PDG Omotunde Lawson explains how the 2026 West Africa Project Fair creates lasting friendships and sustainable partnerships across continents for Rotary clubs
Past District Governor Omotunde Lawson, Chairman of the Host Organising Committee for the West Africa Project Fair, sat down with PE Victor Ojelabi, Editor of D9112 Monthly magazine, in Lagos towards the end of July 2026 to discuss the full scope of the event planned for November.
PDG Lawson made history as the first female District Governor of the former District 9110 after 42 consecutive years of male leadership.
She now leads the joint effort by Districts 9111 and 9112 to host the fair. Both districts were created from the original 9110, which at its peak counted almost 5,000 members.
When membership and the number of clubs grew substantially, Rotary International divided the district so each part could continue expanding.
PDG Lawson explained that the two districts still share premises and a common history of working together. Their collaboration on the fair simply continues that established pattern in order to achieve greater reach and impact.
She recalled that District 9110 was formed in 1982.
For more than four decades every District Governor had been a man until she took office as the 42nd.
“It was historic,” she said. “I shattered the glass ceiling after 42 years of the district’s existence.”
Asked about the most memorable experience of her own term, PDG Lawson spoke at length about a large-scale medical mission organised with the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas.
The association is made up of doctors who trained in Nigeria and later moved to North America, South America, Canada and other countries for further certification.
“Don’t forget that Rotary is so concerned now about its public image. And we have passed the era of small, small projects like I want to go and donate exercise books, go and donate pencils to schools, when you can do something bigger and sustainable.”
With around 5,000 members, the group had previously worked only with Nigerian governments.
Someone suggested that Rotary could offer them a stronger and more reliable platform. Discussions followed, and the doctors travelled to Nigeria to meet with district leaders.
PDG Lawson had already identified a medical mission of this kind as one of her personal goals before she became Governor.
The focus fell especially on surgeries for women, particularly fibroid procedures that many could not otherwise afford. Other specialties included orthopaedic work and eye surgeries.
Around 4,000 people from across Nigeria benefited.
On screening days the Rotary centre compound filled so completely that the gates were almost pulled down by the volume of people seeking help. The scale drew attention even from Rotary International.
Some observers questioned whether the district could manage such numbers and asked why the event had been publicised so widely. PDG Lawson responded directly and continued the work.
The team used a state ministry of health hospital together with two major medical clinics.
She still remembers patients who had lived with goitres or fibroids for 12 years finally receiving treatment.
“That was probably one of the greatest things that made me so happy to be in Rotary,” she said.
Similar or larger missions are expected during the November gathering under the current district governors.
Turning to the West Africa Project Fair itself, PDG Lawson explained that it serves the nine districts that make up Rotary Region 27.
These include the six Nigerian districts plus Districts 9101, 9103 and 9104 covering Ghana and the Lomé area of Togo.
The region contains both English-speaking and French-speaking clubs, so professional interpretation is always provided.
The fair moves from one country to another each year. It was held in Lomé last year and in Ghana a few years earlier. Nigeria last hosted it in the 2012–2013 Rotary year.
“That was probably one of the greatest things that made me so happy to be in Rotary.”
The central purpose is to create trust and practical pathways for international service.
Clubs in West Africa present projects that need partners from North America, South America, Asia or Europe.
Visiting Rotarians examine the proposals, discuss needs and form collaborations. The fair can be held in person, entirely online, or in hybrid form.
The 2026 edition will be hybrid so that partners unable to travel to Nigeria can still take part virtually, review projects and select those they wish to support.
Any project brought to the fair must fit within Rotary’s seven Areas of Focus, including disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, community economic development, peacebuilding and conflict prevention, and maternal and child health.
For Global Grant projects the minimum value is 30,000 United States dollars, which converts to roughly 42 million naira or more depending on the exchange rate. Clubs may combine resources to present larger proposals.
At the same time the fair welcomes smaller projects below that threshold for simple direct collaboration between clubs.
