Itsekiri National Congress USA holds largest gathering of Itsekiris in America, publishes its accounts, launches Year Two of riverine health drive

•      "The bridge is built from both shores" — INC-USA takes telehealth, solar power to Jakpa and Ugbege, honours Patrick Doyle and Chief Goddey Ejuwa

•      Largest Itsekiri gathering in the United States charts Year Two for Iwere Land

The Itsekiri National Congress, USA (INC-USA) has concluded its 2nd National Convention, drawing hundreds of Itsekiri families, leaders, elders and youth from across the United States to the San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront from September 4 to 6, 2026, in what has become the largest gathering of Itsekiris in the United States.

Held under the theme "Bridging and Building Iwere Land — Bridge · Build · Belong," the three-day convention combined keynote addresses and open discussion on the future of Iwere Land, the adoption of the Congress's Constitution, the election of national officers, a gala night with awards, and the public presentation of the organization's first full financial report to its members.

INC-USA, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organized into eight regional chapters across the United States, was founded on a single premise: that the Itsekiri diaspora and the communities at home must build together. Its inaugural convention in Miami in 2025 laid the foundation. San Francisco, its leaders said, is where the construction begins.

— Mr. Otse Amorighoye, President, Itsekiri National Congress, USA

The convention's two keynote speakers: Mr. Otse Amorighoye, President of INC-USA (left), and Mr. Ade Mabo, ROI, founder of the Roli Mabo Foundation.  Photo: INC-USA

Telehealth is live in the creeks

Solar panels and Starlink on the health-centre roof, Ugbege

The Ugbege community health centre — solar-powered, connected, open

The centrepiece of the Congress's first year is the INC Health Initiative, delivered in partnership with the Roli Mabo Foundation. Two community health centres are now operating in the riverine Itsekiri communities of Jakpa and Ugbege in Delta State. At Jakpa the Congress installed solar power; at Ugbege it installed Starlink satellite internet and solar power, and Dr. Ayesan Rewane, the first physician of the INC-USA telehealth programme, is now seeing patients through the centre. The model is deliberately simple: the community provides the clinic space, a nurse and patient outreach, while INC-USA and the Foundation provide the internet, the power, the telemedicine equipment, U.S.-based doctors for remote consultations, training and continuous support. The Congress is now recruiting doctors, nurses and other licensed health professionals, at home and abroad, to volunteer on the telehealth rota — whatever hours they can give; volunteers can call or call +1 (779) 771-6151.

Two keynote addresses framed the Saturday session. Mr. Amorighoye, speaking on "Year Two Begins the Construction," urged members to visit their home communities and design solutions on the ground rather than from a distance, and called for bold ideas sized to the real needs of riverine fishing communities, including economic empowerment through public-private partnerships. Mr. Ade Mabo, ROI (Royal Order of Iwere), entrepreneur, philanthropist and founder of the Roli Mabo Foundation, spoke on "Building Together What Neither Shore Could Build Alone," making the case for transformative leadership and for collaboration through partnership among the progressive diaspora groups: no single organization can transform a riverine community alone, but partners who pool resources, skills and trust can. He pointed to the Foundation's own healthcare centre in the Niger Delta creeks on the Benin River as proof of what such partnership produces, and he did not spare Itsekiri leadership as a whole. Token gestures dressed up as development — sharing packs of water and issuing a press release about it — were not service, he said, but a substitute for it, and he called on every Itsekiri leader, at home and in the diaspora, to do better.

The keynotes opened into a frank floor discussion among delegates on development in the riverine areas and on economic empowerment — from sustainable projects and public-private partnerships to diaspora investment and a business network for Itsekiri professionals. Out of it came one clear resolution: the Congress will not enter partisan politics, and will instead keep its focus squarely on its mission and on helping people.

Accounts opened to members

In a step its leaders describe as a marker of the Congress's character, INC-USA printed its full Year One financial report in the convention programme. From inception through August 31, 2026, the Congress recorded total support and revenue of $87,209.38 and total expenditures of $81,673.74, with 87.6 percent of spending going directly to programmes. Cash and net assets at the period end stood at $5,535.64. The report also confirms that an emergency medical appeal in August, which raised $12,385 from 58 donors around the world in six days for a young member injured in a road accident in Nigeria, was a full pass-through: every dollar was transferred to the family and $0 was retained by the Congress. Complete statements were presented by the Treasurer at the General Assembly and are available to any member on request.

