The Chairman and Executive Committee of ECOBA UK & Ireland, past Presidents and distinguished leaders of our Association, distinguished Old Boys of Edo College, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen.
It gives me great pleasure to be with you at the ECOBA Uk & Ireland Convention 2026. I bring you warm greetings from the ECOBA National Executive Council and, indeed, from Ecobites across Nigeria and around the world.
Let me begin by congratulating the Chairman and Executive Committee of ECOBA UK & Ireland for organising this Convention and for the work you continue to do in keeping the ECOBA spirit alive far beyond the shores of Nigeria.
For many of us, Edo College is more than the school we attended, it is part of who we are, the friendships we made there, the discipline we acquired, the teachers who shaped us, the competition among classmates, our experiences on the playing fields and in the classrooms, and the values that were instilled in us, which have remained with us throughout our lives.
I say this, not only as President of our great Association, but as one who remains personally grateful for what Edo College gave me: discipline, lifelong friendships and a sense of duty that has endured across the years.
We therefore gather at occasions such as this with understandable nostalgia. We remember our years at Edo College with pride and affection. But nostalgia alone cannot be our offering to the school that formed us. The greatest tribute we can pay to our past is to build a better future. That is the central message I bring to this Convention.
The message I bring today is simple: ECOBA must now move from shared memory to shared responsibilities, from admiration for Edo College’s past to disciplined investments in its future, and from scattered goodwill to collective impact that can be seen, measured and sustained.
A NEW PHASE FOR ECOBA
When the present National Executive Council assumed office, we recognised that ECOBA had reached an important point in its history. Over the decades, individual old boys, class sets and branches have made significant contributions to Edo College. Classrooms have been renovated, laboratories and other facilities have received attention. Scholarships have been awarded, various projects have been undertaken. We must acknowledge and celebrate these contributions.
However, we must also ask ourselves a more fundamental question: What do we want Edo College and ECOBA to look like ten years from now? We cannot address that question simply by undertaking one project after another, however worthy each individual project may be. Our interventions must form part of a larger picture. They must be guided by clearly defined priorities, they must reinforce one another, and above all must produce measurable and sustainable results.
It was for this reason that the present administration initiated the preparation of the ECOBA 2026–2035 Strategic Plan. The Plan represents a shift from isolated interventions to coordinated, long-term development. It gives us a framework of where we want to go, what we must do to get there, who should do what, what resources will be required and, importantly, how we will know whether we are succeeding. More specifically, the Plan, which emerged directly from the ECOBA Strategic Planning Retreat held in Kigali, Rwanda, in the last week of March 2026, is anchored on two mutually reinforcing outcomes.
The first is the renewal and revitalisation of Edo College through Four main Pillars:
• infrastructure and learning environment transformation,
• academic excellence and student development,
• governance and institutional strengthening,
• sustainable financing.
The second is the creation of a structured system for Alumni Career and Business Empowerment, built around career development and mentorship, business and enterprise development, alumni leadership and participation, on the Ecobites platforms.
These outcomes are supported by three cross-cutting pillars:
• social mobilisation,
• resource mobilisation
• branding.
Together, they provide the engagement, financing, identity and accountability systems required to move ECOBA from fragmented interventions to coordinated, measurable and sustainable impact.
Our ambitions are clear: to see Edo College restored to its place among Nigeria’s foremost secondary educational institutions and have a stronger ECOBA add value to the careers and businesses of its members, particularly the younger ones. I must note that the restoration of Edo College we are envisioning goes beyond the physical restoration of the school. Buildings are important, laboratories are important, classrooms, sporting facilities and technology are all important. However a great school is ultimately defined by the quality of the young men it produces.
I am happy to report that the Strategic Plan has gone through an iterative process facilitated by a high-quality team with strong United Nations and wider international experience. It has been reviewed in detail by the ECOBA National Executive Council and suggestions for improvement were made. As I speak the suggestions have been fully incorporated. I take the opportunity of this Convention to authorise sharing of the Strategic Plan with the global ECOBA community for review and subsequent adoption via a systematic process that will be announced in due course.
Pending formal adoption, champions have already been identified for all pillars of the Plan. All but one of them have convened their working Committees and are developing practical strategies in anticipation of adoption.
It is also important to note that a vibrant and purpose driven ECOBA Website (www.ecobawordwide.com) went live earlier this week just as I was embarking of my travel for this convention. The website has direct value in its own right and will also play a major role in implementing several key aspects of our Strategic Plan.
In practical terms, success will mean a stronger Edo College, a more connected ECOBA, better opportunities for younger Ecobites, and clear evidence that our collective contributions are changing lives and strengthening the institution.
These strides have been made possible by the foundations laid by past ECOBA Executive Councils, Branches, Class Sets and by the remarkable cooperation and support of Ecobites across the world. For this, I thank you most sincerely.
THE SPECIAL ROLE OF THE DIASPORA
If the Plan is to deliver lasting results, it must draw not only on resources at home but also on the knowledge, networks and opportunities available across our global ECOBA family.
My brothers, this brings me specifically to ECOBA UK & Ireland. You occupy a particularly important place in this vision. Our diaspora branches should not be regarded simply as sources of financial contributions. Certainly, financial resources are important, and we will continue to need them. But the potential contribution of our diaspora is much greater than money.
You are positioned within some of the world's leading institutions, universities, professions, industries and businesses. You have access to knowledge, networks, technology and opportunities that can strengthen the ECOBA family. Imagine what could happen if we systematically deployed that capacity to the development to our members and Edo College.
