Date Published: 09/16/09
Project Igala debuts All Igala Economic Summit
Plans are well underway by Project Igala to host the first ever all Igala Economic Summit. Project Igala, a think-tank of Nigerian intelligentsia of Igala extraction, with membership strength that cuts across six continents, armed with a focal commitment to the overall development of the Igala Kingdom, through educational, infrastructural and economic interventions intends to use the forum to raise awareness on its potential to uplift the economic wellbeing of the Igala people.
The Igala are the largest ethnic group in Kogi State strategically occupying the eastern axis, with Idah as the traditional home of the Igalas. The paramount ruler of the Igala Kingdom, Agabaidu Aliyu Obaje, sits in Idah, hence the conjecture by historians that Idah is the ancestral home of the Igala. According to the 1963 or 1969 census, the Igala were the most populous ethnic group in Nigeria with the second richest native authority in Northern Nigeria after the Kano Native Authority during the colonial era. They are one of the highest producers of cassava in Nigeria with some of the nation’s highest coal deposits in Okaba and environs.
The Igala Economic Summit, aims to set the Igala Kingdom on the path to economic recovery, by articulating a definitive vision for where the Igala Kingdom should be at key futuristic milestones; marshal strategies that translate the people’s hopes and aspirations into tangible realities, and to lay a solid foundation for the much awaited Igala Renaissance, and showcase the viability of investment opportunities in Igala land.
To this end, members of the Igala Economic Summit Steering Committee, led by its Chairman, Mr. Rowland Ocholi Ataguba, were guests of the paramount ruler of the Igala kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Agabaidu, Alhaji Aliyu Obaje to brief him on plans for the Summit and to seek his blessings. His Royal Majesty Alhaji Obaje who endorsed the Summit in totality called on all sons and daughters of Igala extraction to lend their support to the Summit, in the quest to bring about meaningful development to the Igala Kingdom.
The Summit, which is scheduled to hold during the Easter of 2010 at the Auditorium of Kogi State University, Anyigba, is expected to attract the crème de la crème of Igala land, with those from the professions in particular. Members of the Steering Committee comprising representatives of Project Igala, Igala UK, Igala USA and other stakeholders include, Rowland Ataguba as
Chairman, David Abutu, Atâyi Babs Opaluwah, Abu Saidu, Emmanuel Haruna, Joshua Ocheja, Awulu Attah, Dr Abdu Opaluwah, Omachonu Abu, Oguche Akor and Alex Baba as members, while Henry Agbonika serves as Secretary.
According to the Chair of the Information sub-committee of the Steering Committee, Abu Saidu, “the need for the summit has arisen from the imperative to arrest the slide into decadence and thuggery bred by underdevelopment and shattered dreams. If we do not act now, the consequences for our people will be grave. If not now, when?” He asked.
Abu Saidu
Chairman, Information Sub-Committee
Tel: 08034523246
Henry Agbonika
Secretary,
Tel: 0805 640 9523
Igala Economic Summit Steering Committee
20 Limpopo Street,
Maitama
Abuja
