ORIGIN:
The drive for self actualization which characterized the political attitude of Nigeria in the sixties brought a lasting impact on the Ozu people of the same era. The growth of town unions across the country especially among the Igbo’s who lived outside the shores of Igbo land originated as a result of the clamour by various home governments urging their natives in Diaspora to flock more together in the spirit of native brotherhood to plan welfare schemes for themselves and to exist as body of brothers whose strength even in foreign land depended largely on their togetherness, unity and peace. This opinion was considered progressive because the country then was becoming a hotbed of political rendezvous poisoned by ethnicity due to the politicians whose canticle and mantra had sectional, tribal and ethnic opinion and orientation. This atmosphere of poison given birth to social and political tension across the national spectrum made self-awareness and self-actualization within the decade of the sixty a natural reality among different natives who were strangers in foreign lands. Igbo people across board took up this challenge followed by the Efik, Ibibio, the Edo’s and the Yoruba’s. Then, sectional dichotomy and ethnic awareness was becoming the order of the day and in respect to this, respective communities drew more closely to each other as to pad a collective motive in case of any national political eventuality as the then atmosphere was getting more combustible and inflammable by the minute. That fear of the unknown in the Nigerian political definition later on became real following the first military coup d’état championed by Major Patrick Chukwuma Nzeogwu. This political conundrum redefined the Nigerian nation as it seemed to have battered our unity and commonness which then was at the nascent and teething stage.
Be this as it may, I must surmise that it was this political dilemma in the country that made some Ozu men in Calabar to craft the idea of Ozu Welfare Union as the word “Welfare” was the in thing then. It must be noticed that Ozu people started their mission abroad from Calabar then “Elu-Anyim” because of their brothers- the Abiriba and Ohafia people who fundamentally started life there too. The contact with our Abiriba brothers whose business proclivity gave them this out-country exposure and the desire to do business made these Ozu men to queue into the business culture which now took them to “Elu-Anyim or Efi-Ayong”. Then Calabar was popular trade post having been discovered by the Portuguese who sailed through the Bight of Biafra to discover this city of the Efik’s. It is also argued that Calabar allegedly became the un-ceremonial capital of the nation Nigeria because of its proximity to the coast which naturally linked the land to the Atlantic Ocean which was a global trade waterway and a frontier for intercontinental alignments. This natural advantage made Calabar a port of call by all and sundry and gave it the medieval popularity that made people of different backgrounds and orientations to converge there in search of green or greener pasture.
Ozu of history is a people borne out of common convergence. The coming together of our patriarchs the eight [8] of them to coin the culture called Ozu is indeed a historical reference. Since then, unity and people-orientedness has become our spiritus mundi and this spirit brought to bear in Calabar in the first decade of the sixties when men like Martin Orji Ojembe, James Egbuta, Egbuta Uyere [Snr.], Ogbuchi Kalu, Onuoha Kalu, Mr. Mark Uda, Mr. Ugorji Ogbiya (aka Dick) and many others saw the need for the evolution of Ozu Welfare Union just like other native societies. The purpose of this coming together was to raise the bar of our clan-consciousness and the need to be our brother’s keeper. It also encouraged the saving of some funds to assist each other in times of unavoidable needs and to always visit home for some development schemes. In record, Mr. James Egbuta (the father of Ephraim Egbuta) and Mr. Martin Orji Ojembe became the leaders of this front. Their women also formed their group to see to the welfare of the women. Mrs. Enyidiya Ugorji Ogbiya (Nee Comfort Orji Ojembe) was said to have been at the helm of the women formation while the wife of Mr. Mark Uda Mrs. Achama Mark Uda (Nee Achama Orji Ojembe) popularly known as (Madam Nji) became the first branch president of the women’s wing of Ozu welfare union in Calabar where it all started. The Nigeria civil war disrupted this scheme as people of different ethnic orientations started heading home to curry for safety in mother lands. This disruption could be seen as one of the negative fallouts of the civil war. After the war, life was coming back to normal as people started going back to where they have been before although they were greeted with several dislocations- economic and social. Some could not see their buildings again. Others who left their properties to effect the escape came and was told that their properties had became abandoned properties and so could not lay hold of them.
