Urhobo National Association of
North America (UNANA)
A Keynote Address
On the occasion of the
Inauguration
of the sixth President of Urhobo National Association of North America,
In Chicago, Illinois,
USA,
January 14, 2006
By Dr. Aruegodore Oyiborhoro (Ex-Chairman, Board of
Trustees &
Founding Secretary-General of UNANA)
As the immediate
past
chairman of the Board of Trustees and one of those privileged to bring
the
concept of forming our national organization into fruition, I consider
it an
honor to be called upon on this joyous occasion to give a brief history
of the
early beginnings of Urhobo National Association of North America
(UNANA). The
journey of bringing all Urhobo people residing in North
America together started nearly thirteen years ago. It
began when
Mr. Michael Akpobome Egi (U.P.U., Minneapolis,
Minnesota) placed a phone call to me,
Dr Oyiborhoro, to
discuss the idea of forming a national Urhobo association in the United States
in the fall of 1992.Mr. Egi called on
me not because I was the lucky number. His inquiry with the Consulate
General
of Nigeria office in New York
informed him of the existence of Urhobo-Isoko organization formed in
1972. I
was then its President. That was how Mr. Egi found me.
I found Mr. Egi�s
idea of
forming an Urhobo national association in North
America
to be very timely. It came at a time when ethnic cleansing in some
European
countries was beginning to take root. Minority populations across the
globe were
already gripped with fear, praying hard that such wicked and devilish
ideas
would not be imported into their areas. So, bringing Urhobo people
under one
national association to protect the interest of our people and land
became the
logical first step in getting our people prepared. It was more so the
case that
we fortunately reside in the world�s only superpower where help is
readily
available.
In late 1992,
Urhobo Club of
Nigeria (USA), Inc. was formed with members drawn from New York, New Jersey
and Connecticut
to properly
position Urhobo people in these areas for the long journey ahead. Harry
Ofurhie
was elected as the chairman and Dr. Aruegodore Oyiborhoro was elected
as the
Chairman of the Board of Trustees.In
early spring of 1993, Mr. Ofurhie and Dr. Oyiborhoro were authorized by
Urhobo
Club to make contacts with all existing Urhobo organizations and known
Urhobo
people throughout the United States. This was
achieved through extensive
direct mailing as well as paid advertisements in newspapers, magazines
and
numerous phone calls. The first paid advertisement by Urhobo Club of
Nigeria
(USA), signed by its Chairman, Mr. Ofurhie, appeared on page 13 of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
publication, The Nigeria News Update,
volume 2, Issue 8, of
April 29 � May 12, 1993.
It called on all Urhobo Associations, Clubs, Unions, individuals, etc,
to a
meeting to form a national association. Six Urhobo associations
responded and
became the founding chapters of the national body. They are:
Urhobo
Club of Nigeria, New York, New York
Urhobo
Progress
Union, Minneapolis,
Minnesota
Urhobo
Association of Washington,
D.C. Metropolitan Area
Urhobo
Progress
Union of Southern California, Los
Angeles
Urhobo
Progressive Association, Houston,
Texas
Urhobo
Social
Club, Boston, Massachusetts.
After
extensive groundwork by Urhobo Club, New York, by UPU, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, and by Urhobo Association
of
Washington, D.C. Metro, the Urhobo National Association was inaugurated
in Washington, DC
on May 29, 1993. Elections to form the founding executive were
conducted and
the following individuals were elected as the founding officials:
Mr.
Thomas
Ogagan, President (Urhobo Social Club, Boston)
Mr.
Lucky
Ajueyitsi (Urhobo Association of Washington, DC),
Vice President
Dr.
Aruegodore
Oyiborhoro, Secretary-General (Urhobo
Club, New York)
Mr.
Peter
Obebeduo, Assistant-Secretary (Urhobo
Club, New York)
Mr.
Matthew Obar,
Vice President Finance (Urhobo Progressive Union, Los Angeles)
Mr.
Ike
Akpojotor, Speaker (Urhobo Progress Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Mr.
Monday
Anigboro, Vice President Social/Cultural Affairs (U.P.A., Houston)
Mr.
