I have heard it said that a silver lining often accompanies a dark cloud. This was the case in 1998 in Hampton, Virginia, when indigenes and sojourner of Oro-Ago who have not seen each other for decades came together to mourn the transition of a legendary brother, Mr William Alasi. Those who were present included Mrs Elizabeth Adeniyi; Mrs Rosaline Adeyeye, Mr Francis Dada, Mrs Grace Dada, the late Wilson Ogunyomi, and I. After the burial, we assembled under a shade to console each other. We prayed that it would not be the last time that we would ever meet. We therefore tried to figure how we could be seeing each other regularly and joyously instead of mournfully. The group put it on me to see if I could work out an agenda that would enable us to fraternize as brothers and sisters. I could not figure out a way off- hand until we were dispersed.

The late Stephen Lare Alasi came from Nigeria to attend the burial of his brother. It was at the group meeting that we decided to raise some funds to help him back home financially. I was charged with the responsibility of contacting our people for donation. The first person that I contacted by phone was Dr Joseph Olubadewo who thought it was a neat idea. By the way, Dr Olubadewo had sought and received my support in raising money for the ODU in Nigeria as of 1987 but we never had the occasion to meet each other for decades. After my discussion with Dr Olubadewo, I got to work to seek humanitarian help from anyone who could afford to do so. Individual donation was to be sent to Elder Francis Dada, who would deliver our contributions to Lare Alasi on his exit from the USA via New York. The overwhelming response encouraged me at the latter part of 1998 to embark on the more challenging project of bringing us together under one roof at least once a year.

I wrote to thank all contributors and to ask if we could all meet once a year. The rationale presented to necessitate annual conglomeration as a family are as follows:


Discouragingly, there was no initial response except from Dr Olubadewo. It was, to say the least, also frustrating. However, I followed this up with another round of letters to anyone whose address I could find and continued to maintain contact with Dr Olubadewo and Elder Dada. Electronic communication during this time was rather enigmatic. Therefore, I had to stay in touch by phones and through post-office. Early in 1999, I repeated my appeal. This time, Dr John Abolaji came on board. Hoping that more would respond I, with consultation with Dr Olubadewo in New Orleans and Elder Dada in New York, called for a meeting to convene at a rather more centralized place, Blue Springs, Missouri. I was uncertain of how many people would attend but was almost sure that at least four families would be there. On August 12, 2000, we met at the Ramada Inn Blue Springs, Missouri. Amazingly, there were representatives from Canada, N.Y., WI., LA, CO, N.C., and D.C. It was this assembly that gave birth to the organization, which was initially called the Oro-Ago Development Union, USA. This was later changed to ODU, Americas, Inc. to include membership in Canada, and Mexico. The first meeting, under the hospitality of the Onis, was a landmark, which gave incentives to future conferences.

Officials were normally elected on democratic principles, but we sometime lack enough members to cover all areas. We were however never short of enthusiastic volunteers. Our first executive were Dr W. K. Adeniyi and Dr Joseph Olubadewo as President and Vice-President respectively. Mrs Margaret Adaran and Miss Olamide Oni took on the onerous responsibilities of Secretary and Assistant Secretary, respectively, while Dr John Abolaji accepted the post of the Treasurer. We had ad hoc committees for hospitality, women, and children affairs. Members of each committee discharged their duties and gave the organization reports at each annual meeting. Although the Union was not constituted until after 2004, the spirit of belongingness and cooperation keeps the organization intact.

- William Kunle Adeniyi, Professor