What came to be known as Ozu Abam Development Union (OADU) was an initiation that occurred when as a result of the civil war the existing Welfare Union became moribund because people were still struggling to resettle after the trauma of the senseless civil war which dislocated very many social structures and sent thousands to their untimely deaths. The Ozu Abam Welfare Union became a victim of negative social circumstances following the outbreak of the war and for a very long time, the Union seemed to cease from functioning but was reactivated in the early seventies by the various branch units mostly Calabar which the people sobriqueted as (Efi-Ayong) and Imo near Azu Nmini. Other branches such as Zaria and Lagos also revived with these branches reorganizing with new branch leaders to help dust-off the unimaginable damages of the war from the people and to start life all over again. It has always been remarked that Calabar was the cradle of Ozu Welfare Union history and the subsequent OADU because the people sojourned in their greater numbers there in Calabar than in any other part of the country. The Unions were stronger in units as at this time till when in the later part of the seventies the Union was considered to now function as a federally fermented structure. It became OADU to assume a national structure. It was a Welfare Union when it was operating in units mostly where the people sojourned more largely. OADU was a new order following the new spread of the people of Ozu across the Nigeria nation. When people discovered new frontiers in the West, North, South and the exteriors of Eastern region, and the connection to ones origin been a burning issue, people saw the need of bonding with a view to helping each other and ensuring that every one’s security was guaranteed. There came the need for constant meetings which was decidedly weekly or monthly depending on their individual constitutional frameworks. For Ozu people, these regular meetings became important as it became a way of seeing each other and assessing event surrounding each other especially on welfare. Register’s were opened and names written and was called at every meeting with some tokens of money as monthly or weekly dues collected. At Aba, Lagos, Obigbo, Portharcort, Calabar, Umuahia, Zaria, Kano and Kaduna, this new tempo became euphoric because everyone wanted to be seeing his brother at all times.
The above was the situation across the country until when the people of Ozu deemed it fit for the union to take the shape of a national phenomenon. There is this growing belief that it was at Aba that the first ever national meeting was held but the veracity of this proposition is slim because there is no authentic record to that respect but owing to the fact that chief John Ogbuka Ojebe an Aba based business tycoon became the first national president it could be inferred that the Aba suggestion could be realistic. Again it is argued that it was at this meeting that the name changed from Ozu Abam Welfare Union to Ozu Abam development Union-OADU because across the country and elsewhere, people of the same ethnic backgrounds and orientations were flocking together to ensure that they rebuild their homes and towns that were devastated by the war.
The seventies in Nigeria was a post-war era. The era was predicated on reconstruction and rehabilitation. Ozu Abam people queued into this post-war philosophy by engaging themselves in the rebuilding of the land after the war had dislocated the polity so much so that people did not have where to resign to. It is on record that Chief John Ogbuka Ojebe’s regime as the first Development Union chairman brought about a stupendous renaissance on education in the community. His was an agenda on the revival of education following the devastation done on that sector by the war. He was the first to introduce free education (post-war) to the children and youths of the community. To generate money for this, he mobilized age grades to be making some contributions per-member so that the teachers could be paid some stipends. The intention was lofty so the embrace of the scheme was wholistic. Any member of the age grades that refused to comply with the drive was seen as none patriot and was stylishly penalized by the confiscation or sequestration of his or her property which the culprit or defaulter was to come up and bail with the required fiscal penalty. The beneficiaries of the free education agenda of Chief John Ogbuka Ojebe were more of the indigents whose parents could not support their education due to paucity of resources. That scheme survived from 1970 to 1975 with the result of the massive re-enlistment of the sons and daughters of the land back to school for their First School Leaving Certificates and the massive entrance to secondary school which now gave most people in this era leverage for white-collar jobs and foreign scholarships to study abroad. This was a noble objective credited to John Ogbuka Ojebe’s regime as OADU first national president. It could be inferred that the whole periods of the 70s in OADU was dominated by the presence of this patriotic behemoth quite until his demise which threw the community into an unprecedented lamentation.
