The Rotary Club Of Lagos obtained Its charter on May 30th, 1961 roughly five eeks after The Rotary Club Of Kano and about six months before The Rotary Club Of Ibadan. The idea of a Rotary Club in Lagos came after the chance meeting between the special representative of Rotary International, John G. Egnatoff and Mr. J. Adebanjo Tuyo who signed the application for charter membership and can be rightly described as the first member of the Rotary Club Of Lagos.
The very first meeting was a dinner which was held at The Federal Palace Hotel on friday April 21st, 1961. The charter night took place on Monday July 10th, 1961 at Federal Palace Hotel. There were 26 charter members who are listed below with their corresponding classifications:
The weekly meetings started off at the Federal Palace Hotel on Wednesday at 1:30pm to 2:00pm. Members found it difficult to pass the first test of Rotary, the weekly attendance regulation. In 1965 only 15 out of 66 members scored 60% or more and none scored 100%. Several suggestions were made to solve the problem of poor attendance. One was to change the meeting to Saturdays and the other to an evening meeting on Wednesdays. It was soon discovered that both experiments could not work as they clashed with the numerous parties for which Lagos was then famed. Thereafter, the Club reverted to its former afternoon meetings and it is interesting to note that till today, the Wednesday meeting continues, except that it now starts at 1:00pm instead of 2:00pm.
In 1961, membership fee was €10.00 (ten pounds) per annum. It became N250.00 in 1987, N10,000 in 1999/2000 and N12,000 in 2001/2002 Rotary Year. The Rotary Club of Lagos with 104 members as at Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 is the premier club in District 9110. Its membership peaked at 114 members in 1979/80. It is the only club, presently, in Nigeria that has 24 active Past Presidents.
A monthly Club bulletin named KEKE-EKO was introduced in 1963. It was in circulation until 1975 when it died a natural death. It was very likely that the name was coined inspired by the cog in the wheel of the Rotary emblem. The journal was resurrected in 1979 under the name “THE LAGOS ROTARIAN”, again a monthly bulletin. In 1987,it took a new form and became a weekly bulletin but retained the name “THE LAGOS Rotarian. It is now a monthly bulletin, still called, The Lagos Rotarian.
“RCL: The Grandfather Club”
In Rotary circle , the rotary club of lagos is reverently referred to as the Grandfather Club .This assertion finds expression in fact that its members were responsible for starting other Clubs that had gone ahead to start other Clubs!