EGOGA: THE MOVEMENT

BY IJEOMA EGBUNINE ENEKWA & UGONMA OKORONKWO COKEY

The word, “Movement”, in the Group Synergy parlance, has been defined as a Social Process that occurs when a group of people, who share the same beliefs, ideas, or goals, organize themselves into action through abundance of events or activities to achieve rapid progress, advancements and breakthroughs. This definition couldn’t be more descriptive of the Group-Egbu Girls Old Girls Association (EGOGA). The little mustard seed that was planted in 2018 has blossomed into a veritable Association with over 350 members, executing numerous activities and projects.

EGOGA came into existence in 2018 through a merger of two Groups/Platforms of former students, one of older ladies created by Lady Barr. Stella Amamasi, nee Agu in 2018 and the other, of younger ones created by UgonmaCokey, nee Okoronkwo.  The two Groups were operating without the knowledge of each other until fate brought them together through IjeomaEnekwa, nee Egbunine and Patsy Oparaku, nee Eke.

GROUP A

Credit must be given to the UgonmaCokey led Group (Group A), which established a WhatsApp Platform on March 27, 2017 with the following as co- Administrators: Lady Barrister ChiakaObichereMogaha, NdidiKanuOkoro, Lady UcheNwankwoOnyenokporo .

The Administrators worked hard to secure contacts of Old Girls from everywhere including the diaspora; it was an “each one tell and bring one” Movement.  To make it very inclusive and widely accepted, two Old Girls from the Diaspora, ChiomaAmadi and Chika AbengoweIbe, were added as Administrators. It is worthy of note that at this time, an Alumni Association had already been organized in the United States of America.

Two months later, Chapter meetings started. The UK Chapter held a virtual meeting first on the May 12; they shared their minutes, on the 13^th.  The Lagos Chapter held their meeting with 10 persons in attendance and an interim EXCO, led by UcheNwankwoOnyenokporo, was constituted to run the affairs of the Group until more members joined. The Group’s slogan then was EGBUSCO: WITH LOVE SERVE ONE ANOTHER before it was later changed after the Merger of the two Groups. One week later, on May 20, Port Harcourt Chapter held their meeting with 9 people. The UK & Lagos minutes were shared.

The sharing of the Minutes of other Chapters was for everyone to know what others had discussed so that all could be on the same page.

Members in the US also held their first meeting (virtually) on July 1. While trying to co-opt others, they discovered this Group and joined them. 

GROUP B (THE ELDERS’ GROUP)

The second Group (Group B) which was pioneered by Lady Barrister Stella AguAmamasi was started out of concern over the deaths of some of the teachers and Old Girls and several burials attended by only one or two Old Girls. She felt this was due to lack of information as there was no Platform for Old Girls. One of such burials was that of the Late Mrs. AkwaugoOnwubere, nee Azuike (1974 Set) and about only three Old Girls were in attendance. Following the burial, Lady Amamasi, unaware of the existence of Group A, created a WhatsApp Platform on March 17, 2018 with the name “EGSS.” Realizing the enormous nature of the assignment, she first of all added Mrs. IjeomaEnekwa nee Egbunine as Administrator. Some of the early joiners include: Dr. Mrs. ChiomaAmajorEnelama, Barrister Mrs. Edna OleruAsinobi, Late Mrs. Stella AnyanwuNwanguma, Dr. Lilian EkeonughaNkwoada, Dr. Winnie Ekeanyanwu Eke, Mrs. Meg EzebuiheEgbuchulam, Dame Esther Madu (Ada Ikeduru), Lady Kalaya Green Opara, Mrs. UcheEgbunineNonyelu, Dr. Christy Onwuagba Williams, Mrs. Chika OnwuagbaOluigbo, Lady Augusta IwunzeOhiri and Mrs. EugyEkpeOkwoli. Mrs. Enekwa coordinated the activities of the Platform and membership mobilization became a priority. Committees were identified and members were not only encouraged to join the Committees but also were implored to search for Old Girls and bring up their contacts for inclusion on the Platform. Soon, the membership strength of the Platform greatly increased.

THE MERGER OF THE TWO GROUPS

The game changer was the visit of Mrs. Patsy Eke Oparaku to Mrs. Enekwa’s residence in Lagos. Mrs. Enekwa, through Patsy, learnt about the UcheOnyenokporo-led Group.  This discovery was reported on the Platform of Group B and members immediately supported the merger of the two groups.  Mrs. Enekwa reached out to the leaders of Group A through Mrs. Daisy Sams-Uchegbu Eke who immediately mobilized other leaders of the Group including ChiakaMogaha and UgonmaCokey and they were able to negotiate a merger of the two Groups. ChiakaMogaha was added to EGSS Platform 1 as Administrator by Mrs. Enekwa on October 3, 2018. Chiaka added UgonmaCokey ,NdidiNjoku Albert Oguara and NdidiKanuOkoro  as Admins and together, they moved all the members of the Group A to The EGSS 1 Platform. Soon, the membership mobilization recorded huge success

No doubt there were reservations, concerns and pessimism on the part of members of Group A as they were neither sure of what to expect or the major objectives of the Older Sisters’ Group. However, the two Groups came together under one umbrella and EGBU GIRLS OLD GIRLS ASSOCIATION (EGOGA) was birthed. The slogan changed to: EGOGA! WITH LOVE SERVE ONE ANOTHER.

With the merger, the Association ended up with 8 administrators, two from the Diaspora: ChiomaAmadi and Chika AbengoweIbe;  Four from Group A: UgonmaCokey, ChiakaMogaha, Ndidi Albert Oguara , and Daisy Sams-Uchegbu Eke; and  2 from the “Elders Group”: Stella Amamasi and IjeomaEnekwa.  Discussions started on the Constitution, Committees were set up and planning for the Maiden Global Reunion in 2019 commenced in earnest. The Association spread like wildfire and a formidable Team emerged to handle the affairs of the Association with many old Girls joining and contributing towards the rebuilding of our Alma Mater.  Everyone was longing to see each other again. More Chapters have keyed into the objective of the Association; which is mainly addressing the infrastructural need in our Alma Mater.