Aba and Lagos were other strong branches after Calabar during the post-war era. The demise of John Ogbuka Ojebe made Mr. Akuma Uche to be elected as the next national president of OADU. His regime was very tumultuous because it was bracketed by so many unsavory situations down at home. Above all was the issue of Ugwu Nmorogo where the community decided to build a school which was to be dedicated in memory of one of the illustrious sons of the land Mr. Dele Udo (a US based Nigerian athletic champion who was proficient in the sprint category who was gruesomely murdered by a trigger-happy police officer at Ojuelegba Lagos in 1980) as suggested by Chief Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe then Governor of Imo State. Akuma Uche’s regime was able to mobilize some of the age grades in the community to take up the building project of which Mbukwa, Akaha, Anu-Mkpu, and Edda Egbebu complied without delay. Some of the buildings were completed while some were still in the process of completion when Mr. Oku came and rented the site for his school (National Institute for Trade and Commerce- NITAC). The reason for the renting could be for the reason of keeping the site tidy pending when the other buildings would come up to stream and a secondary school would be established there in memory of Dele Udo. As this thought was brewing, the Catholic Diocese of Umuahia under the Bishopric of Nwedo came and pleaded with the elders of the community to be given the site for the establishment of their Seminary College. The issue became such a burning situation as the Development Union under the leadership of Mr. Akuma Uche vehemently objected the takeover of the site by the Catholic Church for a private course when the site was developed by the collective effort of the community (Catholics and none-Catholics). By their opinion, the Catholic Church could purchase a land in Ozu since Ozu was their desired target and establish their venture but the elders (Nde-Ichina) insisted that they would concession the site to the Catholic Church for their Seminary project no more for Dele Udo.
Then late Chief Ogbuka Ebebe was the Eze-Ogo of Nde-a-Uka while late Chief Okon Kalu was the interim Eze-Ogo of Ama-Etiti following the suspension of Chief Ndukwe Emeaba by Nde Ichina Ozu following an abhorrent behaviour he displayed which infuriated the Ichina Ozu in-council. The then Royal Highness was Eze Ike Okorafor (Onyerubi 1). Out of all the royal potentates, it was only His Royal Highness Eze Ike Okorafor that did not support the concession to the Catholic Church but the sectional Heads concurred. Since the Development Union was the only authority saddled with the responsibility of the development of the community though in conjunction with the elders they insisted that the concession would be made and as the elders toughened, the entire atmosphere became combustible. There was near anarchy in the community as the elders felt their opinion was not being respected. The Union in their part felt that the elders were bribed into such compromise and hell was let loose upon the land. As the brouhaha persisted, the Youth Wing of OADU Lagos branch led by Mr. Ishmael Uda then decided to intervene as to broker peace in the land. They sort the consent of Chief Smart Ndem Okpi to be used as the peace umpire in the feud. Okpi consented and the branch sponsored him to visit Ozu land for the peace. By his intervention, Okpi asked the elders to please respect their children and allow the project to remain a dedication to Dele Udo who also is a bona fide son of the soil. He promised to lead a delegation to Bishop Nwedo to urge him to use his good offices as religious leader to ensure that there is peace in Ozu Abam. According to him, Catholic Church has the wherewithal to procure any number of acres of land that they may need for whatever project they may wish to embark upon that it would be unnecessary setting Ozu on fire. Such was a brilliant move and a refined overture but the elders of the community through their spokesman Chief Samuel Enyi Ogbu who said this: “Okpi Ada, we respect your person so much; but we elders cannot drop a spit and lick it back. We have said it and we are saying it again before you; that we the elders have resolved to give that site to the Catholic Church for their project and that is final”. That meeting was held at the village town hall. Chief Okpi turned to the Union thereafter and appeal to them to give up the struggle which the Union did though reluctantly. Thereafter the Catholic Church now swarm to action by quitting Mr. Oku and his School out of the site and thus established their Nativity Spiritual Seminary at the site which is still there till date.