Simeon
Asaboro, Vice President Publicity (Urhobo Association of Washington, DC).
However,
the result of the presidential election did not go down well with some
of the
founding associations, especially those whose presidential candidates
failed to
win the election. So, they left the newly formed national body.
However, they returned
later to the fold. The founding associations that left after the first
Presidential elections but later returned included:
Urhobo
Association of Washington,
D.C. Metropolitan Area
Urhobo
Progress
Association, Houston,
Texas
Urhobo
Progress
Union of Southern California
Urhobo
Social
Club of Boston, Massachusetts.
This
left two associations, Urhobo Club, New York and UPU, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, to work with the newly
elected
president, Mr. Thomas Ogagan, (UPU, New Bedford, Massachusetts)
to prevent the newly formed national association from collapsing. In
this
regard, Mr. Thomas Ogagan (First President-General), Dr. Aruegodore
Oyiborhoro
(First Secretary General- Urhobo Club, New York), Harry Ofurhie
(Chairman,
Urhobo Club, New York) and Michael Egi (UPU, Minneapolis, Minnesota),
decided
to conduct a national tour of the major cities in the United States, at
their
personal expense, to persuade the four founding associations that left
to
return to the fold, and secondly to help organize new associations
wherever
Urhobo people resided in North America. The tour was successful because
new
associations started to spring up and most of the founding associations
that
left began to return to the national body. Thereafter, Dr. Oyiborhoro
registered the Urhobo National Association in the State of New York in
July of 1993 as �Urhobo National
Association, USA, Inc.�
It
was only Urhobo Social Club of Boston, Massachusetts, that remained
outside of
the national body for more than a decade before they rejoined the
national body
in February 2005. The national body is not unmindful of the fact that
the long
absence of Urhobo Social Club of Boston may not be unconnected with the
election of Mr. Thomas Ogagan as the president of the new national body
without
due clearance from Urhobo Social Club of Boston. Today, we want Urhobo
Social
Club of Boston under Professor Vincent Owhoso�s leadership to know that
the
national body acknowledges this error of commission.For this reason, the national body has asked
me to specially recognize the presence of Urhobo Social Club of Boston
in our
mix today and to extend our warm appreciation to them.
So going back to
our history,
after the ratification of the very first constitution of Urhobo
National
Association of North America, in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
at the close of 1993,
the founding executive committee was reorganized. This reorganization
resulted
in the replacement of four founding officials with new officers as
follows:
Damian
O.
Idjagboro became the new first Vice
President (Urhobo Association of Washington, DC)
Juliet
Harris, Vice President Publicity (Urhobo
Association of Washington,
DC)
Dr.
Tanure
Ojaide, Vice President Social/CulturalAffairs (U.P.U., Charlotte, North Carolina)
Michael
Egi, Otota [Speaker](U.P.U. Minneapolis, Minnesota)
and
Dr.
Duke U.
Ophori, Deputy Speaker [Otota] (U.P.U., Winnipeg, Canada).
It is not possible
to list
everyone for his or her pioneering contributions in the formation of
our
national organization. But I will name a few of the very active
individuals and
their associations at the early stages. We are grateful to Harry
Ofurhie, former
chairman and all former members of Urhobo Club,
New York, for making the initial
contacts and more
importantly for organizing the first annual convention of the Urhobo
National
Association (North America) in New
York City, September 1994. It was the first and
largest gathering of Urhobo professionals and intellectuals in North America. The great event was hosted and
funded by Urhobo Club,
New York.We
sincerely thank Michael Egi, and all members of U.P.U., Minneapolis, for
their efforts and
sacrifices. Dr. Festus E. Sohwo, Ms. Angela Kwokori-Lindsay, Mr. Damian
Idjagboro -- and those members of Urhobo Association of Washington, DC
who
supported their efforts in helping to play more pivotal roles in Urhobo
affairs
in North America � deserve our
praise. The sacrifices
of Mr. Matthew Obar and his wife as well as those of Mr. Sunny
Enyoghwerho of
U.P.U. of Southern California, Los
Angeles, and their members deserve our thanks
for
their contributions. We thank Dr. Duke Ophori who had to travel through
a
snowstorm with his family from Winnipeg,
Canada, in late
November of 1993 in order to
participate in the review and final ratification of our original
constitution
in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Finally, we are grateful
to
Thomas Ogagan, the first President General for his contributions,
sacrifices
and pioneering role.
