PORTRAIT OF A QUINTESSENTIAL LION Lions Club was founded by an American insurance broker - Melvin Jones in 1917. It later adopted d preservation of vision & subjugation of visual impairments as it primary area of service as urged by d immortal Hellen Keller to be "Knights of d Blind"! Lionism went international soon after its inception but berthed in Nigeria with d charter of Lagos Doyen Lions Club in 1965. It soon spread out of Lagos to Calabar then to Port Harcourt and mainland Igboland notably Aba, Owerri, Afikpo, Enugu&then Asaba etc. The club blossomed in Igboland especially Aba & soon Igbo lions nay Aba lions became d ones to beat in d comity of Lions Clubs in Nigerian. However, due to some high handed and raw treatments metted out to Igbo lions, disillusionment set in & d membership started entertaining doubts as to d sincerity of their colleagues across d various artificial divides! The clubs thus eventually collapsed in d late 1980s & early 1990s. This comatose situation remained so until d turn of d millenium when through d efforts, sacrfices & vision of one man, lionism resurged like a phoenix & bounced back with a great bang!!! That one man whose efforts, sacrifice & vision replanted lionism in Igboland in this millenium is LN. ELDER SIR ALWELL ABALOGU ONUKAOGU, RECTOR ABIA STATE POLYTECHNIC, ABA.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 22:24:07 +0000