OADU LEADERSHIP CHART:
THE IMPORTANCE OF OADU IN OZU POLITICS AND CULTURE Before the war in Nigeria, what was elementarily in vogue was the popular Welfare Unions across the country especially among the Igbo’s in their pockets of habitation in all the parts of the country. The fundamental purpose for the gathering was to evaluate the war and its impact on the Igbo people as they were characteristically spread across the country and to invoke a policy of assisting each other on the effective recovery of the malevolence of the war and to effectively rebuild each other structurally, fiscally, mentally and psychologically. These faculties been topmost in the agenda made the brotherly assemblage in all the units an important one that required everyone to be represented. OADU which was a post-war finery created an avenue of a galvanizing interest among Ozu people first from their various branches and secondly to the national body. It was aimed at creating a strong bond between the people and the enhancement of community consciousness among the people especially as the community was recovering from the trauma of the brutal civil war. OADU was a development oriented project for the community. Its fundamental and ornamental aim was to ensure rapid development in the community. It also was a bill for peace and unity in the community. It was an outfit for the unification of the community which over the years existed on sectional proclivity. The Union mobilizes the age grades to embrace developmental projects that may add to the social and infrastructural aesthetics of the community. It ensures that branches lives in peace and always aimed at ensuring that rapid development of the home land is guaranteed. Annual meetings are held at periodic intervals and branches are usually mandated to send delegates to the meetings for a cemented harmony of the father land.
OADU STRUCTURES:
NATIONAL BODY:
The national body has the following officers-
1. President General
2. Vice President
3. Secretary General
4. National Treasurer
5. National Financial Secretary
6. National PRO (Public Relations Officer).
As at the time of reeling out this document, the following were the national officers of the Union: Captain Chibuike Eke Usim (President General ‘PG’), Mr. Godswill Ogidi (Vice President), Mr. Ukoha Daniel Dike Uda (Secretary General), Mrs. Helen Jane Mong (National Treasurer), Pst. Engr. Uche Okorafor (National Financial Secretary), and Comr. Emmanuel Chileme Uche (National PRO). The National body of the Union is the operational hub of the community. Everybody is subservient to this body. The National body meets thrice or twice yearly. The highest decision making arm of the Union is the October Delegate Conference. The Conference has the entire branch Presidents and Secretaries in attendance. The Women’s Wing and Youth Wings of the Union also send their leadership strata to this meeting. The Ichina-Ozu-In-Council also is fully represented in this meeting. Home branch bodies such as the home branch Youth bodies, the women’s wing home branch, Uke-Ekwe Ozu and Uke-ra-abuo Chi-Ogo are all represented in this confab. It is at this conference that national elections into the national offices of the Union are conducted every four to five years of administrative duration. Policy decisions as it affects the well-being of the community are adopted at this conference. Defaulting branches as per-effective performances and financial ineptitudes are generally blacklisted in this conference and serially cautioned to page up to stream. They National Union also meets every January 2 to deliberate on salient community matters and to review the activities of the Ozu Day Event which takes place every 30th December of the previous year. The Union also meets during the Easter break at home to formalize arrangements for the forthcoming National Delegates Conference by October and to initiate modalities for the actualization of a successful Ozu-Day Celebration come December 30th.
