ICOBA UK Chairman Welcomes You To Birmingham 2012

Another year has rolled by, and we have multiple reasons, collective and individual, to give Thanks & Praises to our ALMIGHTY GOD.

Principal amongst these many causes for Thanksgiving is the fact that Our Alma Mater, Igbobi College, turned 80. In biblical terms, this means that our dear school has exceeded the prescribed 'Three Scores and Ten' years! We say to GOD be the Glory!!

I thank you all for making this 2nd Midlands meeting a reality with your presence here today. I express on behalf of the ICOBA-UK Executive Members a deep appreciation to the Midlands Group for their sacrifice and commitment. As we say in Yoruba, "A jo se wa, ko ni baje o, Amin".

I also express deep gratitude to the Executive members for their continued support and unstinted services to the Igbobi College Cause.

We have strived to go in new directions by ensuring active participation and commitment of as many Igbobians in the UK as possible. We have been able to update our membership database, while we have at the same time revamped our website, and these are still on going. It has cost us good money, and we are currently expending £50 a month to maintain the website. It is hoped that in good time we can harness the IT resources we know we have in house to do the this job.

While we do acknowledge that we have definitely made progress, we do feel that we have not achieved our set goals.

For one, our financial standing ('gauge') remains at Quarter Tank. This translates to the fact that we do NOT currently have enough funds to make any meaningful impact in our quest to help to 'resurrect' our Alma Mater. However, it is to be appreciated that these are not the best of economic times, and we all have been affected in many ways.

This AGM will be the last one in my tenure as Chairman. It is my wish and desire that despite the prevailing many economic and social difficulties, we should be able to take full advantage of this AGM.

As it is the first to be held in the Midlands (I believe), it should afford us a good run-up towards a successful September Retreat and our own 80th Anniversary UK celebrations.

I can share with you that we expect attendees from North America ICOBA Group, the Abuja ICOBA, and ICOBA International (meaning the Central Body).

We also expect guests from representatives of such groups as ROGA (Reagan Old Girls' Association), GCI Old Boys' Association, LAGS Old Boys Association and Methodist Boys High School Old Boys' Association. It is to be recognised that the last two schools were in a manner of speaking Parent Schools to Igbobi College.

From the foregoing last statement, we wish to place on the website a dedicated section to the many instructive Archive material that were unearthed through the devotional attitudes of the likes of Mr. Awotesu and Barry. The Director of Organisation, Mr. Jonathan Odugbemi is working hard on this, together with our current contracted IT consultant, an Old Boy of MBHS!

Last but not the least, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the members of WICOBA (Wives of Igbobi College) for their devotional and exemplary duties to the cause of Igbobi College in general, and ICOBA-UK in particular.

OMNES UNUM IN DOMINO

Dr. Olumide Oluwagbolahan Awe
Chairman, ICOBA-UK