PREAMBLE:
‎Dearly beloved class mates of Secondary Technical School Class of 91 here ‎present, our beloved Teachers, who contributed immensely to our intellectual ‎development in our formative years as teenagers, our Seniors and Juniors who have come to celebrate with us, it is with utmost sense of gratitude and ‎thanksgiving to the Almighty God that I welcome us all to this auspicious event of ‎a lifetime.
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‎In September 1985, fate brought together a group of young boys and girls to ‎begin a journey of academic pursuit in an institution of learning called ‎Secondary Technical School Ogbor Hill Aba. It was a journey that will see us ‎spend 6 years together as classmates. In the course of this journey for academic ‎prowess, some changed to other schools, some dropped out completely to ‎chase new dreams in trading and craftsmanship, some carried on to the end, and we also had some new students join us from other schools. And today, by the Grace of God, we have in our fold, Successful Business Men & Women, ‎Engineers, Doctors, Scientists, Nurses, Accountants, Bankers, ‎Administrators... etc.
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‎Our school life as students was a great and formidable family kind of ‎relationship; We related like brothers and sisters. We eagerly looked forward to ‎resuming school after each holiday period because of the bonds that we shared.

‎Our coming together was a blend of those from privileged background and ‎those whose parents did not have much, it was a blend of the brilliant and the ‎not-so- brilliant, it was a blend of the hot headed and stubborn with the ‎levelheaded and calm, it was a blend of the trendy ("Ndi Opanka", "Ndi Sportin Waves", "Ndi Montana bag", "Ndi One-Man Show Perfume", "Ndi Lacoste ‎Sandals and Belt"... etc.) and the not-so-trendy, who wore their "I-fear-no-‎water" rubber sandals with pride. It was a blend of "Ndi Okwa", "Ndi Hippie" ‎"Ndi trunk" "Ndi Ukwu Achara" "Ndi Sankas" and those who committed quality ‎time to study. Whichever side of the divide, those 6 years remain indelible in our individual life history.
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‎Those are years that will remain evergreen in our memory. Those are years that I remember with nostalgia; seeing a sea of young boys and girls standing proud ‎in their Pink top and Red down on the Assembly ground to sing from the Ancient ‎& Modern hymn book, especially those hymns that we had committed to ‎memory like "Oh God Our help in Ages Past", "Immortal, Invisible God Only ‎Wise", "Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty" "There is a greenhill far away" "God ‎be with you till we meet again"... etc). I can picture as we murmur during ‎morning Assembly when the Principal Mr. G.M Ordu will come to say, "I have ‎one or two announcements to make" and he'd end up saying a thousand and ‎one things. I could once again in my mind hear the thunderous voice of Mr ‎Donatus Onyenakasa (De Donna) of blessed memory echoing "Armed Robber, ‎Onye ohi come here... bia ebea osiso or saying "enyia" be careful. The aromatic ‎sweet smell of Mma Mgborie's stew and hot white rice which served as breakfast ‎across the school gate leaves me salivating whenever I remember it on a good ‎day. I desire to visit "Ukwu Achara" to drink palm wine like we used to do during ‎school hours passing through the dilapidated school fence at the back of Girls' ‎Hostel which we called "Trunk". My appetite wets when I remember how we go ‎to Mrs Madugba whom we fondly called Aunty, to eat Moi-Moi or Meat Pie and ‎drink cold Intersoft. I still remember the beautiful young face of my childhood ‎crush back in the day in school, my first love that didn't know I was in love with ‎her, because courage failed me to express my love to her for fear of rejection.
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‎Life is linear. We are designed by the Almighty God to only move forward. And ‎indeed, forward have we all moved, pursuing different endeavors. There are ‎some of us here who are meeting each other again for the first time since 1991. ‎There are those who are in far flung places, that though they had wished to be ‎here, but it is not feasible for them, may God continue to bless our endeavors. There are those whom it has pleased the Lord to call home... May we observe a ‎moment of silence in their honor.
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‎FORMATION OF STS CLASS OF '91 WHATSAPP GROUP
‎Ladies and Gentlemen, what is happening here today reflects a dream that I had ‎so many years ago. I recall that over 20 years ago I dreamt where I found myself ‎amongst my classmates from Secondary Technical School, I was so overjoyed ‎that I woke up with a broad smile on my face. And today, has marked the ‎fulfillment of that dream, and to say the least, I am indeed overjoyed.
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‎In December 2020, Betty Okere had a chance encounter with an old school ‎mate through whom she was able to get Justina Nweke's contact and through ‎Justina she got to Chioma Ezeigbo, and through Chioma Ezeigbo she was able ‎to get Onyedikachi Ozuruigbo. This web of reconnections prompted Betty to ‎consider creating a WhatsApp Group for our classmates. And in early 2021, the ‎WhatsApp Group was created by Betty, and gradually, members began to be ‎added and our numbers began to swell.
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‎We give kudos to the founding members; Betty Okere, Onyedikachi Ozuruigbo, ‎Justina Nweke, Chika Kalu, Chikaodi Nwokocha, Ngozi Inya, Chioma ‎Ezeigbo... etc who birthed this platform in 2021 and made efforts to bring many ‎of us on board. And to the glory of God, we have waxed stronger with each ‎passing day. We appreciate all our members who have remained resolute in ‎ensuring the survival of the platform. As with every organization, we have had ‎our fair share of turbulence by way of disagreements that threatened the very ‎fabric of our existence on the platform, but God has sustained us by His Mercy, ‎and we are still together. We have disagreed to agree to remain united in love ‎and harmony as brothers and sisters.