Before the administration of Late John Onyeani Ojiabo, as the national President of OADU, the Delegates Conference was rotational. Individual branches were billed to host the conference when it comes to their turn. Delegates were mandated to assemble at the respective branch for the conference and it was working. During the regime of Late Friday Orji Ojembe (E-day), there was a brewing conflagration among Nde-Ichina-in-Council contending against the hosting of the national OADU conference outside Ozu. One of their cardinal points of argument was that the elders are ancient ‘Ikoro’ which is not expected to be pulled away from its original abode. That it also amounted to over-stressing the Elders beyond limit considering their senility to be taken to places when they were expected to be seated at home to be taken care of the land. Some pundits also argued that it was expensive to be running the Union that way as some branches was not as strong as the others. The strongest of these opinions was the agitation by Nde-Ichina Ozu whose balance of probabilities and preponderance of evidence became supreme and the verdict was to their favour- thus leading to the centralization of the October National Delegates Conference at Ozu after Obigbo and Warri branches had succeeded in hosting the conference at respective intervals. Another salient change was that of hosting Ozu Day Celebration on the 26th of December every year. Before the administration of Late Comr. Maxwell Mark Okorie, Ozu Day Celebration was hosted every 26th December. The change to 30th December came as a result of the inability of the people coming home Christmas earlier as it were in the 60s, 70s and early and middle 80s. By then, the community was already agog with festivities marking the yuletide: weddings, cultural festivals. Send off and family burials. People were already at home as early as 16th of December especially those returning home from the North, Lagos and Cameroun. Then as some pundits may agitate, Nigerian economy was still rosy and cozy. Christmas holidays was an eventful period that everybody hasted to visit home to spend the holidays with parents and loved ones. People could spend up to two weeks at home without economic molestation as the naira then had extreme value. So hosting Ozu Day celebration on the 26th of December was possible because the crowed was there. But as the years ran by and the economy of the country went sour, people started visiting home for the Christmas after the Christmas itself which was the reason for the season. Some came home on the 31st or even January 1st while some managed to return home by 30th December. So Ozu Day Event started witnessing a downturn especially by demographic calculation. The whole thing was no longer exciting as it were and so the regime Late Maxwell Mark Okorie was forced to rescind the original date of 26th December to 30th of December since people were no longer coming home before the Christmas itself.
WOMEN’S WING NATIONAL:
The national women’s wing has the following officers-
1. The President
2. The vice president
3. The secretary
4. Assistant secretary
5. The financial secretary
6. The treasurer
7. The PRO
As at the period of writing this book, the following officers held the offices in the Women’s Wing of OADU: Mrs. NNE Ukaike (President), Elder Mrs. Regina Mgbuje (Vice President), Mrs. Sabina Ume Egbuta (Secretary), Mrs. Ngozi Onuka (Assistant Secretary), Mrs. Chinyere Chukwu (Financial Secretary), Elder Mrs. Uche Egbe Egbuta (Treasurer) and Mrs. Uche Ogbuagu (Provost 1) Mrs. Ozioma Ben (Provost 2). The formation of the Women’s wing of the Union came as a result of the growing agitation for women’s participation in the affairs of the community. It was initially a national struggle which gave birth to the popular ‘August Meeting’ project of the women’s movement particularly in Eastern Nigeria of the late 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century. The argument is that the August Meeting project started with the Catholic Women Organization (CWO) in Anambra and Enugu State. At first, it was a meeting held under the aegis of the Catholic Church for the strengthening of the Women’s organ of the Church for better manifestation in the ministry of the Church. Catholic Women at various communities used the time to travel home to meet and discuss the affairs of the home Church and its wellbeing. Soon afterwards, the movement grew into a national agenda as several other women across the Catholic and Protestant divides cashed into this vision to make it a program of sort in their various communities- first meeting at the Churches levels and later it dovetailed to a general community trajectory. It was at this point, that Ozu Abam women imbibed this vision and queued into it to formulate an August Meeting thesis which then gave birth to the national women unit of the OADU. It is on record that Elder (Prof.) Mrs. Catherine Oreh was the pioneer leader that broached this agenda and thereinafter became the first national President of OADU Women’s Wing. Her regime saw the consolidation of this movement even as she pinioned her governance on the premise of women empowerment, protection of the women folk against obnoxious customs and traditions that were inimical to the wellbeing of women in the community. It became a very popular movement of the late 80s and 90s in the anal of Ozu history. As at the end of her tenure having served out her term, Mrs. Nkechi Nkochi took over the mantle and continued with the vision and agenda of the movement after her was Mrs. Margaret John Onyeani Ojiabo who handed over to Mrs. NNE Ukaike. From thenceforth, August Meeting project became an enduring community agenda in Ozu social digest. At the branches of OADU nationwide and in Diaspora, the women units are now functioning very effectively even in adequate pari-passu with the men’s unit. Every August today in Ozu witnesses the unprecedented convergence of Ozu women in their numbers to celebrate their annual home-coming festival in which they deliberate upon several issues as it affects women in particular and the community in general. Developmental projects in the community now witness the participation of Ozu women one of which is the Women Civic Center which is a multi-million edifice nearing completion.
