Urhobo Historical Society
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Address
by the President-General of Urhobo Progress Union
on the Occasion of Urhobo National Congress 2008 on Saturday, December 6th, 2008
By His Excellency Olorogun
Felix Ovuodoroye Ibru
President-General
Urhobo Progress Union
Protocol
The Need for Unity in Modern UPU
It gives
me great joy to deliver my maiden Presidential Address to the Annual
Congress
of the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU.
It is customary for every President-General
to choose
a theme for the annual Urhobo National Day celebration. Today, I have
chosen to
go back to the old topic of unity in the affairs of our revered organisation. As you all know, the wise
men who
founded Urhobo Progress Union chose as their motto, the following
immortal
words: �Unity is strength.� It
is noteworthy that our pioneers of the 1930s did not see unity as an
end in
itself. Instead, they saw it as a means to an end. That end was
for all
Urhobo cultural units or clans to unite for the purpose of becoming
stronger in
their struggles during that period.
Please permit me to reflect on the
achievements of
unity by our founding fathers. It is on record that Chief Omohwovo
Okoro, Chief Mukoro Mowoe, and their
dedicated
colleagues employed unity as an effective tool to gain many benefits
for the Urhobo
people in their time. To them Unity was strength indeed.
As a result of the past successes of the UPU,
it has
become an attractive organisation for
those who seek
to control power for its own sake. I know that many Urhobo people
are
anxious that such struggle for power may incline their leaders to
forget the
genuine needs of the Urhobo people. I want to assure you that I
will make
every effort during my tenure as President-General to ensure that the
interest
of the Urhobo people is central to the activities of their cherished organisation, UPU.
Agenda for fhe
New Year
My first year in Office has been consumed by
the need
to take care of outstanding problems. The challenges that faced
my
administration have had to do with the need to reconcile various
elements of
the Urhobo community and to build bridges across to other ethnic
nationalities
of
a. Economic and
political development of Urhoboland.
b. Development of Human
Resources
in Urhoboland: It is my firm belief that if there was need
for the
UPU to develop the academic potential of Urhobos in the 1940s and
1950s, such
need is even greater today in an age of global competition in which
many of our
towns and villages have been left far behind.
c.
d. Building Bridges: Historically,
Urhobos have cherished and worked hard for good relationship with their
neighbours. Under my leadership, that
predisposition of the
Urhobo people will be fully harnessed for the benefit of enjoying peace
and
tranquility in the Niger Delta Region.
CONCLUSION
In concluding this address, I wish to thank
all those
who have so far given me encouragement and their support.
I wish to express special gratitude to the
immediate
past President-General of the UPU, the National Executive Council,
traditional
rulers, Ewheya,
Ighele and
the Urhobo communities in Lagos and Abuja for the receptions they
organized for
me and members of the National Executive Council.
God bless
Urhoboland
God bless
God bless the
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Olorogun Senator Felix O. Ibru
President-General
Urhobo Progress