President’s Address to Notre Dame College Ozoro Alumni Association of the Americas (NODACOAM) on October 13, 2024

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President’s Address to Notre Dame College Ozoro Alumni Association of the Americas (NODACOAM) on October 13, 2024

  1. Greetings and Welcome

My Elder, Dr. Michael Okogbo,
My Vice President, Senior Blessing Oki,
My Able Ambassador, Senior George Majemite,
Distinguished members of the EXCO of Notre Dame College Ozoro Alumni Association of the Americas (NODACOAM),
Distinguished alums, good afternoon.

I warmly welcome you to our first Annual General Meeting (AGM) of NODACCOAM. It fills me with great pride and joy to see you all gathered here today. We have come a long way since our Association was founded in 2022.

As you may recall, the establishment of NODACOAM was the brainchild of a few dedicated seniors and alums of NDC, especially our late alum and convener, Ambassador Otobo. May his soul rest in peace.

Thank you for your presence at today’s AGM and for your active participation in the affairs of our alumni association, NODACOAM. With your support and that of my EXCO, we have achieved several remarkable milestones. It gives me great pleasure to share some of these with you.

  1. Achievements (2022-2024)
  • Organizational Development:
    • We drafted and ratified NODACOAM By-Laws.
    • We registered NODACOAM in the State of Texas.
    • We obtained 501C tax-exempt status.
  • Community Support:
    • We contributed to the causes of our fallen NODACOAM Alums, Ambassador Blessing Otobo and Frank Oziwo.
    • We contributed to the NODACO National body in support of the cottage hostel.
    • We diligently contributed to the building of the cottage hostel. NODACOAM is the largest contributor to this effort, even with a smaller  membership than other branches. Our contributions for 2023/2024 totaled $4905.42 (approximately 5.5 million Naira).
  • Member Support:
  • We commiserated with NODACOAM and NODACOSA members who lost loved ones, including Paul Okolo, Leventis Erueh, Blessing Oki, Eugene Oboh, George Majemite, the family of Achillis Amawhe, and the family of Lucky Okhakume.
  • Membership Growth:
  • Our membership recruitment drive, spearheaded by our Ambassador, Senior George Majemite, has successfully increased our membership to 19.
  • We have held regular bi-monthly meetings with 8-12 active members showing up each time.
  1. Challenges

Undoubtedly, we have faced several challenges in the past two years. Let me share some of these challenges with you and seek your advice on how we can best address them head-on.

  • Our NODACOAM membership strength is still too low. We need to have 30-35 members with at least 20 actively participating in our meetings.
  • We need to develop a strategy to attract Alums in Canada (and other countries in the Americas) to become members and active participants in NODACOAM.

I know the journey has been tough, but we have succeeded against all odds. The discipline instilled in us at NDC has carried us through.

  1. Closing

I commend our members for their dedication and perseverance. I know that with your continued support, we will build NODACOAM to even greater heights.

Once again, thank you, my Elder, thank you NODAOAM EXCO, and a special thank you to all the Alums.

God bless NDC Ozoro, God Bless Nigeria. God Bless America.

God Bless you all, my fellow alums, in the Americas.

Up NDC, No Rival.

Prof. David Ogbe
President, NODACOAM, 2022-present.