National Representative
Meet the National President
Funmi Ogunsi
National Representative/President
IWC Osogbo, District 913
A Call to Action: Stepping Up and Leading by Example
Dear Elders and Sisters in Service,
It is with immense joy that I welcome you on behalf of the Executive and Members of National Governing Body to the 2025/26 Inner Wheel year. Congratulations to us all as we embark on this year-long journey by His grace. There is a powerful message guiding our path, beautifully articulated by IIWP Kay Morland, “STEP UP AND LEAD BY EXAMPLE!”
I enjoin us all to embrace the call to Step Up with renewed insight and vigor. Let us intensify our efforts as we continue to champion the causes of the down-trodden and as we fight for the rights and well-being of women and the girl child. We must Step Up to “Orange the World”, to combat cervical cancer and other preventable diseases that prey on the vulnerable due to poverty, ignorance, and deprivation. Let us continue to Step Up for the aged and the homeless, and for all those pressing causes that demand our attention and compassion.
Beyond our service to the wider community, “Step Up and Lead by Example” also applies to the very heart of Inner Wheel: fostering true friendship, love, and understanding among members, clubs, and throughout our global organization. It means embracing responsible, visionary, and purposeful leadership. It also means being at the forefront, showing the way with love and compassion, offering hope and succour, and demonstrating diligence with empathy. It is about working in trust and harmony with our teams to “Reach out and Inspire” our members, striving for the absolute best in service delivery and charity for a better world.
May we all be endowed with the strength and resolve to make these principles our guiding credo as we serve our communities with unwavering diligence and commitment. We earnestly seek your cooperation and support as we navigate this year together. I wish us all a brilliantly successful Service year as we truly: STEP UP AND LEAD BY EXAMPLE.
Happy Inner Wheel Year 2025/26.
Vive la Inner Wheel.
NR Funmi Ogunsi
2025/2026.
Funmi Ogunsi, a retired Educationist and School Administrator; a trainer and certified mentor; wife, mother and grand mother was born in Lagos in 1955.
She graduated with a BA. Educ. (Eng) from the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University in 1978. She ran the whole gamut of the school system from classroom teacher to school principal until her retirement from the Lagos State Teaching Service as Director of Education in 2014. In the course of her career, she served in various schools in Osogbo.
PDC Funmi Ogunsi joined the Inner Wheel Club of Osogbo as a Chartered Member in 1985, exactly 40 years ago, as the Rotary Ann of Rotarian Dola Ogunsi. That was when the qualification for being an Inner Wheel member was being a wife or family member of a Rotarian.
She served her club, the Inner Wheel Club of Osogbo, one of the most vibrant and longest exising clubs in D913 effectively, and variously as:
- the Chartered Secretary for the years 1985/86 and 1986/87
- Vice President- 1987/88
- Club President-1988/89
- Immediatel Past President 1989/90
Her zeal and enthusiasm for Inner Wheel and its ideals made it possible for her to be recognized very early at the District level. She served under different District Chairmen in D913 as:
- District Zonal Representative in charge of all clubs in Ibadan. 1991/92
- District International Service Chairman 1992/93
- District Vice Chairman 1993/94
- District Chairman 1994/95
- Past District Chairman 1995/96
- Secretary of the National Governing Body 1998/99
Her membership of the highest organ of administration of Inner Wheel in Nigeria made her eligible to join the queue of National Representative-in-waiting! Thus, in 2006, she was nominated for the post of National Representative, effective 2007/2008 Inner Wheel Year. However, she declined this post then, as dictated by the exigencies of her situation.
Today, 20 years later, she has accepted that same badge of office as a member of 2006 and now, ‘a lot of water has passed under the bridge’. She had had to move to D911 and served in various capacities within the District (D911) as:
- a member of the Inner Wheel Club of Yaba
- a member of the College of PDC-D911
- Chairman of various committees
- National Governing Body Treasurer in 2021/22
In 2023/2024, D913 nominated her as Deputy National Representative,.an office she occupied during the 2024/2025 service year. She has now been presented for investiture as National Representative/President of Council of the Inner Club in Nigeria 2025/2026, the only NGB in Africa!
Funmi Ogunsi has a high record of 40 years of dedicated participation in and contributions to Inner Wheel programs and activities across the length and breath of Nigeria and at International fora. She has truly cut her teeth and paid her dues as a proven and committed Inner Wheel Member, a foundation member of D913, and one of the longest serving PDC in Nigeria.