The Assembly also adopted the Constitution and Bylaws of the Congress — 26 articles developed over the past year, including a democratic structure of national officers and regional chapters and a two-term lifetime limit for Executive Committee offices — and elected its National Executive Committee for the coming term. The elections were conducted by the Patrons of the Congress — Chief Goddey Ejuwa, Mrs. Olubunmi Parker Shokoya, Mr. Tortoisemoro Uwejeyan, Mr. Fred Boyo, Professor Eyisan Omagbemi, Mrs. Roseanne Amoruwa and Dr. Fabian Iwere — whose standing in the community anchors the Congress's governance. Among the results, Ms. Tserundede Akumagba was elected Assistant Secretary, succeeding Mr. Watson Pessu, whom the Congress thanked for his service in its founding year.

A night of honours

Patrick Doyle (Torchbearer Award) with Mofe Duncan

Chief Goddey Ejuwa — Pillar of Iwere Award for Philanthropy

Among the distinguished guests was Mr. Fiogho Tonwe, Interim President of the Itsekiri National Association of Canada, the national body of all Itsekiri associations in Canada, whose presence signalled the growing partnership between the two North American congresses — the kind of collaboration among progressive diaspora bodies that both keynote speakers called for.

The convention was hosted by the Itsekiri Association of Northern California (IANC) under its president, Chief Williams Ejuwa, whose chapter carried the welcome, the logistics and the hospitality of the weekend — including a reception for the Board and the celebrity guests at his own residence on the Friday afternoon. Saturday's Gala Night and Fundraiser, hosted by veteran broadcaster and actor Patrick Doyle with Nollywood star Mofe Duncan as special celebrity guest, opened with Chief Ejuwa's welcome as host regional president and a toast to His Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse III, CFR, the Olu of Warri.

The Congress presented its two Honours of the Congress for 2026: the Torchbearer Award for Excellence in the Arts to Patrick Doyle, and the Pillar of Iwere Award for Philanthropy to Chief Goddey Ejuwa, a Patron of the Congress.  The night closed with a live performance by Itsekiri artist Edwint Toghanro and the Vice President, Mr. Lovelance Sagay, announcing the evening's giving total to the room.

Members of the National Executive Committee, with Vice President Lovelance Sagay (centre) and President Otse Amorighoye (right)

Guests take the floor at the Gala Night and Fundraiser

The President with members of the Executive at the Gala

A family of five on the red carpet

The convention opened on Friday with an "Oldies Night" welcome reception featuring a Cultural Passport Challenge that had delegates collecting signatures from every region, and closed on Sunday with a Bay Area excursion, group photographs at the Golden Gate Bridge and Pier 39, and a farewell picnic.

— Mr. Otse Amorighoye

About the Itsekiri National Congress, USA. INC-USA represents the Itsekiri diaspora across the United States — one Congress, eight regional chapters, one purpose. A 501(c)(3) organization, its mission is cultural preservation, community empowerment, education and leadership development, and partnerships that deliver measurable impact in Iwere Land. Programmes include the INC Health Initiative (Ìw?r? Care telehealth), the annual community food drive, scholarships and youth mentorship. Members join through their regional chapter. www.itsekirinationalcongress.org · info@itsekirinationalcongress.org · +1 (779) 771-6151.

  HOUSTON 2027 — WHERE ITSEKIRI AMERICA GATHERS

Once a year, Itsekiri America comes home to itself — the coral beads, the aso-ebi, the red carpet, the elders and the babies, the Gala Night and the business of the nation, all in one room. Miami in 2025. San Francisco in 2026. Houston, Texas, September 3–5, 2027, hosted by INA Houston. The largest gathering of Itsekiris in the United States — and, for those who come, the weekend that carries them through the year. Registration and hotel details: itsekirinationalcongress.org/convention. Invitation letters are issued to members and their families travelling from Nigeria.

If you are Itsekiri in America and you were not in San Francisco, you were missed. Every Itsekiri son, daughter and spouse in the United States has a chapter waiting — Northern California, New York/New Jersey, Houston, Dallas, Florida (Miami), Chicago, Washington DC/Maryland/Virginia, Colorado, and members-at-large everywhere else. This is where your people are, and there is a place kept for you before Houston.

Reading this in Nigeria? Your brother, sister, child or cousin in America should be in these photographs next year. Send this to them. Everything the Congress does for Ugbege, Jakpa, Koko and Warri is done by members — the more of ours who belong, the more Iwere Land gets built.

Doctors and nurses — the telehealth programme needs you. INC-USA is recruiting physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other licensed health professionals — in Nigeria and abroad — to consult remotely with patients at the Ugbege and Jakpa centres. The need is real and growing — give whatever hours you can, on a rota that fits your practice. Itsekiri or not, if you are licensed and willing, call +1 (779) 771-6151 and ask for the Health Initiative.

Take your place: visit itsekirinationalcongress.org and click "Join a Chapter" · call +1 (779) 771-6151 · email info@itsekirinationalcongress.org · or message the Congress on Facebook and Instagram at @itsekirinationalcongress. Or contact the president of the chapter nearest your family:

Your chapter and its president

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