STATE OF
THE
ALUMNI ADDRESS
Greetings
It is a great honor to welcome you all to this wonderful gathering of the saints of God. Thank you for coming with your families from every part of this great country to fellowship together here in Orlando Florida. It is wonderful to meet some of you that I’ve never met face to face.
My sincere thanks goes to the Reunion planning committee headed by Bro Mike Ekefre, they have done a tremendous job. Thanks to all committee members Bro Mike, Dr. Ally, Hilary, Sis Monica, Sis Iro, Bro Aniefiok …… We would not be here without their effort and hard-work.
NUNA started in the winter of 2012 with the help of Bro Mike Ekefre, who brought all the brethren together for an inaugural meeting in December 2012. Since that time, the organization has made great strides through its various programs and projects. NUNA holds a fellowship gathering on the 3rd Sunday of every month and a bi-monthly prayer meeting on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month.
NUNA Structure
NUNA Monthly Meeting
The NUNA monthly meeting holds on the 3rd Sundays of the month. An annual schedule of topics and speakers is published before the start of each year. NUNA has tried to balance various life-equipping topics e.g. about health, career, relationships, and family. The theme for this year is “Opens Hearts and Open Heavens.” The scriptural text is from the book of Ephesians 1:18 “That the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” Also, the book of 3 John 1:2 “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers.” In 2018 NUNA started holding all monthly meeting on Google hangout.
The meetings have been a time of fellowship, prayer, testimonies, and connection. There are many NUNA members who do not come consistently for the meetings, but who consider themselves NUNA members and contribute in other ways to the vision of the organization. Our hope is that NIFES Associates who benefitted from the organization students will see a need to give back to NIFES in one form or another.
Prayer Meeting
The NUNA prayer meetings take place on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month at 8:00AM EST. the only small has largely been popular among members. It has been a time of devotion and intercession for the needs of NUNA members and loved ones.
The little challenge that this 8:00 am meeting has is that members who live in later time zones, e.g. those in the west coast states, may find it too early to participate in the meeting. This year, the meeting time was increased to 45 minutes.
Member Welfare
God has been faithful to NUNA members, we have recorded weddings, graduations, child birth, and all manner of celebration. We have members who are back in school for various forms of re-training. NUNA encourages and supports members in these efforts as much as we can.
A good amount of NUNA financial income goes to the welfare of members in need. We have also need members give back to NUNA after they received support from the organization.
NUNA Reunion
This year, and at this time, NUNA is hosting its 2nd Reunion event. The inaugural Reunion took place in Atlanta Georgia. This year’s event is holding in Orlando Florida. It will feature ministrations, prayers, fellowship, and an opportunity for NUNA members to see each other after many years. NUNA Reunions are very popular and will hold every two years.
NUNA Non-Profit Status and Amazon Smile
All donations to NUNA are tax deductible for all U.S persons. During the tax season, the NUNA financial director provides a 1099 documents which will stipulate donation amount made to NUNA and NUNA EIN number for tax filing purposes.
One of perks of being a non-profit organization is the tax-exempt status. NUNA is now listed on the Amazon Prime website so that members and partners can make donations to the organization any time the they shop on Amazon Smile.
NUNA Programs
NUNA programs have really helped to drive the NUNA values of excellence, hard work, leadership, ethics and equity among the students. Some of our programs are
NUNA Scholarship
The NUNA Scholarship has been running since NUNA’s inception, and since then, it has grown steadily. NUNA has received credit for improvement in the academic performance of NIFES students. In addition to the awards, NUNA continues to sponsor a tutorial program in NIFES UNIPORT, which has sensitized the students to the importance of prioritizing their school work. The NUNA scholarship typically goes to some of the best students in NIFES
Best-Graduating Student in NIFES
This year, for the second time in a row, NUNA gave the award to 2 students who graduated best in NIFES Uniport. All the four recipients of this award have graduated with first-class honors degrees in their various fields.
Prof Okoli Award for Best Student in the College of Sciences.
For the first time this year, we awarded the Prof Okoli award to two deserving student who graduated best in the college for 2017 and 2018 academic year. NUNA received a lot of thanks from Prof and Prof Mrs Okoli for instituting this award.
NUNA National Project Award
This year NUNA launched a new program that is project based to help student increase community mindedness. This program will provide sponsorship and funding of up to NGN 500,000 to one or two NIFES Zones that puts forward a project that will engender community development for their university’s host community. The goal is for all 38 NIFES Zones to submit project proposals geared towards campus community development, to compete for the grant money.
TOCSS Education Grant
Still on the academic front, NUNA has partnered with the TOCSS foundation to give awards. So far about 14 students have received the award. The grant provides tuition support of NGN 25,000 to seven students from 7 departments in the colleges of humanities, engineering, and Science. Grant recipients shall be current or past leaders of Nifes Uniport who can show evidence of a CGPA of 3.0 or greater. Sis Dayo Ogan and her husband Asitonka Ogan are both NIFES associates from NIFES UNIPORT and NIFES UST respectively.
Nigeria Alumni Organization
It took three NUNA coordinators to achieve this, but finally we did. Last year, the Nigerian Associates finally held elections and ushered in new leadership. This was an important goal for NUNA because we do not live in Nigeria, which limits the extent to which we can support the NIFES students. Our hope is that the Nigerian Associates can do the on-the ground work needed through increased alumni presence and impact.
The Nigerian leadership has formally registered the NIFES Uniport Alumni organization in Nigeria, opened a bank account, and are working on a new website. The have a goal of establishing Associate group meetings in major cities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the NUNA organization has stood the test of time. The NUNA’s motto is “Empower, Serve and Impact,” and we certainly seem to be living up to that creed. We have been blessed with brilliant and hardworking members who have sacrificed their time, money and resources to keep this ship afloat, building brick by brick; precept upon precept. The Lord has been immeasurably faithful to his word concerning this group.
Our prayer is that the strong foundation that the Lord has laid through the hand of NUNA members will stand in the years to come. That the organization will continue to bless, and impact lives, even for many years to come.
Thanks, and God bless
Ada Uche
NUNA Coordinator