A diaspora-based son of Obiangwu, Mr Johnny Kennedy Chinedu Nosike, has described Afo Agarachaa Obiangwu 2024 as "A homecomingproject of the Obiangwu people where Obiangwu becomes the centre of our universe again. He stated this on Tuesday, 5th January 2024, when he paid yours sincerely a courtesy visit to our country home, Umunehi Obiangwu, Ngor Okpala, local government area of Imo State.
According to Mr Johnny Nosike during " Afo Agarachaa the Obiangwu people abroad are expected to come home for "a reconnect, a reunion, to come back to the basics, where all roads will lead to Obiangwu and Obiangwu became the centre of our Universe again, that is what Afo Agarachaa was, a homecoming project"
In reaction to a question whether there was a time that the Obiangwu people were disconnected and as to need reconnection, he said" The main disconnection was a situation where " we grew up in Obiangwu and go elsewhere to for opportunities because Obiangwu people are generally intelligent people "We left home not because we did not want to stay back, we left because the schools we wanted to be in were not here, business opportunities, job opportunities that we expected were not here, it be am necessary for us to go different parts of the world to get such opportunities, we landed in Owerri, onitsha, Aba, Enugu, Ghana, different parts of Africa, parts of Europe and America, Australia and all kinds of places. We Aldo find Obiangwu people in China, that is because they were looking for opportunities not because they did not enjoy where they come from." so one thing we agreed is that you have a lot of fun when you are back home, you connect and reconnect with people you grew up with, that is what we treasured and something that we wanted to do."
Continuing, Mr Johnny Nosike said, "There are also a lot of our people you have been so disconnected with because they have spent so much time outside of Obiangwu, their generations are no longer connected, they don't come home we decided to change that with Afo Agarachaa."In so many ways it hopes to connect us with our forebearers to achieve our hopes and aspirations, the projects they started, and the schools that they started, it is up to our generation to keep these things going, keep the infrastructures fresh and up to date, these are the things that we started to address with Afo Agarachaa, it was not all merriment, we also came in and discussed serious matters to see how we can get Obiangwu to be a better place."
In response to why kola nut and other sundry items were not sold to raise money, as was the case with gatherings of this nature. Mr Nosike emphasized that they wanted to make it " Less stressful, the organizers took time to raise money for the event through patriotic sons of Obiangwu and we managed what we have, what went into Afo Agarachaa was volunteer work, the things we have to buy we bought but they were not cheap at all,it was quite an expensive project, expensive not just in the financial commitment but also in the time and energy, because for two years we were having meetings every two weeks,we got to a point where we have to meet every week and then on top of those we had committee meetings taken place, In day, we can have three to four meetings, so a lot of work went into it "doing something that has not been done before, I am the initiator, the name Afo Agarachaa, you have not heard it before, it is something I put together,we have Obiangwu sons and daughters who believed in the vision, that saw it and said"this is good " And these guys,men, i cannot complete this interview without mentioning names like Innocent Amuchie,Alex a Nwachukwu, Dr Chijioke Kaduru,Dr Ethelbert Amah,Mr Calistus Akuchie,Mr Isidore Nosike,Nkem Anele,Ngozi Abara,Nkechi Nwachukwu,Oby Opara, Nick Amakor, John Kenneth Njoku,Dr Damian Oparaocha, just a lot of" Umu" Obiangwu that rose up to this challenge, professor Maxwell Oparaocha. These individuals were into protocols to getting Afo Agarachaa done, the lawyer, Suleman, Barrister Emma Abara, just a whole list of patriotic Umu Obiangwu."
He enumerated the event to spotlight things like the soccer tournament, medical outreach and NI N registration which commenced on the 18th of 2024, according to Mr Nosike the organizers discovered that most of" our people have not enrolled in the process so we brought people from the state and they set up shops in Obiangwu and registered a lot people it was a three-day project initially, then we added 27 th which was designed for people that came from abroad because they would not be in by 18th December, on that day they were given priority but the hall was filled with people, while on the 20th the medical mission started. A lot of our people were treated for all kinds of afflictions and diseases, so many surgeries were done for free, there were testimonies all over the place about individuals who had to carry hyenas for about four years because there was no money for surgeries, there were people who were told that they will pay Five hundred thousand nairas for an operation, here they got it free, several reading glasses were given out for three days of medicals."
Continuing he said "Then on the 26th we started the edit seminar,we brought experts in education, infact a vice- chancellor of a University,he taught Umu Obiangwu business and fiance,we had a teaching on farming, how to plant yams in bags and other farming methods, there was a teaching on CPR,in case of an emergency, how to help stabilize someone has a health emergency,a health crisis, until help comes,CPR was taught, people also came in response to drugs epidermis,we brought in people who from the government, they taught people about drug abuse,I taught about money, that day we educated our people on the information that will further advance their lives because information is key and knowledge is power while 28th December was dedicated to women: Obiangwu development Union home and abroad women's wing, they were there, they put up a show, that was really good, while 29th December, was ty cultural day,it was powerful, every village has been practicing the cultural dance that they were going to bring on that day, they were being cancelled one after another,they were coming out dancing and performing, Oriental brothers band,Dan satch ,Emeka Opara, they put up a show,my goodness, that Man, that band was something else,he was possessed, that day people danced, their was so much dance, Joy and laughter,it was sweet memories for our people,it was spectacular. Various kinds of dances like Nwaokoroboh, which you have never seen since the seventies, were there. Abigolo was there, all the colourful things that our people were known for were there, it was successful a blast, our people were glad and happy about that cultural dance " They had fun and that was our plan, we wanted people to have fun without paying money."
In conclusion, the very excited initiator of Afo Agarachaa Obiangwu said that the aim was achieved" because people were reconnected, you discovered that people get disconnected because they attended different churches, different schools, he recalled that "when we he was a kid everyone met at Central School, Obiangwu, observing that right now" it is no longer the case, Umunehi children and Eziala children don't interact much because they are in different schools, they don't know each other like my generation knew each other, you go in there people just come to you and shout"Johnny, yeah, you look at the guy in the face, you recognize him, you call him and, you hug him, it was just, sweet, very beautiful, our people loved that"
In reaction to a question of why he differs. He said "He differs though not always, but he believes in doing something no one has seen before."
He recalled when he used to produce films, Nobody had done that, If you can get the theatre in Owerri, I will get them to show movies in Obiangwu, this was even before videos and VCRs, nobody could do that but I believed it be done, I move by faith and I have faith in our people that if you come with the right idea, you can connect, that things can happen, yes.
Yes indeed, days after Afo Agarachaa Obiangwu 2024, There is still visible excitement across the Obiangwu community from the young and the old, men and women, reason, Afo Agarachaa Obiangwu provided fun, excitement, Joy and laughter for everybody, No age was left out, no gender was left out, no village was left out, it was equal fun for all, the beat goes on and on.
See you in Afo Agarachaa Obiangwu 2027 is now the newest and the latest form of greetings in and around the Obiangwu community.
