Idinotu Ndigbo — Welcome Address at The Ikenga Day 2025

Distinguished Guests, Esteemed Elders, Brothers and Sisters in the Igbo spirit, Friends of The AfrikaFora,

It is with deep joy and humility that I welcome you all to this year’s commemoration of Ikenga Day 2025. Today, we gather under the guidingw light of one of the most enduring values of the Igbo people: IDINOTU or  UNITY.

Last year in Dublin, I spoke about the experience of being Igbo outside Igboland — about how language, culture, storytelling, and everyday practices allow us to remain authentically Igbo in the Diaspora. This year, as we reflect on Idinotu Ndigbo Worldwide: the inculturation of Igbo youth identity and culture in Diaspora, we are reminded that beyond individual preservation lies the collective. We are reminded that our strength as a people comes not only from identity but from unity in identity.

Unity is the reason that our ancestors, despite displacement and adversity, built thriving Igbo communities wherever they found themselves. Unity explains why, even in faraway lands, we break kola nut before deliberations, we gather in associations, we transmit oral traditions, and we insist that our children, whom with intentionality we give Igbo names, inherit the values that shaped us.

In our fractured world today, a world of conflict, economic uncertainty, cultural homogenisation, the Igbo concept of IDINOTU is not only a cultural heritage but also a timeless philosophy with universal relevance. It calls us to:

• Unity of purpose: to harness our human and material resources for collective upliftment.
• Unity of voice: to stand together in defending truth, justice, and the dignity of our people at home and abroad.
• Unity of spirit: to embrace one another in solidarity, even when our circumstances or choices differ.

The AfrikaFora, as a platform of dialogue and cultural assertion, exists to keep these values alive. That is why this seminar is not merely a commemoration of Ikenga as a symbol of personal achievement and strength, but also a reminder that individual greatness is incomplete without communal solidarity.

Let today’s reflections on IDINOTU inspire us to move beyond rhetoric into action. To build bridges across generations, across communities, across borders. Let it remind us that the Igbo proverb holds true: naanị otu onye anaghị ebu agha — one person alone does not wage war. It is in togetherness that we flourish.

On behalf of The AfrikaFora, I thank you all for being part of this celebration. Allow me to single out our Founder & CEO, a true African Sister, Uloaku Winifred Gaillard for commendation and honour. For holding all of these together. Your work will resonate far beyond our time here on earth. May the spirit of Ikenga guide you. May Ikenga continue to guide  us toward unity of mind, unity of purpose, and unity of action.

Welcome, Ka Mụọ Ikenga debe anyị.

Collins Nweke

Patron, The AfrikaFora | Paris, France 27 September 2025