President’s Address At The 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM) Of Ontiv Professionals Association, 20th August 2022.

Preamble

Distinguished Trustees, Members, and friends of Ontiv Professionals Association, it is exactly two years and nineteen days today that, you gave us the leadership mantle to manage the affairs of this outstanding association of corps d’elite of Tiv Nation in Nigeria. The current leadership came in at a time the Association had attained a decade of its operational existence that was built on goodwill and brotherhood, we have also continued on that mission trajectory of deepening its operational mechanism that has brought us to this level of excellence.

I wish to reassure this house of great minds that, the indispensable OPA Executive Committee with your support has made Ontiv Professionals Association a better organisation and a quality yardstick in Tivland; this has been achieved through team spirit and unity of purpose. Whilst this Executive Committee went on a deep dive in re-engineering the operational mechanisms of the association through committees approved by Congress, great strides were also achieved, we believe managing change is a continuous process and we can do much more.

The Executive Committee is of the view that, the only constant thing in our lives is change, and embracing a change for good brings progress in shared values for the good of Tivland and Benue State. You have always trusted this Executive Committee to be responsible and to do the best for OPA and Tiv Nation at all times. The first two years of the tenure has expired and we trust you can still endorse this team to consolidate on the foundational gains of the re-engineering process we have begun!

Our Vision and Value Proposition

Ontiv Professionals Association is a corps d’elite of Tivland, it is populated by diverse professionals that acts as a Think Tank for Tiv Nation, we work closely with Mdzough U Tiv (MUT) and the Tiv Traditional Council (TTC) at advisory level and our value propositions are strategic and aligned with current world best practices and developmental goals.

We collaborate with Club d’Pals, Swem Karagbe Club, Mdzough u Tiv and all sociocultural Tiv organisations in Abuja and indeed Nigeria. We enjoin all of you that are invited here today, to join hands with us in sustaining Tiv Nation in times like these when national cohesion is imperative in Tivland and Benue State. If we cannot forge ahead now, none can take charge of our affairs and responsibilities in Tivland in particular and Benue State in general.

We are steadily improving in our membership drive and with the launching of our new website; we hope our membership drive will be online 24/7 for our eligible Tiv Sons and Daughters to seamlessly come on board. Visit www.ontivprofessionals.org and give us a feedback of your experience.

Our Modest Projects and Achievements in the past two years.

The Executive Committee is pleased to inform this house of great minds that, through the unction of your mandate, and besides the difficult times of Covid19 and general economic meltdown, we have achieved these modest milestones:

