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From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
On Park Avenue, G.R.A., Enugu, in the historic capital of the old Eastern Region, a new edifice has risen to redefine what an apex socio-cultural organisation should look like. It is not just a secretariat. It is a statement.
Fully funded by former Imo State Governor Senator Rochas Okorocha’s Rochas Foundation as a gift to the Igbo nation, the new Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide headquarters is now 85 percent complete and set for formal handover in October.
For those who know Okorocha, this is not an isolated gesture. It is a pattern. Long before the Park Avenue monument, Okorocha had etched his name in the annals of humanitarian service across Africa through the Rochas Foundation.
Founded in 1998, the foundation remains one of the largest private charity platforms in Africa, offering free, qualitative education to thousands of underprivileged children who, ordinarily, would have had no access to education.
It is upon this same foundation of giving that the new Ohanaeze headquarters was built. The building is, therefore, not a political project but an extension of a lifelong philosophy: to build people and preserve identity.
For decades, Ohanaeze operated from a structure many described as unbefitting of its status. That narrative changed when Okorocha, during a visit years ago, saw the old secretariat.
“I was here some years ago and I saw the building called the Igbo Secretariat. I felt that it was not sufficient enough, so I decided to seek permission from Ohanaeze and put up this building for my people,” Okorocha said.
His ultimate prayer: “I want young Igbo people who encounter the facility in the next 15 years to 20 years to leave with a stronger understanding of their roots and identity, and I want the pride of being Igbo to be restored”.
He was more emphatic: “We have often been misunderstood and misrepresented by the world. This is the time to correct those impressions and let the world know that we are peace-loving, hardworking and progress-oriented people”.
That vision resonated with the leadership of Ohanaeze. President-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Senator John Azuta-Mbata, during the official walk-through of the complex, alongside Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, described it as a historic intervention.
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Azuta-Mbata expressed the eternal gratitude of the entire Igbo to Okorocha for enhancing the status of the apex socio-cultural organisation and demonstrating his love for the Igbo nation.
“We are already at the threshold of opening this building. The beautiful and wonderful new headquarters complex would stand as a legacy and reaffirm the commitment of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide to protecting the interests and ideals of the Igbo people,” Mbata said.
Governor Peter Mbah, who also inspected the facility, called it a symbol of common heritage. “Senator Okorocha is reminding us that, somehow, in a way, we all have a root as Igbo people… At a time like this, the Igbo must come together,” Mbah said.
Directing proceedings of the tour and walk-through was Mrs. Uloma Rochas Nwosu, Managing Director of Walsh Blanc, the integrated spatial design and experiential architecture firm handling the design and construction. Calm, detailed, and deeply invested, Uloma led the dignitaries through every layer of the building, translating brick and mortar into meaning.
She said the brief from Okorocha was clear: create something that would give Ndigbo a sense of belonging, pride, unity, and royalty.
“His brief was that he wanted us to create something that would tell the story of the Igbo nation. The Igbo are known to be very royal and very proud in a good way, and that inspired the design,” she explained.
The 3,000-square-metre facility is conceived to hold for the next 150 years. Its features go far beyond administration, from its twin raked auditoriums, described as “the working heart of the building,” with raked seating and acoustic treatment, so that a full assembly can be held, heard, and recorded properly to the 11 executive offices and conference rooms, including the office of the President General, Deputy President General, and ICT office.
It also has Interactive Audio-Visual Library and Memorabilia Basement, a working gallery in the basement where audiovisual installations, artworks, documentaries, and historical materials will be displayed to teach children about Igbo history, seven symbolic pillars and seven lights representing the seven Igbo-speaking states, lion motif, red and white Igbo colours, and extensive use of lights and crystals to reflect royalty and part of the old secretariat, said to have existed for 150 years, will be preserved with old furniture and photographs, while a significant portion of furniture in the new building is locally produced.
Uloma summed it up: “We have designed this space in a way that it could hold the next 150 years and tell our children, generations unborn, what the Igbo race is all about.”
What was once a dilapidated secretariat is now a tourist centre, a library, an art gallery, a conference hub, and a shrine of identity.
From the African child in Jos, whose school fees were paid by Rochas Foundation, to the Ethiopian orphan, who found hope in Owerri, and, now, to the Igbo nation that has found a befitting home in Enugu, the story remains the same: Okorocha builds not just structures, but legacies, he is living up to his traditional title: Owelle Ndigbo.
