“CONGRATULATIONS” is the word most appropriate for the members of the DPA as the first year of the group’s existence comes to an end, and a new year begins. DPA was established in February of 2013. Within ten months in the first year, the group has grown from a few members to 11,200 members. No other group in the social media or any virtual community has grown that fast, given our circumstances. That in itself is enough for every member of DPA to feel proud. From the bottom of my heart, and I speak for all our admin members as well, I thank all members of DPA for their continued support and relentless effort toward the growth of the group. Too many of you have done so much for the group that it would be hard to mention names. However, I would make an exception and mention Emma KcChinedu Amucha for the extraordinary support and services he has rendered so tirelessly to DPA. We are grateful. The New Year is going to be a watershed and a defining period for our group. Though it is clear that we have made some landmark progress in establishing ourselves as a serious, diverse and professional group, we still have a number of attainable challenges ahead of us. The performance of our group so far only speaks to our collective passion and commitment to justice, liberty, due process and human development and progress. Our strength comes form our diversity and sense of equality amongst ourselves and in our perception of others. We maintain our principle of equality of all humans regardless of gender, ethnicity, language, religion, nationality, age, disability or life style. We shall continue to build our membership and we expect to reach 50,000 members by the end of 2014. We shall also continue to rework and upgrade our governance and administrative structures to reflect our diversity and democracy in the group. The task for DPA and the challenges we face are enormous. It is impossible for one person to handle them. I can assure you that we have a team. As we go into 2014, there is already a plan, in advanced stage, to wean the group away from my direct and detailed management and supervision. Indeed, it could not be otherwise. We need a strong team of professionals to help. We need money to run the group. We need management and organizational expertise to manage the needs of our members. We need project development personnel to fashion and develop programs of action for the group. So, inevitably, it would be impossible for one person to run DPA. And besides, DPA is a participatory group. We expect in 2014 to carry out a number of projects aimed at upgrading the Nigerian criminal justice system and the legal system as a whole in order to deliver justice to thousands of people currently deprived. Legal education and information sharing remain important source of empowerment for our members and the general public. We expect to initiate a number of programs aimed at continuous education of members and the public on various legal issues and concerns. This would be consistent with our motto: “If you don’t know your rights, you may as well not have them”. We want to give our members and the general public greater awareness and knowledge about their rights and how to protect those rights in case of threats that undermine their liberties. Again, I congratulate our members and I assure you of a great year ahead of us. Ephraim Emeka Ugwuonye, Esquire
President, ECULAW GROUP
Founder and Principal Administrator, DPA.
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