JANUARY 1, 2022
*Dear Fellow Members of the Okpe Union,*
Few hours ago, we bided farewell to 2021, a year that brought us several challenges in our stewardship of the Okpe Union. We had the challenge of organising national elections in circumstances of an international plague in the form of COVID 19 as well as the unfortunate disagreement between the Okpe Union and HRM, Orhue I, the Orodje of Okpe surrounding an attempt to take over the administration of the Union which all branches rejected in the General Assembly of the Union. I strongly commend your resolve as individuals and collective for remaining steadfast and committed to the ideals of the Okpe Union bequeathed to us by our forefathers.
Unfortunately, we lost some prominent members of the Okpe Union, like Mr. Chadrick Idjeneba of Lagos Regional headquarters, Mr. Johnson Usieta of Jos Branch, and close family members, including Mrs. Delphina Akpederin, the mother of our indomitable General Secretary who schooled him and a number of other Okpe nationals in the virtues of Okpe Identity. Many of you represented Okpe Union in giving all of them a glorious and befitting funeral, respectively. We thank you all and pray for their souls to rest in perfect peace. On their behalf and on behalf of all departed family members and leaders of the Okpe Union, we dedicate our activities to the rebuilding of Okpe Union.
The success of the national elections of the Union was a welcome relief. It was peaceful and the outcome was without any protest despite the fact that some offices were keenly contested. We charge the leaders of the different regions and branches of the Union to focus on rebuilding the branches now to ensure that more Okpe nationals in various towns and cities of the country and the globe are attracted to join the body.
As we take our first steps into 2022, I invite all members to sharpen our awareness and consciousness in developing a strong and united Okpe Union. We must be aware that, no matter how genuine our objectives are, there will also be some elements hostile to Okpe Union. Our weapon is to continue with our task of promoting, defending and protecting the interests of the Okpe Nation on the constructs of Okpe Identity. We shall continue to rely on superior argument and logic in doing so, as we deepen democratic principles of leadership in all structures of Okpe Union.
We shall embark on a series of sensitization campaigns focusing on Okpe Identity in all branches of the Okpe Union. We shall institute a series of entrepreneurship workshops to assist our youths and women in acquiring needed skills to sustain themselves. We shall also launch a mentorship programme to assist our youths and women. All these initiatives shall employ the now well established women and youths wings of the Union as well as the National Association of Okpe Students (NAOS) .
We recognize the youths’ and students’ categories as the future leaders of the Okpe Union. In this regard, we shall continue the support we began last year 2021 to the campus chapters of NAOS to enable them organise their various Okpe Cultural Day events in the campuses that they are active.
We recognize that the path to achieving these programmes will not be smooth. It will be filled with potholes, curves, hidden valleys and road blocks. With FAITH in our belief and God’s continued guidance and blessings we shall succeed in our mission and mandate to transform Okpe Union into a formidable institution to build a prosperous Okpe Nation.
We shall achieve this noble historical mission by collaborating with all institutions in Okpe Nation, including the Udogun Okpe, political leaders and civil societies in Okpeland.
We shall also build on our close relationships with other ethnic organizations in Delta State and across Nigeria in a united endeavour to construct a strong Federal Republic of Nigeria on the basis of equity, equality and justice; a strong Federal Republic of Nigeria where the democratic rights of all ethnic nationalities, irrespective of their sizes, are recognized and upheld. Our success in this undertaking depends on our collective efforts at solidifying the various organs of the Okpe Union, from the branches to the National Executive Council, the National Congress, the Board of Trustees and finally, the General Assembly which is the highest organ of the Okpe Union.
My Dear Brothers and Sisters, I welcome you all to the year 2022. May God grant us the wisdom and guidance to serve our Okpe Nation selflessly.
God Bless the Okpe Union!
God Bless the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom!
God Bless the Okpe Nation!
*Prof. Igho Natufe*,
*President General*
