Conventions: Do they really serve any purpose or are they just jamborees?

Azuoma Anugom, Esq.

adaejiagamba08@yahoo.com

Wednesday, July 15, 2010

Every year we are inundated with invitations for one convention or the other. Some of us spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on airfares, hotel bills, registration fees, donations, and all sorts of expenses associated with convention attendance. Apart from the satisfaction of interfacing with folks we have not seen for months or years, as well as meeting new folks, are there any real values to conventions? Do we really achieve anything other than gathering together and strutting about in our fancy clothes and smiling with folks? How many conventions have changed the course of history for Igboland? Has any convention really addressed the core issues facing us collectively, as well as articulated action plans and measures towards solving the problems we have in our various polities? Do we have anything concrete we can say we have achieved via our convention attendance, other than clapping for the keynote speakers, and guests of honor and you know getting carried away with the speeches and perhaps the smooth sales pitches of some of the speakers (who are invariably politicians—trained to market themselves to the ever gullible Diasporas)?

We have been having conventions in our various local organizations year in year out. Do we have anything to show for them other than making American hotels richer—not to talk of the caterer, printer, publisher etc.? I remember in one of the conventions we had, issues like education, security, and health were billed on the programs; however, due to time constraints, attendees coming in late and some of the special guests of honor/keynote speakers arriving or rather strutting in very late, those issues tabled for discussions were barely scratched. At best they were given perfunctory discussion and no tangible follow up was done. Oh yes, the government representatives had a field day painting a rosy picture of the state of affairs at home. They patted themselves on the back for allegedly tackling the security problems in Imo State as well as combating crimes. They were not willing to entertain any hard questions. Listening to them, you would have thought that we have reached our Eldorado. However, the sad truth is, the reality is far from the whimsical. For example, on the issue of health, people are still dying daily in Imo/Nigeria from preventable causes. Malaria is still the number one killer in Imo State/Igboland as well as typhoid fever. Maternal and infant mortality rates are still very high. For many mothers living in poverty, pregnancy is a matter of life and death. There is dearth of maternity care and I doubt if there is adequate care for women and infants with HIV. People are dying because they cannot afford primary healthcare.

In the area of education, we have over 1296 primary schools in Imo State and most of these are underperforming schools. I don’t even want to talk about the secondary and postsecondary education in Imo State—in terms of the standard of education and dilapidated state of some/most of the schools. Communities had to resort to self help to improve their schools. You wonder what the government is doing. But the greater cause for alarm is why Imo State citizens/Nigerians in the Diaspora lack the ability to galvanize themselves and bring effective pressures to bear on the government in power to bring about changes and development in Imo State/Nigeria? Why do we meet every year and yet those meetings don’t translate towards positive changes in our dear state/country? Do we really have (a) measurable objective(s)--- a mission we want to accomplish each time we convene? What’s the yardstick for measuring the success of our past conventions? Is it a year-in, year-out ritual? A jamboree! Something that we are expected to do as an executive? What’s the purpose or goals for our convention(s)? After articulating our visions and addressing issues, do we take it a step further and make sure that changes are wrought in our communities? Or do we convene just to bring old politicians and aspiring politicians and political jobbers to hobnob with us? Is convention merely a reunion of some sort?

It appears that the intent is for people to socialize, no more no less. Note that there is nothing wrong with people socializing and/or passing out their business cards or striving to make an impression on the politicians or traditional rulers; however, there should be more to conventions than that. And talking of politicians and traditional rulers, most of them don’t even bother to attend the town hall meetings or the forum on time. They strut in late and, in most cases, the moderators always stop everything to recognize them and offer them kolanuts. This takes time away from addressing core issues on the program. At the end of the day, you don’t get anything tangible in terms of shared vision. The question then is, of what use are these politicians/traditional rulers from Nigeria? Is it a getaway, a vacation of some sort for them? Is it a time to frolic with women of easy virtues in America? Ever wonder why some of them arrive so late to the meetings, for which they supposedly came for in the first place?

The only intrinsic value I have received from the conventions I have attended so far was socializing with fellow Igbo/Nigerians and perhaps touring the various cities. Now, as we prepare for Imo State Congress of America’s convention, which is coming up hopefully in Dallas in August 27-29 2010, we need to reflect on why we are attending this convention. Apart from the fact that this is an election year for ISCA, from all indications, this Dallas Convention appears to be a rendezvous for fighting, bickering, thuggery, and power struggles. It appears some of the Dallas folks, especially the leadership, lack the ability to follow established rules and protocols. They neither respect constituted authority nor do they follow the chain of command. Some of them have a penchant for calling the shots--so, it is their way or the byway. Now, will anything of value come out of such an environment? Time will tell. When you buy your ticket and spend time away from your families to attend a convention, wouldn’t you expect something positive at the barest minimum? What’s your expectation for ISCA 2010 convention?

Before you buy your ticket, think deeply about it. Things are really hard now and most families are on a budget, so you must make sure you are not throwing away hard-earned money. As some of you may have noticed, if folks are not bickering over the constitutional amendments, they are fighting over rotational presidency--with some possibly vested interest angry and at war with the concept of rotational presidency. Tell them that we have to balance power and reflect the diversity of our communities; they don’t want to hear it. If it is not rotational presidency, they are trying to show that they have the power to call the shots or turn the table around. Sad!!

Anyway, don’t we issue a communiqué every year after these conventions? What percentage of the issues we raised in those communiqués have we achieved? Now, I am not talking just about ISCA but about every Igbo organization out there in the Diaspora. Do we ever follow up and follow through with those communiqués? How many Igbo organizations are goal-oriented... actually goal-oriented? Think about it. If you are to grade all our past conventions honestly, what will be the score card? Wouldn’t you rather spend a quality time with your family than waste your time flying out of state to go watch some bull-headed folks fight over nothing? Think about it.