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By Gideon Ayodele.
The national executives of the Okun Development Association (ODA) has announced that its annual general assembly will in Kabba between 22nd and 23rd November this year.
In a statement signed by the national president of ODA, Barr. Femi Mokikan, the umbrella body of all Okun associations the dates were agreed upon during the last executive meeting of the association.
The statement reads: “At the just concluded ODA National Executive meeting to mark the 1st year anniversary of the present Executive, the executive took a decision to hold a general meeting that is for all members of the Association at home and in the diaspora. This will be the equivalent of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) that companies hold at the end of their financial year.
“This Association belongs to you. You therefore have a right to know what your Association did and how it fared in the last one year. The proposed Annual General Assembly (AGA) will provide all members a unique opportunity to interact, put a face to the rich intellectual contributors that we savor daily on all Okun-based social platforms, ask questions, raise issues and make innovative suggestions on how to further strengthen the Association so as to energize it more for the challenges ahead and thus make ODA the ODA of our collective dream.
“Distinguished members of the ODA, you will agree that political engineering is in the air. In a couple of months, elections into various national and state assemblies will take place. Many of the contending political parties will be fielding Okun candidates for most of the offices.
“The election will be preceded by the usual electioneering campaign. It will not be out of place to have an interactive session with all Okun candidates.
“Such a session will enable each candidate further market himself/herself to the electorates. The electorates will also have an opportunity to ask one or two questions from the candidates or make useful suggestions.
“Our ultimate goal is to encourage an environment where politics devoid of rancor, bitterness and violence before, during and after the elections remain the driver of all political discuss and activities.
“Towards this end, we plan to partner with another visionary Okun group, the Progressive Cord, to use the period of the AGA for this purpose.
“It is for this reason that the ODA Executive has decided to hold a two-in-one Forum that will combine interaction with all Okun politicians that are putting themselves forward for the 2019 National election, and follow that up with the normal AGA that will review the activities of the ODA for the last one year.
“In furtherance of this, a two-day event has been put together; ODA interactive forum/AGA will hold on Thursday 22, November 2018. This will feature an interactive session with Okun candidates for elective positions in the 2019 election. The Annual General Assembly will hold on Friday 23, November 2018. The events will hod at the Olonijola Event Center, Kabba-Lokoja road, Kabba.
“The Day 2 program is planned to be in two parts; the morning session will attempt to address critical issues that will help redirect our youths from the current pervasive self-destructive ways of life to more of some of the core values that our ancestors were known and respected for.
“There will be presentation of papers for this purpose. Ms Charity Ukwo Abah, Regional Coordinator, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDAN) will be speaking on ‘Self Employment as Solution to Unemployment in Our Society.’
“After her paper, Dr Aderemi Medupin of the Faculty of Management Sciences, Alkimah University, Ilorin, will speak on ‘The Effect of Drug Abuse on Youths and Nation Building.’ Prof Shola Omotola of the Federal University Oye, Ekiti State, will also be around to enrich the discussions.
“While we may not be able to provide the space and logistics for even 25% of all Okun people in one location for an event of this nature, we are hoping that at least 300 people will consider it important enough to commit their time to.
“The candidates for elective offices will be contacted individually within the week. Similarly, all the Community Development Associations representing the major blocks that make up Okun will be formally informed and invited.
“As for funding, we shall be reaching out to you individually for your financial support specifically for this landmark events. We trust that God will use you as one of those to make it happen. We therefore urge you to join us in disseminating this information as widely as possible and prepare yourself for a very exciting and refreshing two days (November 22 & 23, 2018) that will rewrite the history of community engagement in Okunland.”
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