Ontiv Professional Association Abuja now has a robust e-commerce website that has maximum transactional securities and gateways for payment of dues and the possibility to receive cash donations online securely. Our Membership enrollment can be done seamlessly anywhere in the world 24/7 thus giving flexibility to our diaspora brothers and sisters.
Ontiv Professional Association Abuja and indeed its website is compliant with Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML) and has passed all anti money laundering procedures of the EFCC and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) thresholds required to receive, accept and make payments in financial terms to third parties through online gateways and inter banking operations and platforms. This can be achieved when EFCC opens the portal again for us to complete the process.
The quality of an Incorporated Trustees, or a registered NGO is premised on the quality of value addition to humanity and volunteerism; OPA has ably demonstrated this through “touching lives and making a difference” by visiting orphanages, IDP Camps, Hospital visitations where the association paid bills of the less privileged, donated clothes to newly delivered babies and nursing mothers etc.
Ontiv Professionals Association has already registered with INEC as an Electoral Monitoring and Observation Organisation through its volunteer service with a view of improving good governance and the deepening of democracy in Nigeria. It means OPA is provisionary on the list of Election Observers for the 2023 Nigerian Elections in the North Central Area, the application process is ongoing and will be finalised in due course, and it can only get better and better for OPA.
In 2020, our first foot forward was the resounding courtesy visit to Begha u Tiv, Professor James Iorzua Ortese Ayatse, in December 2020. That courtesy call resulted into a closer working relationship with the Tor Tiv Palace and the Tiv Traditional Council (TTC). This visit also gave us the impetus to work with the Mdzough u Tiv and their Executive Committee at the highest level of cooperation.
The same end of year 2020 saw OPA impacting positively on the lives of inpatients at the General Hospital Gboko through the donation of clothes, sanitary products and financial aids that paid for their hospital bills.
Ontiv Professionals Association also made a compendium of Directorate Cadre, a list of our Sons and Daughters in the Public Service and gave same to the Commissioner Federal Character Commission Mr Silas Mac Ikpa representing Benue State at the Commission for strategic purposes.
In 2021, Ontiv Professionals Association also developed a Security Architecture input with the assistance of our distinguished brothers for the security in Tivland as panacea for insecurity challenges in Tivland in particular and Benue State in General.
Ontiv Professionals also took the bull by the horns by developing an Aide Memoire for Ayatutu Ka Se Foundation in order to promote its buy in by all Tiv Sons and Daughters. Ayatutu Ka Se Foundation is a support mechanism designed by the Paramount Ruler of Tiv Nation Professor James Iorzua Ortese Ayatse as a buffer in times of need for Tiv Nation.
The OPA Executive created Committees to think through systems that will enable the association deepen its operational mechanism. This was meant to stimulate team building, team spirit, shared values, that will broaden the operational scope of the association. This it was hoped will put OPA on autopilot in operational terms with built-in systems that will stimulate organic sustainable growth.
The Executive Committee with the support of Congress has been copiously, and quietly inviting our Brothers and Sisters in influential positions to come together, this have increased membership of more professionals in OPA and deepened our professional mien and horizon. It is the desire of this indefatigable Executive Committee to attract more seasoned professionals in the fold, as the more, the merrier and deeper for Tiv Nation.
The new Executive also reactivated OPA as a going concern at CAC by paying most outstanding returns and bills from 2010 to date; this has given visibility of OPA on CAC website as an existing Incorporated Trustee and Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO).
The Executive Committee has also completed work on the Constitution of OPA, which was adopted in the last Special AGM; this will accordingly be filed with CAC, and adopted as the current template of CAMA 2020. The Executive Committee is committed in upholding the tenents of the OPA Constitution we have sworn allegiance to.
The Association has a clean but lean bill of health, as the major problem of OPA is finance, finance and FINANCE! Since this Executive came on board on 1st August 2020, we have not received anything besides subscriptions and levies, these are also poorly paid by members and we are saying as a ranking pressure group for Tiv Nation, we cannot be effective without the financial muscle to push our projects through. This Executive Committee is prudent, transparent, and frugal; we would NOT and never abuse the trust of Congress for whatever reason, so let’s join hands and support the association financially for us to achieve our goals.
We have opened two additional Bank Accounts with Fidelity Bank Plc for OPA Projects and Welfare accounts. This has drastically reduced the use of members’ accounts for projects, with its attendant bank charges. It is hoped this will also improve financial accountability and transparency in the conduct OPA business affairs. You may wish to be informed that payments are mostly done through the bank and the need for physical cash transactions is negligible. Always use the right account for your payments as this will always help us give you excellent reports of your finances with OPA.
The association embarked on awareness and public sensitisation programme in Tivland through radio interviews, and an introductory serie was held in the last quarter last year, it was anchored by Hon. Livinus Uja Matyu and aired on Ashiwaves FM Radio Katsina Ala and Brothers FM Radio Makurdi, a proposal was made for a private public partnership (PPP) arrangement with the Nigerian Army but could not scale through.
Governorship Debate was another lofty project that Congress approved that is still pending due to financial constraints since we need not less than N20 million Naira to undertake the project. We hope even if we fail, it is a project that has a powerful image boosting capacity for Ontiv Professionals Association as a quality organisation that promotes good governance in Benue State and Nigeria at large.

We can confidently inform you that if the internal administrative mechanism and systems of OPA are sustained, we would have attained that professional apogee that is the hallmark of our name. Tivland needs the unity of everyone and everybody, internal strife and attrition will only polarize this important vision now that Nigeria is experiencing tough insecurity……stand up and be counted for unity in Tivland!

Enjoy a wonderful Annual General Meeting.

Emmanuel M. Aza. B.Sc IT, M.Tech (Cyber Security, in view) OCP, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, CEH, ACIM (UK)

President Ontiv Professionals Association, Nigeria.

Tel +234 806 555 0910, 090 7297 772