YOUTH WING NATIONAL:
The Youth wing has the following officers-
1. The national youth president.
2. National youth vice president
3. National youth chairlady
4. National youth general secretary
5. National youth financial secretary
6. National youth treasurer
7. National youth PRO-1
8. National youth PRO-2
9. National youth provost
As at the period of this documentary, the following persons were the national youth officers: Egbuta Nwankwo Okpa (President), Uche Chileme (Vice President), Ruth Zeal Ben (Chair-Lady), Obinna Samuel (Secretary General), Chukwudi Akasa (Financial Secretary), Jeremiah Agwu (Treasurer), Ibem Okorafor (PRO-1), James Uka (PRO-2) and Ogbuagu Okeke (Provost).
BRANCHES:
OADU branches spread across the 36 States in the country and Abuja. The branches also spread across Europe and the United States of America and Canada. Wherever Ozu people resides the mandate is that the Union must be established. Across African countries as well, OADU branches exists- example Togo, Benin Republic, Ghana, Cameroun and Abidjan. A formidable branch has recently been inaugurated in UK as many of our sons and daughters have migrated into that territory to eke out a veritable living. Branches have their branch officers who help to coordinate the affairs of the branch. Branch officers liaise with the national body to ensure that effective coordination is guaranteed. Branches are expected to be paying some recommended levies to the national body for the effective running of the national body and to ensure that the development of the community is given utmost attention. Every Ozu indigene is expected to be a registered member of your branch of residence. This registration is obligatory and not optional. No citizen is exempted from participation in the Union affairs. Defaulters are punitively penalized. If an Ozu indigene refuses to identify with the Union’s branch of his her residence, such person is declared a persona non-grata in Ozu matters. His or her corpse at death may not be brought into the community for burial until certain terms and conditions are met. The same is applicable when the said culprit looses a dear one such as wife, husband, father, mother or children. The fact remains in the case of the above that such fellow must satisfy his branch of residence especially fiscally before the burial is billed to officially commence in the community. The adaptation of this rules and measures is to ensure that every son or daughter of this community is effectively involved in the affairs of the community wherever you are as long as you are still alive. This statutory legislation which is a generally agreed promulgation has inexplicably made the OADU activities across the globe an exciting venture.
HOME BRANCH:
OADU at the home level is very strong. They have a very strong leadership fulcrum which makes it very resilient. The strength of the national Union is dependent upon the vitality of the home branch. The home branch ensures that policies of the Union are implemented to the later. They receive directives from the national body and execute same without equivocation. When a person defaults in a particular branch, the information would be cabled to the national body who in turn directs the home branch to ensure that the culprit is obligated to do the needful or risk further punitive measures. A man lost his wife in Kano branch of the Union. The branch then reminded the national body that the man in question does not attend meeting of the Union in Kano branch. Quickly the national body cabled the home branch to ensure that the corpse of the woman was not brought home for burial. The home branch quickly mobilized to ensure that the corpse was not brought home pending further clearance from the national body. What the national was waiting for was a green light from Kano branch indicating that the man has paid the necessary levies which would then empower Kano branch to cable the national stating that the man has cleared from the branch and when that was done, the national body then ordered the home branch to lift the hedge for the corpse to enter. The function of the Union is as serious and effective as that. The home branch chairman is by virtue of his office a member of the national body. The national body is the supreme decision making unit in Ozu especially as it affects development and social governance.
