By Otunba T J Abass
Members of Eko Club Houston never spill the beans; they only spill laughter across tables on Friday nights when birthdays are celebrated, friendships are renewed, and the easy warmth of Lagos fills the air. But on Friday, July 31, something in the air shifted. The room still held its joy, but it also paused as it stood in the presence of its own memory.
The club turned, gently and deliberately, toward the people who had made its present possible. Its Patrons and Patronesses, the men and women whose early sacrifices, steady leadership, and years of service laid the pillar of its foundation, were called back, not as guests at the margins, but as the evening’s center of gravity. What unfolded was more than appreciation. It was recognition. It was return. It was, in every sense, a homecoming.
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The homecoming answered a question that had hovered around the club for years. Why had some of the very people who helped build Eko Club Houston become less visible in its affairs? Perhaps they had stepped back; perhaps the pace and focus of the present had not left room for looking back. Whatever had created the distance, the current administration chose not to leave it unattended. It extended a hand, and the elders accepted it.
It was an acknowledgment that institutions flourish when they recognize those who laid their foundations. More importantly, it was a sincere effort to correct the oversight that had gradually distanced some of the club’s most accomplished leaders from its day-to-day activities. Even the attire carried its own meaning. Members appeared in traditional white, accented with the club’s green-and-gold Aso-Oke caps. The white evoked renewal and openness, while green and gold reflected identity, pride, and continuity. The effect was a sense of family reunion and reconnection with the roots.
Opening the conversation, the President, Hon. Kunle Alaka, made it clear that the Patrons and Patronesses had not been invited merely to hear what they had done yesterday, but to help shape what the club could become tomorrow. The evening, he explained, was an opportunity to give thanks, exchange ideas, rebuild collaboration, and draw again from the experience of those who had traveled the road before. After all, years give people a kind of knowledge that no meeting agenda can manufacture.
Hon. Lanre Oki, Attorney O. J. Lawal, and Otunba T. J. Abass carried that thought forward as they paid tribute to the Patrons and Patronesses. Their message was simple: Eko Club Houston did not grow into a respected diaspora association by accident. Someone dreamed it before others could see it. Someone gave time when there was little applause. Someone carried the load before there were many shoulders to share it. Nearly three decades later, the club may have spread its branches wide, but the evening held it in tight grip to its roots. The speakers unanimously agreed that the continued involvement of these distinguished elders would remain critical to the club’s future.
The timing of the homecoming carried added meaning. From September 17 to 20, 2026, Eko Club Houston will host the third quarterly meeting of Eko Club International, welcoming Lagosians from across the United States, Canada, Europe, and beyond. It will be a chance for the Houston chapter to open its doors and tell its story; but no story of a house is complete without the people who helped lay its first blocks. When the wider Eko Club family arrives in September, they should meet not only the club as it stands after 29 years but also the living memory of how it came to stand.
But a house should not display its beautiful rooms while hiding the hands that laid its foundation. The Patrons and Patronesses are not decorative pieces to be brought out for important occasions; they are part of the club’s living history. Their presence in September would therefore mean more than honor. It would show that Eko Club Houston has learned to carry its past without becoming trapped in it, to let memory sit beside ambition, and experience walk hand in hand with new energy. Only then can the club present itself not merely as an organization that has grown, but as a family that remembers.
If the speeches inspired reflection, the responses from the Patrons and Patronesses touched the hearts of everyone present. They spoke with honesty, emotion, and sincerity about the journey they all embarked upon together almost three decades ago. They recalled the challenges, the sacrifices, and the victories that transformed a shared vision into one of the strongest chapters within Eko Club International. They did not pretend that the distance had not hurt, but they refused to let hurt have the final word. Forgiveness did not erase the years of absence; it opened a door through which everyone could walk forward together.
Speaking for the group, Alhaja Toyin Williams, Mrs. Yeside Ayanuga, and Dr. Akeem Masha reaffirmed their commitment to the club. Their message was clear: the hands that helped build Eko Club Houston had not withdrawn their willingness to serve. Whenever the club called, they would answer.
A homecoming means little if the door closes the next morning again. The club therefore agreed to hold regular consultations with its Patrons, Patronesses, and Matrons, and to create a dedicated WhatsApp platform through which they could remain informed and involved. The current administration deserves credit not merely for organizing an emotional evening, but for giving that emotion somewhere to go. By turning goodwill into structure, it created room for experience and fresh energy to work together.
When the formal conversation ended, Yusuf Olatunji’s timeless Sakara music carried the room home to Lagos. Chairs shifted, the dance floor filled, and feet completed what words had begun. For a while, past and present danced together into the early hours. Guiding the evening with warmth and ease was Tunde Oduntan, whose compering kept every tribute, conversation, and celebration moving in rhythm.
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Although unable to attend, Dr. Olowokere, Mrs. Bukky Ahmed, Mr. Belltech, and Jessica sent their apologies and expressed their hope to join future gatherings.
The music faded and the hall emptied, but the evening had left Eko Club Houston with something larger than memory. A true homecoming is not completed when people return for one night; it is completed when they are given a place in the house again. As the club looks toward the Quarterly Meeting of Eko Club International in September and the years beyond, it carries a simple lesson: the future does not begin where the past ends; it grows from it.
Otunba T.J Abass writes from Houston, Texas.
He is the Publisher of :
www.ekohotblog.com
www.ekohotnews.com
www.epeinsights.com
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