The World Igbo Congress (WIC) has announced that its 2025 annual convention, holding in Boston, USA, will focus on reviving the economic and development models pioneered by the late Premier of the Eastern Region, Dr. Michael Okpara.
Okpara, who governed the defunct Eastern Region from 1959 to 1966, is widely celebrated as one of Nigeria’s most development-oriented leaders.
His policies, rooted in agricultural modernization, industrialization, cooperative development, and self-reliance, positioned the region as one of the fastest-growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa before the Nigerian Civil War disrupted its progress.
Speaking on the upcoming convention, WIC Vice President, Basil Onwukwe, said the Boston gathering would go beyond cultural celebration.
He said it would in addition serve as a platform for policy dialogue, grassroots initiatives, and networking among Igbo people worldwide, alongside friends from other African, Caribbean, and African-American communities.
“The economic re-engineering of Southeast Nigeria from the Diaspora, in line with Dr. Michael Okpara’s vision, will dominate discussions at this year’s convention scheduled for August 29 at the Marriott Hotel, Boston,” Onwukwe stated.
He added that WIC, founded in 1994 to champion the interests of Igbos in the Diaspora, is committed to building sustainable development linkages with the homeland.
This year, one of its strategic goals is to capitalize the Igbo Credit Union Bank, an initiative inspired by Okpara’s cooperative economic model.
“The time has come to outgrow the economic and political barriers confronting us as a people. WIC cannot fold its arms when it possesses a tested master plan.
“We are rallying all and sundry to this convention,” Onwukwe said, noting that WIC’s Chairman of the Board, Dr. Festus Okere, and other leaders are mobilizing wide participation.
Onwukwe, an entrepreneur and political strategist, stressed that the present nationalistic world demands that the Igbo harvest their global talents to drive socioeconomic transformation at home, with a special focus on building financial and political power.
