Issele-Uku Association of North America
A SELF REFLECTION
By Joe Ifeanyi Iyegbu
President, Issele-Uku Assoc. of North America

The Issele-Uku Association of North America, Inc. was officially formed in Atlanta, Georgia on June 10^th, 2006.  This was accomplished after series of failed attempts to form an Issele-Uku organization by the people of Issele-Uku whose mission was to have an association dedicated to the service and development of Issele-Uku. 

The formation of this association was a bold action taken by some dedicated people of Issele-Uku, believing, among other things, that Issele-Uku has its own unique and specific issues that needed the undivided attention of its people.  This belief does not contradict our strong understanding that our relationships with our neighbors with whom we share historic ties are as strong as ever.  It does not transform Issele-Uku Association into an isolationist or a protectionist organization as it may appear.

The goal of Issele-Uku Association of North America is to have an inclusive organization with a united purpose, working together for the interest of Issele-Uku.  We can’t always have everyone following the same direction or doing the same thing at the same time, but we know that what works in any meaningful organization is team work.  A group of people working together to achieve a common objective through collaborative effort is what we strive to achieve in this association.

The attitude of complacency is one of our major pitfalls as a community.  It is responsible for a whole lot of other ripple effects that prevents or slows us from keeping pace with the rest of other communities.  But in order to address this problem, we have an urgent need to change our attitude towards something more proactive.  We must learn to serve our own people without expecting a reward in return.  The attitudes of “what am I doing all these for” or “what is in this for me” are the two most common denominators and attributes withholding us from achieving our highest potentials.  We must break those jinks.

Our more fortunate relatives at home in Nigeria must shed the old skin, and come out to make a contribution towards Issele-Uku development.  There is a general negative opinion, but not very true, that many of our prominent sons and daughters simply sit back and watch the sun set.  If we must succeed as a community, every Issele-Uku citizen must get involved in this struggle.  There could be no better feeling of personal satisfaction, than sharing with your community what fortune gave to you.  That is why we are very thrilled when one of our very own recently built a large town hall, equipped it and donated Unity Hall to the people of Issele-Uku.  For this generosity, we thank Air Marshal Paul Dike for his exceptional sense of community involvement.

The Issele-Uku Association of North America must strive to be a different kind of organization in the sense that we must begin to relate to our problems truthfully, and effectively tackle the issues with the ultimate goal of solving problems.  Only then can the people we’re trying to serve benefit from our efforts.  This is not to claim that we have all the solutions or that we can do it all, but if we set our goals, plan our actions and pursue our missions, the results will be predictable.

The Houston branch of Issele-Uku Association still stands out, in my opinion, as one of our most dynamic organizations in America.  An organization that is goal and result oriented will be a model that our national association will emulate in our future service delivery to our community.  Their outstanding work of building a library at Issele-Uku and donating it to the community represents what this association is all about.  The goal of Issele-Uku Association of North America will be to have eighty percent of all Issele-uku citizens as registered members by the end of 2015.  We believe that the strength in those numbers will propel us towards achieving the goal of delivering the services that our community so badly needs.

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