Within the next sixty days, we will assemble a team of world-class scholars from disciplines, such as leadership, culture, government, public administration, political science, anthropology, law, etc.–to evaluate the project before groundbreaking.
Let me use this opportunity to express immense gratitude to the good people of Ugbo for earmarking a vast expanse of land for me to build the proposed AFRICAN LEADERSHIP LIBRARY AND MUSEUM (ALLM)at Egu-Ewa, Ugbo. The august occasion was May 2, 2024, at the ancient town. The event was heavily attended by eager youths, students, scholars, business professionals, and traditional leaders. The Igwe-In-Council was led by Chief Nathan Okafor. Also in attendance was the Spokesman of an apex Nigerian socio-cultural organization, the Ohaneze Ndigbo worldwide, the RT. Hon. Dr. Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, among others.
At the Ugbo General Meeting of December 2017, I made known my intention to build a world-class library at Ugbo, Awgu LGA, Enugu State, Nigeria. The Ugbo Development Union (under the leadership of Prince Stan Ebem) embraced the idea and worked with me on the concept. There was a consensus that the library ought to be unique to complement the place of the town in the human history, as well as a laudable array of existing infrastructure, particularly the Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology, Police Secondary, secondary and primary schools, the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Post, Federal Dam, Mega Civic Centre, iconic caves, and enviable topography, including serene hills, etc.
The research found that, since the advent of colonialism, there has been little or no serious attention on the African traditional leadership models. The first of its kind in the world, this library (ALLM), therefore, is to be grounded in place and landscape. This allows scholars to explore leadership through the lens of the unique emotional and historical African traditional leadership models, practices, and themes. It seeks to explore, explain, and understand some phenomena (including indigenous religious practices) and how such phenomena can enhance the prevailing modern practices to produce effective leadership among the people of the African descent.
The scope and architectural design are still a work in progress. Yet, the master plan of the multi-million-dollar library includes a conference centre, training centre, hotel, halls, museum, and a tower.
We also plan to enrich the concept by partnering with major African socio-cultural organizations, Traditional authorities, Nigerian Federal Ministry of Culture, the African Union, and relative African American organizations.
Within the next sixty days, we will assemble a team of world-class scholars from disciplines, such as leadership, culture, government, public administration, political science, anthropology, law, etc.–to evaluate the project before groundbreaking.
SKC Ogbonnia, Ph.D.
Ugbo, Awgu LGA, Enugu State, Nigeria
