From Four Families to Silver Jubilee, Igala People Celebrate in Ohio

By Eyobong Ita
Diaspora Gazette

They met at birthday celebrations, naming ceremonies, and at funerals of their loved ones. At times, they organized fundraisers to send their loved
ones back to Nigeria for burial.
Twenty-five years later, the Igala people are gathering in Columbus, Ohio for their annual conference and gala to celebrate the silver jubilee of Igala Association USA. The four-day festivities slated for August 29 through September 1 at Double Tree by Hilton, 175 Hutchinson Avenue, will feature hundreds of the sons and daughters of the Igala people of Kogi State in Nigeria.

Silver Jubilee, Igala People Celebrate in Ohio


“When I look at this organization, the thing that gladdens my heart is that it is still thriving and even doing better,” said Dr. Sam Alfa, a founding member and the organization’s first national president.
In 1999, the Igala Association USA started with five families in Rockville, Maryland, Alfa recalled. According to the organization’s mission statement, the group works to sustain Igala culture and language in developed countries, and the annual conference and gala is the core activity which enables Igala professionals and Igala icons to meet and discuss current issues, share knowledge and information and promote international exchange of Igala art and science.
The annual event started Friday with a Meet and Greet and Youth Summit, followed by the main event – the Gala and Awards Night on Saturday. It will round up on Sunday with the organization’s Annual General Meeting and Elections.
“Every year we meet to celebrate us; we meet to discuss issues affecting us here in the diaspora and issues affecting our people at home,” said Teresa Edoja, president of the organization. “Over those years, we have done a lot of humanitarian outreach to our people in Igala land.”
Edoja said the association’s goal is to reach out to people at home but also to develop their young people being born and raised in the United States in Igala’s cultural way by teaching them the Igala language, giving them Igala names, showcasing Igala culture and encouraging Igala children to embrace it.

Igala Association USA Intervention Funds Donation to Ibaji Flood Disaster families January 2023


The keynote speaker, Engr. Bob Alfa, is scheduled to speak on the anniversary theme: “Twenty-five years after; Reflections & a Renewed Vision for Igala Greatness Home & Abroad.”
In her keynote invite to Alfa, the organization’s president, Edoja, noted that it is ironic that twenty-five years as an association across the Atlantic, their compatriots at home in Igala are still “at crossroads after twenty-five years of return to democracy,” which presents new challenges to the organization’s mission.
“We hope you, as an elder and professional icon of note, who has made similar sacrifices for the Igala Kingdom, can lead us in reflecting and charting new innovative pathways and vision for collaboration as we work towards improving the quality of life for Igala both at home and abroad in diaspora,” Edoja appealed to Alfa.
Over the years, the organization has donated medical equipment in Kogi State, awarded scholarships to students, and provided computers to Prince Abubakar Audu University, formerly Kogi State University.


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