Chairman’s New Year Greetings 2019
Dear Brethren,
As we enter 2019 I wish, on behalf of BECO UK Executive, to seize this opportunity to send you festive greetings and to wish you every success in your endeavours in 2019. There have been a number of highlights in the course of 2018 that have been heart-warming for our people. The cultural significance of these events will be known to the elders in the organisation but I will expand briefly for the benefit of our younger members who have mostly grown up in the United Kingdom.
The annual Nzem Berom Festival is becoming well-established as a fixture in the cultural calendar of Plateau State. It takes place in April just before the rains and heralds the beginning of the farming season. Our people and well-wishers form a procession that is resplendent in our colours of maroon representing the pigment, tiri, that is applied to the skin by maidens and warriors and green for the cacti (yep) that surround and protect our homesteads and farms. The procession, including men on horseback, makes its way from the Gbong Gwom’s Palace at Jishe on top of the Hill that is surmounted by Hill Station Hotel and proceeds gracefully to the Polo Field, Jos. This is a distance of about two miles. The occasion is marked by traditional music and dances from the eleven districts of Berom land Riyom, Barkin Ladi, Foron, Vwang (Vom), Bachit, Foron, Fan, Du, Zawan, Gashish and Gyel. The agricultural products and cuisine of our people are also on display notably the king of cereals, chun/shun, also known as acha. The botanical name is fonio. It grows across the Sahel region of West Africa and is reputed to be as nutritious as quinoa. It is the oldest cultivated grain in Africa and our people grow more than twenty subspecies of it. It is gluten free and can thrive in poor soil and with little water. It forms the backbone of one of our favourite dishes, gatai or tere (pronounced teh-ray). Another notable food is “diara” which is made from sesame seeds and is used to garnish meat.
Our organisations are growing stronger and I am proud to say that one of our very own from the United Kingdom, Dara Eric Fom, was at the helm of the BECO National Exco in Nigeria until the expiration of his tenure recently. Dara Eric Fom’s tenure has seen the establishment and growth of sister organisations namely Berom Youth Moulders (BYM) and Berom Women’s Association, the revival of Nzem Berom Festival and the projection of the view points of our people on the national stage. A number of initiatives are taking shape including sensitizing our people to the need for enterprise, economic development, education, strategic thinking and minimising youth delinquency. In addition, there has been a clarion call for every Berom adult to contribute N1000 periodically to fund, among other things, the establishment of a microfinance bank, educational activities and support the less privileged in our communities. These are aspirations that our people look up to us in the diaspora to key into.
Coming closer to home in the United Kingdom our people continue to display leadership. Ngo Josephine Ibrahim completed her tenure as the President of Plateau State Association (PSA) UK having overseen fundraising activities including an awards night that raised thousands of pounds used in procuring relief materials for internally displaced persons (IDP’s) in camps established to accommodate them following their displacement by attacks from herdsmen. The relief materials were delivered by Dara Yakubu Choji to the IDP camps.
The current President of PSA, Mr Rwang Chall, has led the association on a march to the Nigeria High Commission and No 10 Downing Street to highlight the injustice done to the people of Plateau and to seek the intervention of the Federal Government of Nigeria. BECO UK supported PSA at this event and several members were present.
With regard to BECO UK itself I regret that the news has not been so good. We have languished for many years and have lost tempo and momentum in our activities. As Chairman I take ultimate responsibility for this sad state of affairs and offer you all my most abject apologies. There is little point offering explanations and excuses. The consensus is that the membership needs to be enthused and galvanised into action. I do hope that you will not find this statement patronising because that is not my intention. What I have said to the Executive is that we owe it to our people to handover a resurgent and vibrant organisation and not one that is moribund. To do so would be a complete abdication of responsibility and I am resolute on this point. To this end, and in consideration of decisions taken at previous Executive Meetings I propose the following road map to recovery with actions, time lines for completion and responsible individuals:
Action To do Timeline
1. Communications to Members Dr Pam Monthly
2. BECO UK Website Dr Pam 31.1.19
3. Executive Meeting Gen Secretary 14.1.19 *
4. Open Account in Metro Bank VP/Treasure 31.1.19**
5. Database of Members Publicity Secretary 14.1.19
6. General Meeting Gen Secretary 28.2.19 *
*Items 3 & 5 may include video conferencing
**Item 4: the account with Santander is not fit for purpose and the bank has informed BECO UK that we cannot operate it in the way we wish. Metro Bank is one of the newer banks with branches all over the UK. It is open 8am to 8pm every day including weekends.
I trust that these interim measures will meet your approval. For further clarification please contact me via email using ishakupam001@gmail.com or WhatsApp 07719114715.
You may also wish to contact the General Secretary Dara Pam Tex Davou email ptdavou@gmail.com Tel 07930531413
Thank you for your patience. I look forward to meeting you all in the near future.
Dr Ishaku Chollom Pam FRCP
Chairman
BECO UK
