its bid to resolve the protracted leadership crisis, the Lagos Country Club, LCC, held a requisitioned Extraordinary General Meeting last Thursday in line with a valid Consent Judgement delivered by Justice A Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos on July 3, 2024, duly signed by representatives of the Board of Trustees of the Club and the then Management Council. The EGM, which had over 160 financial members of the Club in attendance constituted a new Caretaker Committee to oversee the affairs of the club and organise election into the various vacant positions within a period of two months. This is as a result of the inability of the previous Caretaker Committee to deliver on the Consent Judgement mandate of returning the Club to normalcy within a period of three months. A mandate which expired last Friday. The newly constituted Caretaker Committee led by Mr Adewole Gege as Chairman, Mr Adetayo Adegboye as Secretary, Barr Olawole Harris Isa as Legal Adviser as well as the Chairmen of the ten Sections of the Club were sworn in yesterday, Saturday, October 12, 2024 by two Past Presidents and a Past Vice President of the Club in attendance, Chief Tajudeen Akande ,Arc Funmi Bamkole and Mr Igho Okor.
While administering the Oath of Office for the Chairman, Secretary General and Legal Adviser of the newly Constituted Caretaker Committee, Chief Tajudeen Akande said it is no longer time to sit on the fence because history will record our roles on how we contributed to the resolution of the conflicts in the Club. Also Arc Funmi Bamkole who administered the oath of office for all Chairmen of Sections present at the brief ceremony, enjoined all to work together in harmony, be faithful the mandate and to the oath they swore to.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Wole Gege, the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee promised to hit the ground running with a resolve to deliver on mandate. He assured members that his Committee will not only be transparent in their day to day running of the Club but will also ensure that the rule of law guides all the Committee’s decisions and deliberations.
According to Mr Ayokunle Jimoh, a former Secretary General of the Club. “This is a very important period in the history of our club. This is where we are now and as you can see, members are here in their numbers. They are tired of the stagnation in the club and they want to move forward.”
Sir Ladi Smith, a member of the club since 1985, stated ” Now l am happy we’re going to have new elections. We’re going to have a revamped and re-engineered Club. We want to make sure the constitution works for us. And where we believe the constitution is also not working for us, we as members are going to restructure the constitution to work for us.”
According to the Chairman of Darts Section who is a member of the newly constituted Caretaker Committee, Mrs Adekunbi Akin-Taylor, “This is a social club where people pay their annual subscriptiona to come in and have peace of mind. So, it’s a matter of saying we’ve got to set this club free and we’ve got to get the club back to what we want it to be. And this, we are set to achieve”
Members of staff are elated with this development and have pledged their allegiance to the newly Constituted Committee. The entire atmosphere in the club was that of celebration, even the food vendors confirmed they have not recorded such high sales volume in a period of three months.
Members are free to come the club and engage in recreational and sporting activities. The Club remains open.
Pictures of the swearing in ceremony of the newly constituted Caretaker Committee of the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, Lagos…
