How It All Began?

Weppa Wanno Pyramid Club of Nigeria, popularly known as Pyramid Club formally came into existence on December 25, 1987 at the Ogbake Primary School ground, Agenebode. However, the Club has a chequered history behind it. What is today a formal body was first, a gathering of young friends with one goal, to encourage one another and make academic progress in life. The residence of pa Johnson Ayemoba, the father of Charles Ayemoba was the rendezvous. This place was christened “House of Assembly”. The activities at this venue rotated around academic discussions on how to acquire high education as most of the group had just finished the School Certificate or were studying for the Advanced Level General Certificate of Education (G.C.E. A/L). 

By the turn of the decade, many of these young men had not only finished post- secondary education, but had also started to settle into various careers. With this development, it had become almost impossible to have another venue where the group could congregate at the same time. The “House of Assembly” was disbanded unofficially by the fact that the members were in schools scattered all over Nigeria, while others were engaged in various vocations across the nation. Therefore, the idea of a common meeting place went into limbo. However, the immediate precursor to what is today known as Pyramid Club, was the meeting held at No. 10, Muyibi Street, Wilmer, Olodi-Apapa, Lagos at the residence of Bernard Adomokha in March 1986. The meeting was convened by Bernard Adomokha. Present at that meeting were Marcel Okhakhu and Kadiri Okoro. As would be expected, not much was achieved at this meeting as many of those invited did not attend. In spite of this, the trio present laid the ground work for subsequent meetings of the club. Marcel Okhakhu who was then at Ibadan was mandated to be the Secretary and to call subsequent meetings.

The next meeting was held during Easter of 1986 at Agenebode. At this meeting, the following people joined the club:

• Tony Itseumah;
• Charles Ayemoba;
• Late Tony Igebu;
• Arc Joe Oyageshio;
• Vincent Omegba; and 
• Mike Ikhianosime

Again, not much was achieved at this meeting except to identify Weppa Wanno sons to be invited for subsequent meetings. It must be noted that up till this time, the gatherings were quite informal and the name Pyramid was just being used based on the suggestion of one member. The meeting however, agreed that the trio of Marcel Okhakhu, Ben Adomokha and Kadiri Okolo should continue to manage the affairs of this body until a sizeable number of people have been recruited. The next few months were tortuous. There was a high degree of inconsistency in terms of attendance at meetings. Those who came for a particular may not be readily available for a subsequent meeting. This made it difficult for meaningful business to be done. Things were like this until December 1987, when what is today regarded as the first formal meeting was held at the Ogbake Primary School grounds.

This meeting had an enlarged attendance and the number present stood at twenty- one (21). Prominent among those who attended were:

• Paul Akpeokha;
• Anselm Alokha;
• Late Clement Ifeh;
• Lucky Nwosu;
• Paul Ugiomoh; and
• Matthew Eshemogie, amongst others. 

The name “Pyramid” was adopted at this meeting, while a token levy/dues of N200 was announced to be paid by all. This meeting also resolved that Messrs Tony Itseumah and Marcel Okhakhu should constitute an interim Exco of two to coordinate the affairs of this new Club. Mr. Itseumah was Chairman while Mr. Okhakhu was Secretary. This 2 – man Exco worked tirelessly to convene meetings and attend same everywhere in the country. At a subsequent meeting held at Dopemu, Lagos, at the residence of Dr. Austine Aipoh, a draft constitution was approved. The committee that worked on this was chaired by Vincent Omegba while four others served as members. This draft constitution became operational at the next meeting and at which meeting the first proper Exco was put in place and headed by Mr. Tony Itseumah. Mr. Marcel Okhakhu was also elected to continue to serve as Secretary. With this development, new challenges began to emerge. One of such challenges was the registration of the Club with the relevant bodies.

The Edo State Ministry of Information and Social works was the first point of call, where after a long battle, the club was duly registered. Then came the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). This journey was long. However, after a long time, there was objection to use of the name Pyramid Club as a similar name was already in existence. By the objection to the use of this name, the name was either to dropped completely or be modified. Since the club was already well known by that name, the Club decided to modify the name slightly by adding “Weppa Wanno” as a prefix to the name of the Club. This is why today, the Club is registered as WEPPA WANNO PYRAMID CLUB OF NIGERIA.

The Club has been led by the following Presidents since its formal inauguration:

• MR. ANTHONY AUDU ITSEUMAH (1991 – 1995)
• LATE PRINCE ANTHONY IGEBU (1995 – 1999)
• BARRISTER SYLVA OGWEMOH ( 1999 – 2003)
• MR. ANSELM ALOKHA (2003 – 2007) 
• SHC (DR.) KENNEDY IZUAGBE, JP (2007 – 2011)
• MR. MICHAEL OSILAMA OTU (2011 – 2015)
• Dr Augustine Idenebemeh Aipoh (2019 – 2023)
• Mr. Sunny Kanabe (2015
• Dr. George ALIMIKHENA OBOH (Incumbent President)