Urhobo Historical Society (UHS) has appointed Dr. Aruegodore Oyiborhoro as its new president.
He replaces Professor Peter Palmer Ekeh, who had been leading the pan-Urhobo research and history body for over 20 years. Professor Peter Palmer Ekeh is now President Emeritus of UHS as well as the Editor of UHS web-sites.
According to a statement by Onoawarie Andrew Edevbie, Secretary of UHS, the new President, Dr. Oyiborhoro, comes into the position with a lot of experience in service to Urhobo people, both in Nigeria and in the United States. He has been member of the Editorial and Management Committee of the Urhobo Historical Society since the founding of the Society in August of 1999. Before that, he had served as the Secretary-General of the Urhobo National Association of North America (now Urhobo Progress Union of America), and as the Chairman of its Board of Trustees. He is currently the acting President of the Niger Delta Peoples World Congress.
Dr. Oyiborhoro, an audiologist by profession, also brings into his new office, his experience as an astute businessman. He is the Founder and Director of Boro Audiology Clinic, Brooklyn, New York in the United States. He also established the Niger Delta Care, Inc., a nonprofit and non-governmental organization that offers free hearing and vision services to the underserved in Urhoboland and in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.
The new President of Urhobo Historical Society, Dr. Oyiborhoro was educated at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio and Columbia University, New York, in the United States. He has taught at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria before moving to the United States. He was also a Professor of Audiology at Pace University, New York, New York. Dr. Oyiborhoro is married to Dr. Onakpoma Oyiborhoro, nee Edjere, and together, they have four adult children.
Established in 1999 in the City of New York in the United States, UHS’ main mission is to serve and promote Urhobo history and culture. In so doing, UHS has been engaged in a number of activities including studying and analyzing Urhobo history, culture, ecology and relationships with its neighbors in Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Under the leadership of Professor Ekeh, UHS had been able to establish websites: http://www.waado.org and http://www.urhobo.kinsfolk.com/ to showcase Urhobo history and culture. The Society also organizes Annual Conferences and General Membership Meetings that provide fora for discussing, and reviewing activities and policy issues that affect Urhobo people.
In 2015, the Editorial and Management Committee at the direction of Professor Ekeh established UHS Headquarters in Urhoboland at Okpara Inland, Delta State of Nigeria. The Headquarters has rooms for seminars and a library which houses a collection of British Colonial documents, UHS publications and other books on the history and culture of other ethnic nationalities in Niger Delta and Nigeria in general.