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‎The WhatsApp platform has remained our common meeting point, our source of ‎communication and interactions. We are looking forward to strengthening the ‎use of the Platform by putting it to more effective use. We encourage our ‎members to engage actively on the platform. At this juncture, may I warmly say a ‎big thank you to all our lovely Ladies who have ensured the sustained running of ‎the WhatsApp platform. We encourage our men to show more interest on the ‎platform. Going forward, we shall draw up program of weekly activities that will ‎covers business, health talk, religious enlightenment's, social skills... etc that will ‎be running on the platform. We are also looking at having quarterly General ‎Meeting via WhatsApp video call wherein every member is expected to participate, give opinion or ideas on issues that generally affect us.
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‎FINANCE
‎Money is the life wire of any organization. I must say that we have done good in ‎the area financing this organization from our individual donations. Once again, ‎I want to sincerely appreciate our amiable Ladies for always taking the lead ‎whenever we come calling for financial support, also, I say a big Thank You' to ‎some of our men who have never relented in giving their financial support.
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‎ACHIEVEMENTS:
‎God helping us, we have achieved remarkable feats since inception in 2021. ‎Permit me to mention here that the first critical challenge we encountered in ‎2021 was the health condition of our brother Oke Agwu. It was a very precarious ‎situation, a matter of life and death. When the photos of his health condition ‎surfaced on the WhatsApp platform, our members swung into action immediately, hence our slogan ONURU UBE NWANNE AGBALA OSO. Over ‎N600,000.00 was raised via freewill donations from members and was ‎expended for the corrective surgery required to get him back on his feet. May I ‎use this medium to appreciate our brother Dr. Chibuzo Kalu for the unwavering ‎support and care he showed and for ensuring the success of the corrective ‎surgery with a team of seasoned Doctors at FMC Umuahia. We also express ‎appreciation to our brother Ifegwu Onyeani, who stayed with Oke at FMC and ‎never left his side until Oke made full recovery. Upon his discharge from the ‎Hospital, members raised additional money to revive his craft by purchasing ‎Industrial sewing machine and Generator and including a cash donation of ‎N50,000 which was presented to him. A second chance to life was given our ‎brother through the benevolence of the members of this platform.
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‎Bereaved members of this platform have never been left without financial and ‎moral support, of which I was a beneficiary when I lost my beloved mother in ‎2021. A statutory sum of N50,000 is given to any member that loses mother or ‎father and N100,000 to anyone that loses a spouse, and in most cases, we send ‎representatives. During the exceptional wedding of our Sister Nwanyieze ‎Aguomba, our members were mobilized in their number to attend the wedding
‎and substantial financial donation was presented to her.
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‎Worthy of mention, is that through our members kind donations, we have ‎supported in paying medical bills of some sick members, some of our members ‎businesses have received a boost through financial support. When our Senior, ‎John Spencer died, this platform supported the burial with the sum N300,000. ‎All these couldn't have been possible if this platform was not formed.

‎May I use this opportunity to encourage every member to ensure that they make ‎donations when we come calling, no matter how small. Going forward, we shall ‎only provide financial assistance or support only to those who are financially ‎active members and pay their annual welfare dues.
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‎Above all, some friends and classmates who could never have crossed paths ‎again in this lifetime, have reconnected with each other, all thanks to this ‎Platform.
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‎CHALLENGES:
‎The one major issue we are having is the lack of interest from majority of our ‎Men in the affairs of this Platform. I don't want to mention money because ‎money will come when interest is shown. Over and again, events have proven ‎that the life wire of this platform are the Ladies.
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‎This Platform belongs to all of us, the class of '91. We all have equal stake, rights, ‎and privileges. I was not part of those who formed the Group, infact I was invited by Nnamdi Ukpola. Today, I am the President. Next time, it could be anyone of us ‎seated here.
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‎I want to plead with those of our men and women who have been inactive to ‎begin to show interest in what we do here.
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‎When Birthday celebration is posted, please felicitate with the celebrant, when ‎topical issues are raised on the platform, please make contribution, make ‎suggestions. I know we are all busy, but I also know that we can do it, if we put ‎our minds in it. You can suggest ways for us to perform better if you consider that
‎our modus operandi is wrong which resulted in your lack of interest.
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‎LOOKAHEAD:
‎We are committed to sustained running of this platform, in other words, this ‎platform has come to stay. Consequently, before end of the year, we are going to ‎implement the following.
‎1. Issue our constitution.
‎a. This will redefine and guide the modus operandi of all facets of the ‎platform.
‎2. Opening of Bank Account.
‎3. Conduct election of substantive Executive Officers as will be enshrined in ‎our constitution.
‎4. Register with CAC (if possible).
‎5. Form branches across cities (Nigeria and International) where we have ‎minimum of 5 members.
‎6. Encourage branches to hold periodic physical meetings.
‎7. Each Branch chairperson to be a member of the coordinator's forum.
‎8. Hold quarterly virtual (online) General Meeting through WhatsApp, or ‎Google meet.
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‎CONCLUSION:
‎Once again, I am delighted that this event is happening. In the beginning, it ‎sounded like a pipe dream. But today, God has made it possible by His Grace ‎and Mercy. I enjoin us to have fun, reconnect will long lost friends, eat, drink and be merry.
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‎Above all, I want us to give thought to the issues and challenges mentioned, and ‎to give your support where necessary to ensuring the sustenance of the Platform ‎and that the lookahead as listed above are achieved.
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‎Thanks, and God Bless You.
‎Aluma Ogbuagu.
‎President.