Onima Institute is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization (NGO) that believes in African cultures and African development. Its main mission therefore, is the preservation of African indigenous cultures and the general African development including traditions and traditional institutions, languages and ideas through education, and research activities, while assisting the youths and the needy through its programs which are humanitarian activities.
Onima’s goals as a result include:
- the establishment of a research center for indigenous cultural studies;
- produce books and children’s books in particular in indigenous African languages to enhance their teaching and research;
- provide opportunities for American and other Western scholars to conduct research in Africa;
- foster cultural and educational understanding for mutual respect and peace;
- set up youths academy/daycare centers for the teaching of African languages to young people and children here in the United States and in Africa;
- provide an opportunity for Americans to visit Africa periodically;
- restore mother tongues essential in cultural development and preservation in Africa;
- assist in the restoration and preservation of historical national monuments such as the Benin Moat;
- study the Chieftaincy tradition in Africa;
- restore, promote and document many of the cultural and traditional festivals;
- study and investigate each of the notable masquerades in many African countries and document them;
- conduct public lectures, seminars, symposia and workshops;
- provide mediums for scholars and for public interactions, e.g. an academic forum/peer review journal, and an oral communication medium (rural radio station/transmitter for public education)