A key member of Lagos Country Club (LCC), High Chief Jacob Idinye has commended the stakeholders of the Club for resolving the protracted leadership crisis of the Club having held a requisitioned Extraordinary General Meeting last Thursday (October 1p, 2024) 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.
In a chat with some journalists, Sunday night Idinye a former gubernatorial aspirant in Edo State and media personality said:
“I feel highly elated and fulfilled to see that the protracted crisis in our esteemed Club has finally been laid to rest and I must commend all stakeholders for allowing voice of reasoning to prevail above any other interests. I must also salute the courage of the judiciary for holding onto the point of law and ensured justice in all the matters brought before it. The judiciary truly remains the last hope of the common man.”
There are also indications that 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, October 11, 2024.
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 on 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 reengineered 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.
It is recalled that LCC had been embroiled in internal crisis, which led to several court cases. But on July 3, 2024, Justice A Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, delivered a Consent Judgment after the cases were harmonised and the aggrieved parties decided to tow the path of reconciliation and on Thursday all matters affecting the progress of the Club were all completely settled.
Investigations also revealed that Lagos Country Club was set up by white men, therefore no member has shares in the Club, its purely a family Club.