The Home branch has the following leadership structure:
>The Chairman
>The Secretary
>The home Youth Chairman
>The Deputy Youth Chairman
As at the period of this documentation, the home Chairman is Mr. Udo Ukpabi Olaka, Secretary is Comr. Okorie Koos, and Youth Chairman is Mr. Kalu Okwudiri Dike and Mr. John Kalu Onyema as the Deputy Youth chairman. Mr. Kalu Okeke is the Home [LOC] anchor person.
OZU DAY CELEBRATION
Ozu day celebration is another red-letter event in Ozu. It is a day set aside by the Development Union for the community to showcase her beautiful cultural heritage and as well as showing appreciation to God for His invaluable benevolence and magnanimity upon the land of Ozu. The Union President General uses the occasion to appreciate the entire community for their support to his leadership as well as thanking his retinue of leaders for their unalloyed support for him and his governing agenda. Before now, the event was anchored loosely on the 26th of December but after the regime of late Comr. Maxwell Mark Okorie, as the President General of the Union, the date was advertently changed to 30th of December. This was a welcomed decision by the generality of the people of Ozu because things have changed in the country and Christmas holidays was no longer observed in commemoration of the season as people now started coming home after the Christmas itself; either by the ending of the Christmas month or lately by early January the ensuing year. The event was by the 26th of December almost losing its relevance as the population of participation was aggregately diminishing almost embarrassingly. The Maxwell led administration after due consult and resolution effected the change in date or recommended it to the in-coming regime who added legislative verve to the idea and it became a law. Today, Ozu Day celebration has become a 30th of December event in the annals of Ozu history which neither economy nor weather can alter.
It must be stated that the regime of Apostle Daniel Okoronkwo as the President General of the Union made a stride in pushing this event to a memorable level by the varieties he introduced in pepping up the event. He achieved the feat by the category of men and women he assembled to handle the planning at the committee level both at the home front and abroad. The global corona-virus war would have stampeded that of 2020 and 2021 attraction but for the resilience of the organizing committees who weathered the storm and the fiesta was anchored. At the beginning he made it a prayer rally for the entire community as the Church represented by the clergy used the occasion to intercede for the community and the nation. His regime also saw the presentation of awards to deserving sons and daughters of the land who trailed the blaze in their various fields of human Endeavour’s. It was at his time also that a 50 years memorial celebration was anchored reminiscent of the February 1969 genocide that Ozu people encountered in the hand of Nigeria during the Civil War in the country. He initiated the construction of the shopping plaza at Dele-Udo square.
The regime of Captain Chibuike Eke Usim doubled the effort in making the Ozu Day event a global mondial. He spared no subjective or objective scheme in adding fashionable impetus to the whole event. 2024 celebration was an outing to reckon with. He made it mandatory that all the registered age grades in the community appeared in their special attires. The world stood still at the sight of this iconic jamboree as the colours festooned the atmosphere with an unprecedented regale. Our cultural specifics as a people were all rolled out on that day.
Previous Ozu Day events were held at the maternity square. The choice of the venue was mainly decided on the centrality of the location and its strategic frame as it situated much on the road to Ohafia from Umuahia. Today it is held at Omu-Uku Ukpai play ground.
President Generals uses the occasion of Ozu Day celebration to ex-ray their achievements in the year in review and as well as out-lining their vision for the year ahead. Paying glowing tributes to illustrious sons and daughters of the land as well as given trophies of honour to deserving age grades as it was done in 2024 by the Captain Chibuike Eke Usim led administration to Young Millionaire Age Grade whose approval rating by the Union surpassed the others going by their performance assessment in the community.