Today was not a typical work day – at least not one that I ever experienced.
The morning started with a press conference at the
hotel. Several journalists came to hear
about the Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program, what we
will do in Ekiti State, and to ask questions.
There were at least six news organizations there to film the event along
with several others who were there for the briefing. In addition to a set of speakers, each IBM’er
introduced themselves and provided their background including why they chose to
come to Nigeria.
Next was a trip over to the king’s palace. Yes, we were invited to meet the King of
Ado. The picture below shows the
entrance to the palace. We gathered in a
large hall with many dignitaries, observed a ceremony after which the king
entered, there were a series of introductory talks, and then the king spoke
about the importance of our mission. One
of the more noticeable activities was the loudest bugler I’d ever heard.
We followed up the visit with the king with one with the
Governor of Ekiti State, J. Kayode Fayemi.
The man is incredibly impressive in terms of his accomplishments and his
mission for the state. It was his decision
to accept the CSC into his state, and we will revisit him at the end of our
assignments to present our projects to him.
Everyone on the team really wants to make a difference, to make the governor look good, and help the
organizations we will support.
Tomorrow we go into the office of our client, The New Initiative for Social Development. Mr.
Abiodun Oyeleye, the Executive Director of our client, was present for the day. We were able to meet with him and he joined
us for today’s activities. In the next
blog I’ll cover more about the specific work we will do.
Check out a photo of "downtown" Ado Ekiti.
Nigeria #ibmcsc
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