Prominent businessman and founding leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, has charged the Urhobo nation to embark on deep self-reflection and strategic reinvention to reclaim its rightful place in Nigeria’s socio-political landscape.
Emerhor, who was Chairman of the 2025 Urhobo Day and 94th Annual Congress of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), noted that present challenges confronting the Urhobo nation “only decisive action will be sufficient” to address them.
He spoke on Saturday while addressing a packed gathering of eminent sons and daughters of Urhobo Nation in the Niger Delta at the Urhobo House, Uvwiamuge, Agbarho, in Delta State.
The Urhobo Day and Annual Congress, he noted, remains a unifying platform that brings together Urhobos from all walks of life – home and abroad – to celebrate shared heritage, review collective progress, and chart new pathways for development.
“Other than the name Urhobo, the mandate of the UPU is clearly Unity and Progress,” Emerhor said, recalling how the Union, founded in the 1930s and 1940s, weathered periods of division but has now regained its position as one united and resilient institution.
Emerhor warned that the bigger question before the Urhobo nation is progress and unity as well as social, economic, political, cultural, and strategic development.
“How much progress has the Urhobo nation made since the UPU’s founding? Are we where we should be? Where does Urhobo stand in Delta, Bayelsa, Niger Delta and Nigeria? What is happening to our language? Are our youths truly prepared for leadership? Is Urhobo thinking strategically enough?”, he asked.
He expressed concern that despite being one of Nigeria’s largest ethnic nationalities, the Urhobo nation does not feature prominently in national discourse or online references.
“How come, when I Googled Nigerian ethnic groups, Urhobo did not show up, not even after the top ten?” he queried, urging the people to confront the realities of their current standing.
Emerhor called on attendees to use the annual celebration not only for festivities but as a moment of sober evaluation and strategic reawakening.
According to him, the founding fathers of the UPU reacted decisively to the political and economic challenges of their era, and today’s leaders must do the same.
“Today, the UPU faces new and comparable situations such that only decisive action will be sufficient. UPU must reinvent itself as our founding fathers did earlier for us”, Emerhor declared.
He urged unity of purpose, renewed commitment to cultural preservation, and a coordinated strategy for political relevance in the evolving national landscape.
“Let’s use the occasion to self-assess and reflect. To reawaken ourselves to the reality of Urhobo today in the scheme of things. That will be a great honour for the founding fathers of the UPU. That was what they did for Urhobo in the 1930s and 1940s when they founded the UPU.
“The UPU founding was a reaction and proaction for the survival and emancipation of the Urhobo during the oppressive circumstances of the early colonial exploitation,” Emerhor further added.
