The case for community building
"Mbaise nwere madu". Like locusts on a fresh field of corn, sons and daughters of Mbaise descended on Atlanta, Georgia. No, not "Georgia on my mind", but they were all poised to portray that not only was Mbaise on each mind, we wanted to do something about it. Love was in the air. We talked about it, we bemoaned the security unrest in the homeland; we clapped to the stories of "lee k'osi d'nma... bu mgbako umunne. But there was more, Atlanta gave us everything. The women were from the 6th heaven, gleaming with pride. One woman born in Ngwa declared that she would still be married in Mbaise up to her tenth incarnation to this world. But there is not enough space to talk about the majesty of our children. In unimpeachable American accent, they sang to the glory of Mbaise... in vernacular... "Chuku gozie ndi mbaise.... It was beautiful.I'm still humming to it."Olu diri mu na gi". This was as far as an agreement you will get between the Catholics and the Anglican Communion back in the days. Yes, we have lots and lots of work to do in Mbaise. The question is when shall we arise, pick up our shovels and really do the work. But as a silent observer, I ached in my heart as I took in all this "funfare" and fanfare. What a shame I thought to myself...that with this many articulate people, with this number of successful men & women; with this level of boisterous enthusiasm, our siblings, our parents, our homeland lies as a wasteland. Then I remembered that Mbaise nwere madu all over the world. How is it that we continue to trail behind in development and developmental initiatives, who are the traitors among us that have hampered our unity, our growth and ore resourcefulness as one people. Is it not possible that we can change our community for the better; to be the example for other communities in Nigeria. Time to dig in and produce results.
"Mmadu abughi ewu". They say that a practical definition of insanity is to continue to do the same thing expecting a different result. It is long overdue for us to take our faith in our hands. I am looking for commonsense practical solutions, simplistic but pragmatic overhaul of our priorities. Time to realize that when you help another Mbaise man, you help yourself. This has worked for so many jewish, asian and other communities in the United States who have pulled together to assist each other with business financing, guaranteeing, and loan provisions to help others in their community to grow. I again call on other Mbaise citizens to replicate the micro-financing effort championed by Chief Mrs. Akuechiama. This model of short term loans have a proven record of transforming rural communities. When we see this trend working all over Mbaise on personal and individual initiatives will be the right time for MbaiseUSA to intrduce matching funds and sponsor more access to funding. I am a huge fan of schools scholarship programs. I am always uplifted by the success and state in life of people I have helped to achieve their educational pursuits. Education changes the entire outlook for each child. We can also certainly begin work along the lines of recovery for the presently unemployed. Retraining and practical educational ordering into Commercial hands-on training in Mechanics, welding, repairs and constructions are a quick way to teach men to fish for themselves. Lets start talking about portable water and sewage system for our entire hometown; of roads and electricity. Lets make our governments accountable and responsible.
"Onye gbuwe achara; onye gbuwe"... Words are not enough. All the ideas in this world are worth nothing unless you can find a way to implement them. This is why I was so impressed with the Presentation of our Honorable President, Maazi Collins Olorondu. He outlined a practical but sensible option for Mbaise people to finally achieve our goals in Security and medical mission initiatives. One hundred Dollars per Mbaise family. It is a small amount that many families expend or dispense of daily in careless and sometimes unaccounted expediture. But the power is in the numbers... "agbako aka nyuo mmamiri...figure it out for yourself. My enthusiasm is that if this administration succeeds in making Mbaise people proud by the way and manner that we administer the funds raised in this effort, it will be a gold standard. Mbaise will learn to trust again. Mbaise will also learn that a little here and another little from there can become a large pool for solving and financing our common objectives in educational scholarships, developmental and other community building initiatives. I know it is hard for a community of people who have been beaten down, disappointed and sponged before by our leaders and politicians to have faith in a common purpose again. But I also remind us that if we remain where we are we may never move forward. It was a sad story when Tony Uwakwe recounted his mother's ordeal at the hands of kidnappers; but what is worse is if we do nothing and allow this mayhem to continue to pledge our homeland.
As one member of this Executive I can pledge to every Mbaise person that so long as I have a voice and a vote I will protect your trust in paying this $100.00 development levy. I will fight for full transparency and accountability. We will exhaust voluntary and no-cost options before we spend a penny of your money. I will press my colleagues to also pursue governmental, non-governmental and other sources for financing. But this levy is necessary. We must stand ready to help ourselves if no one else will. This is why we resolved to put it to the public vote. This way, we are responsible and accountable to each indiviadual Mbaise citizen whether they voted yes or no to this one time levy. I promise to fight to channel any remaining funds into other common developmental objectives when we have fully funded our security and medical missions options, but we will only do so after obtaining proper authority from Mbaise people.
Echi d'ime... Lets make it a new beginning. We can decide now that we are going to transcend from all the talk to taking our faith in our hands. Standing still is worse tan going backwards. Let's take sensible steps into our future together as one family determined to succeed. We will rise and fall as one people. We saw the pageantry, we also clapped to the philanthropy of our people in donating their personal funds to our general interests. I call on this newly elected executive not to take the trust of our people for granted. We must deliver to them. Because in doing so, we liberate ourselves together from a scourge that have plagued us all.
Long Live MbaiseUSA
Long Live Mbaise citizen.
Dated this 5th August, 2010
Charles Abiahu
(the poster currently serves as National Secretary for MbaiseUSA; the national umbrella administration of Mbaise people in the United States)
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