PDG Lawson noted that newer clubs often find it easier to begin with a more modest figure of around 17,000 dollars, because partners can be cautious about committing large sums to a club with no previous Global Grant history.
Successful proposals require careful preparation.
Clubs must complete a proper needs assessment, state the total cost clearly, show their own financial contribution, indicate the District Designated Funds available from their district, and set out what the international partner and that partner’s district will add.
Many clubs struggle to attract partners simply because their written proposals lack sufficient detail or clarity. Partners have limited time and move on when documents are incomplete.
Clubs must also meet stewardship standards.
“In her view, the West Africa Project Fair remains both a practical bridge for service and a powerful generator of enduring human connections across continents.”
If a club has previously received Foundation funds but failed to report properly or left queries unresolved, it will not qualify for further grants.
Club presidents, Foundation chairs and project chairs are required to attend a grants seminar and sign a memorandum of understanding that sets out the conditions.
A separate bank account must be opened for each Global Grant project. An international partner from outside the local district is essential for any Global Grant. Without that partner the application cannot proceed.
Registration for the fair is handled through the website westafricanfair.org. A club pays 350 United States dollars for two representatives. That fee covers a booth, lunch on the two main fair days of 13 and 14 November, and participation in related activities.
Any additional Rotarian from the same club pays 175 dollars. International partners pay the same registration fees. Those who wish to take part only online register for 100 dollars. All details and a QR code appear on the website.
The main venue is the Balmora Convention Centre in Lagos.
Approximately 55 booths are reserved for club projects. Around ten further booths have been set aside for corporate organisations and other bodies that have already received invitations.
Outdoor space will be available for local vendors, because visiting partners often enjoy purchasing Nigerian crafts and goods.
Partners usually arrive several days early for a full week of activity that includes club visits, project site tours, hands-on service, Rotary family evenings and polio immunisation events.
PDG Lawson introduced the idea of club clusters during her own term as District Governor and continues to promote it.
One stronger club acts as lead within each cluster so that smaller clubs are not left isolated.
Larger clubs are encouraged to support their neighbours so that everyone can take part in more substantial work.
She gave a simple illustration: four clubs each contributing five million naira can together create a twenty-million-naira maternal and child health project. A single five-million-naira effort cannot achieve the same depth of impact.
“Rotary has gone beyond personal identity,” she said. “We want to give our communities bigger things.”
She returned to a theme she considers fundamental.
“Don’t forget that Rotary is so concerned now about its public image. And we have passed the era of small, small projects like I want to go and donate exercise books, go and donate pencils to schools, when you can do something bigger and sustainable.”
Every grant project, she insisted, must be designed so that it continues to serve the community long after the original donors have left.
Training for clubs is already under way.
A first virtual session took place in May to introduce the fair and explain its purpose.
Further sessions will help clubs refine their proposals and approach international partners with greater confidence.
A dedicated communication platform allows one representative from each West African district to receive regular updates from the Host Organising Committee. The aim is to ensure that every club that invests time and money has the best possible chance of finding a partner.
Rotary International President Yinka Babalola, a Nigerian Rotarian who has contributed more substantial amount of money in United States dollars to The Rotary Foundation for grant support, has shown personal interest in the fair.
PDG Lawson met him at the International Convention in Taipei recently, where he interviewed her and publicly promoted the event. Further discussions have followed. He is expected to visit Lagos and offer direct encouragement to participants from across West Africa.
PDG Lawson was careful to stress that the fair itself is only the beginning.
Once contact is made, partners often continue discussions for one, two, three or even four months afterwards. The gathering functions as a bridge.
She recalled the previous Nigerian hosting of the fair in 2012 and 2013, when she served as Club President. Two visiting partners, Alicia and her husband James, stayed in her home.
That friendship has lasted more than a decade. Alicia still telephones whenever she plans a visit to Lagos. The relationship has led to both club projects and personal assistance over the years.
In PDG Lawson’s view the West Africa Project Fair reaches far beyond the presentation of individual Rotary projects. It creates genuine human connections that can last a lifetime and link Rotarians across continents in ways that continue long after any single grant is completed.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