Imagine an ECOBA UK & Ireland professional network through which younger Ecobites receive mentoring from established professionals. Imagine partnerships with educational institutions that create opportunities for deserving students from Edo College. Imagine old boys in medicine, engineering, technology, finance, academia and other professions engaging students periodically and opening their minds to the possibilities before them. Imagine an Ecobite studying or beginning a career in the United Kingdom or Ireland knowing that there is an established ECOBA network to which he can turn for guidance.
That is the type of global alumni organisation we should aspire to become. Indeed, we have already begun to explore opportunities for deserving Edo College students to prepare themselves to compete for admission and scholarships at universities internationally. We should not determine the limits of a child's future by the circumstances into which he was born. If a brilliant young student at Edo College has the ability to compete with the best students anywhere in the world, our responsibility should be to help ensure that he has the opportunity to do so. That is where our diaspora can make an extraordinary difference.
A CALL TO ECOBA UK & IRELAND
I therefore come to this Convention not merely to bring greetings, but to invite ECOBA UK & Ireland into a purposeful partnership. I ask you to take three commitments from this Convention.
First, become an active institutional partner in the implementation of the ECOBA 2026–2035 Strategic Plan. Let us move beyond occasional interventions and align our efforts with the long-term transformation we collectively seek.
Second, help us to build a structured global network of Ecobites expertise, mentoring and opportunities. We should identify our members, what they do, what expertise they possess and how they are willing to share these opportunities. We should deliberately connect established Ecobites with younger members and with students of Edo College.
Third, help us open the world to the next generation. Through your universities, businesses, professions and personal networks, let us create educational pathways, professional mentorship, internships and career opportunities that young Ecobites could not easily access on their own. If ECOBA UK & Ireland takes leadership in these areas, you will have made indelible contributions whose impact will extend far beyond the tenure of any current executive.
ONE ECOBA IN THE ARENA OF GOOD AND MEASURABLE RESULTS
To achieve this, we must act as One ECOBA. Our Branches and Class Sets are important. They give us identity, fellowship and organisational strength. But the whole must become greater than the sum of its parts. Our task is not to weaken any branch or Class Set, but to connect their strengths around a common agenda.
An excellent initiative developed by Ecoba UK & Ireland should be capable of benefiting Ecobites elsewhere. Expertise residing in North America should be accessible to the wider ECOBA community. The experience and institutional knowledge available in Nigeria should be connected to the diaspora. Projects undertaken by sets should, wherever possible, contribute to the broader development priorities agreed for Edo College. This is what the Strategic Plan seeks to facilitate: One Vision, One Broad Direction, Different Contributions, and One ECOBA.
My brothers, organisations are not transformed by good intentions alone. We must develop a culture in which we ask not only, “What have we done?” but also, “What difference has it made?” If we renovate a laboratory, we should ultimately be interested in whether science teaching and learning have improved. If we establish a mentoring programme, we should know how many young Ecobites have been mentored and how that mentoring has changed their confidence, choices or opportunities.
If we introduce educational support programmes, we should monitor whether academic outcomes and opportunities for our students improve. And if we commit resources to Edo College, we must ensure that those resources are managed transparently and effectively. Our administration is committed to accountability, transparency and measurable results, because the credibility of ECOBA depends upon it.
OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO THE NEXT GENERATION
Many of us have been fortunate in life. We have built careers. We have raised families. We have served our communities and our country in different capacities. Wherever life has taken us, there is a common thread that connects us: Edo College. We inherited an institution built by those who came before us. The question history will eventually ask of our generation is simple: What did we leave for those coming after us?
Our task is not merely to preserve the memory of the Edo College we knew. Our task is to help create an Edo College that future generations will be equally proud to remember. And our responsibility is not simply to maintain ECOBA as an association of old friends; it is to build ECOBA into a strong, connected and enduring global institution.
It must be an institution that supports its members, mentors its young, creates opportunities and gives back to its school. It must be an institution whose collective influence is far greater than anything any one of us could achieve individually. That is the ECOBA I believe we can build.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion my dear brothers, the next decade presents ECOBA with an extraordinary opportunity and a solemn responsibility. We have history on our side. We have a worldwide network rich in achievement, experience and goodwill. We have a school whose legacy deserves protection and whose future demands our best efforts. What remains is for us to bring these strengths together with discipline, unity and purpose.
Let us leave this Convention with one clear resolve: to move from nostalgia to vision, from individual projects to coordinated transformation, from networks of friendship to networks of opportunities, and from brotherhood to measurable impact. Wherever we may live—in Benin, Abuja, Lagos, London, Dublin, North America or anywhere else in the world—let us remember that we are strongest when we act as One ECOBA.
May we build the ECOBA we want to hand to the next generation,, restore and reposition the institution that gave so much to us, and ensure that Edo College continues to stand for excellence, character and leadership for generations yet unborn.
I thank ECOBA UK & Ireland for your warm hospitality,, your commitment to our great Association, and your continued devotion to our Alma Mater.
Long live ECOBA UK & Ireland.
Long live the Edo College Old Boys Association Worldwide.
Long live Edo College.
May we always remain One ECOBA: united in brotherhood, disciplined in purpose and committed to impact.
Thank you, and God bless you all.
Greg.U. Ogbeifun
PRESIDENT ECOBA WORLDWIDE.