Mr. Nathaniel Okwumabua and the Afro-Carribean Association of Manitoba - Never Give Up

Last night was the 38th annual meeting of the Afro-Caribbean Asssociation of Manitoba.

The featured speaker was Mr. Nathaniel Okwumabua. He came to Canada about 30 years ago to study and has earned a B.Sc. in Agricultural Economics and Management, as well as a master’s degree in Natural Resources Management from the University of Manitoba after his B.Sc. degree in Agricultural Engineering Technology from the University of Wisconsin. In the years since, he and his wife Christina (top photo) have worked hard and persevered against all odds to be successful.

Mr. Okwumabua has worked in many jobs, from janitor, to agricultural economics to his present position as a highly respected health economist and accountability analyst.

Mr. Okwumabua had a number of strong messages for the young people there. He said: "Learning is more than just university learning". He said "Stay focused - do your best - and then leave the rest to those who can help you." One of the people who was of particular assistance to Mr. Okwumabua was the late Errol Lewis. Errol was a good friend of mine as well - and I still miss him and his advice to me - so I was impressed when I heard how much Errol had done for Mr. Okwumabua.

If there was a theme which ran through Mr. Okwumabua's talk it was "Never Give Up". Certainly, Mr. Okwumabua has persisted and succeeded in spite of many obstacles.

Doing an excellent job as Master of Ceremonies were Blue Hodges (middle right), and Antoinette Bryan (bottom left).