Greetings, Great People of the Abia State Association of North Carolina.
It is with a deep sense of responsibility that I welcome you all to the association’s 2024 activities.
I want to thank and appreciate members of the Executive Committee for their stellar performance during the year 2023. It was a very peaceful year, and I believe 2024 will be even more peaceful. Conducive environments are usually a recipe for growth and development.
LEADERSHIP: Abia State Association put in place a robust leadership system that embodies checks and balances. By so doing, The Executive Council cannot take laws into its own hands. I would like to humbly request those in the different leadership arms and echelons to show more interest in the Association, pay attention to the goings-on, and be available to make suggestions; thus, helping to make the Association better than it currently is. Under such circumstances, the transition from one Executive Committee to another will be seamless.
MEMBERSHIP: This administration has existed for a whole year. The growth, development, and success of this association hinges on the members. Therefore, membership drive is going to be a major agenda. We are going to show our commitment to the growth of this association by becoming marketers and salespersons for the association. We will forward our association’s website to all Abia indigenes we know living in and around every part of North Carolina.
CONSTITUTION: We have entered 2024 with the constitution we all agreed to amend. The constitution was distributed to members, at least, three months before the end of 2023 for us to individually suggest areas we would like to change. We, as an organization, failed to suggest those changes.
CREDIT UNION: We prepared the minds of our fellow members to pursue the idea of a credit union upon entering 2024. Now, 2024 is here. Our first step is to begin a signature drive to identify those who will participate in the credit union.
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IMAGE-MAKING: Every member of the Association is a public relations resource. We should seize every opportunity to market our Association. We should tell people good things about our Association. We should identify areas of the Association we can volunteer to serve as well as make unsolicited sacrifices that might emerge. Let others know about our association. Let us use the media style – constant pounding – to keep the name of our association in the hearts and minds of members of our community. We can achieve this by keeping that name in our mouths and readily mention it at the slightest opportunity.
WEALTH CREATION MODE: Our people know how to pursue and get money. We find ourselves in different business lines. Some lines are more lucrative than the others. There is so much wealth in this world and everyone can get a fair share without jeopardizing others. Therefore, let us share information with our people regarding business lines that are lucrative so that those who are in less lucrative lines may shift to the lucrative ones. That is the ‘Jewish method’. It actually belongs to the Igbo people by ancestry, but we have to practice it instead of losing it to others for it to be known as and called the Jewish method. Let us create more wealth in 2024 by sharing information.
NONPROFIT STATUS: We will continue to work with our attorney to perfect our nonprofit status. We thank and appreciate Attorney John Eluwa who started in 2023 to help us fix that problem. He made reasonable progress before the end of 2023. We look forward to the completion of the process.
ABIA STATE ASSOCIATION MONTHLY TV SHOW: This is an idea that was not discussed at a meeting. Grassroots sensitization about it was initiated in which two members were approached to pilot the program. Abia indigenes in the State were being shortlisted as prospective guests to be interviewed on the TV show – legal practitioners, finance experts, physicians, healthcare experts, technology professionals, religious leaders, counselors, etc. The purpose of the virtual TV is (a) to publicize our association, (b) to reach out to other Abians in parts of North Carolina that were distant from Raleigh NC, (c) to draw the attention of potential members who should join the association. The grassroots activities are still ongoing and would hopefully be crystallized this year 2024. We request volunteers to start this program which will be part of our strategy to publicize our association.
I would like to personally call on our members to increase their meeting attendance and participation in activities. Those are ingredients for cementing brotherhood and sisterhood, especially in our changing world. I also want to extend the association’s right hand of fellowship to indigenes of Abia State who are residents in the parts of North Carolina that are distant from the Raleigh-Durham area.
God bless Abia State Association.
Together, we will achieve more.
Thank you, All.
God bless Abia State.
