Okpoma, Yala, Nigeria – Over 400 couples and widows gathered on Feb. 8, 2014 at the Christ the King School field in Okpoma Yala in Cross River State, Nigeria for the special community blessing program organized by UPF in collaboration with the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) in Nigeria as part of the on-going campaign for the peaceful national unity of Nigeria, which was launched on December 12, 2013 in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
The program began with an earlier visit to the communities and engagement of 20 local volunteers who undertook the challenge to mobilize and register at least 20 couples each for the blessing program. The program, which attracted participants from 14 local community units including Okpudu, Ahuicho, Abachor Okpame, Utukpo, Olachor, Oba, Ochubi, Ochochi, Ijama, Idiku, Okrike, Idigbo, Woleche Utukpo and Otuche, also had Ambassadors for Peace and some religious and political leaders in attendance.
The event was set for 2 pm, but participants began arriving at the venue at 10 am. Beginning with arrival and accreditation, participants registered in pairs as couples, with others registering as widows, indicating that their husbands were already in the spiritual world. The consciousness of the existence of the spiritual world is very high among the Yala people, as they believe in life after death and the influence of dead ancestors.
Beyond the core participants, local dignitaries who graced the occasion included a former commissioner for trade in the state in the 1970s, Chief Patrick Odey Odo, who served as the chairman of the occasion. The Executive Chairman of the Yala local government area, Hon. Mike Usibe, was represented by a senior aide who delivered a goodwill message commending the work of the organizers, “especially for the strong emphasis on family values as tools for peace and unity. I have never seen this kind of beautiful program that our people embraced voluntarily, and I have no doubt that our communities and families shall be truly blessed today.”
In his opening remarks, Chief Patrick Odey Odo expressed the special gratitude of the Yala people to the founders of the UPF and FFWPU as well as welcomed all the participating couples to the program. In his words, “this is a very unique opportunity that we must not joke about, and each of us should strive to become exemplary couples and raise good children to make our community and nation a good place for all of us. As we receive this special blessing of our marriage today, let us never again allow this blessing to be taken away. Let us become a source of blessing to our children and the future generation. I welcome our brothers and sisters from the Abuja office to Okpoma and I hope that this event taking place in Okpoma (meaning stream of salt) will make us to become the salt of our communities and the nation.”
The event began with the opening prayers by a Christian pastor and the chief imam of the Ogoja mosque, who both emphasized the importance of marriage and stated that God began the world with the blessing of Adam and Eve and that the Yala community should start a new way of life with the re-blessing of already married persons.
Participants rose for the Nigeria national anthem, which was followed by the chairman’s opening address. A message of support from the executive chairman of the Yala local government was read by his senior special aide. Dr. George C. Ikpot gave an introduction to the Marriage Blessing Program and explained the significance of marriage and family in the UPF campaign for national unity in Nigeria. He introduced the founders of the UPF to the dignitaries and participants in the special blessing program, and his account of the work of Father and Mother Moon was interrupted by applause from the participants.
Dr. Raphael Ogar Oko, secretary general of UPF-Nigeria, delivered the keynote address:
This is a homecoming for me since my appointment as secretary general of UPF-Nigeria last year. The founders of the UPF has always taught us to return home and serve our people. I have come home today not to seek your mandate for a political position but to open the way for the blessing of our families and everyone in Yala. This is a special moment for us and I cannot come home to deceive my own people as my parents, brothers and sisters are all here too.
The keynote address focused on God’s expectation of the human ancestors, how they deviated from the realization of the blessing, and the calling to become mature men and women, living in fidelity as husband and wife. Participants applauded the explanation of the importance of upholding purity. The address ended with the illustration of Adam and Eve referred to as ada and ene in the local Yala dialect to mean mature man and mature woman. In the local dialect, ada means a man who has attained maturity and ene is a woman who has attained maturity.
Following the toast to marriage, a special prayer for the blessing of the participants and the progress of their communities and the nation was offered by representatives of Anglican church and the chief imam of the Ogoja mosque.
Each community had selected an exemplary couple to receive a special gift for being faithful in their marriage. The presentation to these 12 exemplary couples moved the recipients to tears of joy. The oldest beneficiary, who is a widow, explained that she had married as a virgin and had remained with her husband for over 60 years without engaging in a sexual relationship with any other person. She said:
After living for so many years with each other, how can I abandon our promise to each other? I am grateful to God and I see this special gift as recognition of what my husband and I have lived for. I never knew such a thing would ever happen on earth. My husband in the spiritual world will be the happiest man today. Even though we never attended any church before, today, we have been proclaimed as candidates for heaven. May my husband rest in peace until I come to meet him there. I am happy and grateful to you people.
The exemplary couples were called one after the other from the crowd to receive a special gift for being faithful in marriage. As each couple was announced, they were welcomed with a huge applause.
This ceremony has become a topic of discussion in Okpoma Yala as many people are preparing for the next round of blessing ceremony in Yala.
UPF presented Ambassador for Peace certificates to six dignitaries including the chairman of the Yala local government area, special adviser to the Obudu local government area Chairman on Peace and Security, the chief imam of the Ogoja mosque, a former commissioner for trade and commerce, the traditional ruler of Okpoma Yala, H.R.H. Ogamode Eje Ipuole and a hardworking son living in the USA, Sunday Igri Ogar.
After brief musical entertainment by comedian and local DJ, participants were served light refreshment. This was followed by a declaration of opposition to same-sex marriage and support for UPF’s campaign for national unity 2014.
The vote of thanks was offered by Williams S. William, the Cross River State coordinator of UPF-Nigeria, and was followed by group photographs and closing prayers by the representative of the Anglican church.
Following this event, the community offered a portion of land to UPF to establish a community school for marriage education, and an invitation has been extended by the Local Government Council to UPF to work with the Office of the Special Adviser on NGO Matters to extend the initiative through all the 14 wards of the area. Based on the report of the program in Yala, some volunteers have started registering couples for a similar program in the neighboring Ogoja local government area.