Dr. Francis
Nakpodia (Urhobo
Association, Washington,
DC) became the second
President General of
the Urhobo National Association after Mr. Thomas Ogagan. The transfer
of power
from Mr. Ogagan to Dr. Nakpopdia was smooth and orderly. Under the
leadership
of Dr. Nakpodia, the national association grew rather rapidly,
especially after
a most spectacular annual convention hosted by the Urhobo Cultural
League of
St. Louis, Missouri under the leadership of Dr. Francis Odemerho.
As the national
association
grew in numbers, so also were the challenges of the national
organization, as
one would expect in any human endeavor. These challenges led to the
formation
of a parallel national organization called UPUNA, which was headed by
Dr. Ona
Pela. Fortunately, Dr. Francis Odemerho who became the fourth President
General
(2001-2003) after Mr. Harry Ofurhie�s presidency (1999-2001) stretched
an olive
branch to Dr. Ona Pela and his parallel Urhobo association, UPUNA. This
led to
the unity meeting convened by Urhobo Association of Chicago and
Environs under
the then president, Engr. Oghenovo Omene. We were all pleased that the
challenges posed were met and amicably resolved during that meeting in
2003 and
that once again we have one national body, the Urhobo National
Association of
North America with the acronym UNANA.Following the unity meeting, Dr. Odemerho and Dr. Pela were
appointed as
Co-Chairs of UNANA until the 2003 UNANA convention.
After a hotly
contested presidential
election, Dr Augustine Atiyota was elected and inaugurated as the fifth
president of Urhobo National Association of North America for a
two-year
term(2003 � 2005), which ended on
December 31, 2005.Due to some
unresolved electoral issues, a new president could not be elected
during the
annual convention in Chicago
in September of 2005. So, the Chairman of Board of Trustees, Dr.
Raymond
Ogbemure, sent out a memo inviting UNANA chapters to Newark, New
Jersey
for a presidential election. Dr. Ogbemure boldly stated in the memo
that
November 19, 2005 was a firm datefor
the presidential election. On that firm date, 13 UNANA chapters showed
up for
the election. Out of the 13 chapters present, seven voted for Engr.
Oghenovo
Omene and elected him as the sixth President of Urhobo National
Association of
North America.
Ladies and
gentlemen, we are
happy to be here today, January 14, 2006, in Chicago for the inauguration of Engr.
Oghenovo Omene as UNANA6thPresident.
The Urhobo National
Association of North America (UNANA) is a non-for-profit cultural
umbrella
organization for the over 10,000 Urhobo people residing in North America. Among other things, the need for
Urhobo people at home
but especially in the Diaspora to preserve their culture -- and
promote,
protect and encourage development of the Urhobo homeland -- in part led
to the
creation of the national body. I will end this short historical account
of the
formation of our national association with a common but instructive
saying,
namely, �Young people think that old people do
not know anything; but old
people know that young people do not know anything�. Put in
another way,
we can also say that, �newcomers think that old timers in our national
association
do not know anything; but the old timers in our national association
know that
a few of the newcomers do not know much about how far we have come.�
We did not go to
the Urhobo homeland
to seek endorsement or legitimacy before the national association was
formed.Our strength, our legitimacy,
and our relevance ultimately derive from the support of the general
membership
of UNANA. Your active participation and your personal and cultural
needs, as
well as the needs and interests of every branch of UNANA, are paramount
in the
aspirations of the Association. Ultimately, it is our activities and
sacrifices
for our common good and advancement of our people that should form the
bedrock
agenda of UNANA. Therefore, your presence here today and the massive
turnout
from all parts of North America at this inauguration is enough
testimony for us
to assure ourselves that the best days of UNANA are in our future.
Thank you.
(Signed by) Dr. Aruegodore Oyiborhoro (Ex- Chairman, Board of Trustees
and
Founding Secretary-General of UNANA)