Charitable work that reaches home

On 2 January 2025, Opobo Foundation USA joined other charitable organisations for Opobo International Charity Day across Opobo Kingdom — medical outreach, scholarships, food and cash support for families and elders.

• Medical outreach (eye, malaria, sugar tests & medicines)
• Scholarships for 10 indigent students of Opobo origin
• Food, clothing, wrappers and cash gifts for households and elders
• Coordination across the 14 sections of the kingdom

OFUSA partnered with clubs and foundations across the kingdom to deliver a coordinated charity day reaching Opobo and neighbouring communities through the fourteen sections.

His Majesty King Dandeson Douglas Jaja (Jeki V) received the organisers and commended the focus on health and education. Professor Iyalla Peterside, President of OFUSA, reaffirmed the Foundation’s mission to build the future and restore Opobo cultural heritage.

Scholarships covered tuition, boarding and books for indigent students of Opobo origin in post-secondary education, with a stated multi-year fund designed to run continuously when stewarded well. Medical checks included eye, malaria and sugar screening with medicines dispensed on site.

Food items, clothing, wrappers, exercise books and cash gifts reached vulnerable households. Partner organisations included local clubs and sister foundations active in Opobo/Nkoro.

Emergency food, bedding and medical supplies delivered to displaced households across Opobo Town and the outlying fishing settlements.

• Food and bedding
• Essential medicines
• Fishing settlement outreach

Seasonal flooding along the creeks and shoreline left families without dry shelter or stores. OFUSA members and partners assembled relief packs and coordinated last-mile delivery with local leadership.

Sons and daughters of Opobo across the United States convened for the Foundation’s first national convention, ratifying the constitution and seating the executive council.

• Constitution ratified
• Executive council seated
• Diaspora reunited

The inaugural gathering strengthened diaspora bonds, confirmed governance structures, and launched a renewed programme of giving back home.

Term fees, examination registration and learning materials covered for students of Opobo descent in secondary and tertiary institutions.

• Fees and exam registration
• Learning materials
• Multi-term cohort

Education remains a standing pillar of OFUSA’s charitable work — ensuring that talent from the fourteen Houses is not lost to fees or materials gaps.

Free consultations, malaria screening and essential medication for elders and children in the fourteen Houses.

• Consultations
• Malaria screening
• Essential medicines

Community clinic days bring practitioners and medicines closer to elders and children who face long boat or road journeys for routine care.

Documentation of the fourteen Founding Houses, the war-canoe registry and the King Jaja legacy for the diaspora archive.

• 14 Houses recorded
• War-canoe registry
• King Jaja legacy

Preserving names, stories and symbols keeps Opobo identity alive for children growing up far from the creeks.

OFUSA distributed pandemic relief palliatives back home in Opobo Kingdom: food and essential supplies for families during COVID-19.

• Food parcels
• Essential household supplies
• Kingdom-wide distribution

As part of its commitment to give back to the community here and at home, Opobo Foundation USA delivered food items and essential supplies across the kingdom during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.