National Joint Action Committee, NJAC

AIYEGORO OME

Aiyegoro Ome

Aiyegoro Ome is a foundation member of the National Joint Action Committee and is the current president of the party. He has headed the National Action Cultural Committee, NJAC’s cultural arm, and the Caribbean Historical Society. He is also a spiritual elder within the NACC’s Council of Elders.

Bro. Ome is a widower and the father of three.

He was educated at primary schools in North and South Trinidad. He attended Trinity College, Port of Spain and entered the University of the West Indies on a UWI scholarship in 1967. He graduated in 1970.

An interesting aside to his academic career is that Bro. Ome is, to date, the only University Student in the English speaking Caribbean who was made to sit his final examinations in prison. This was during his detention as a political detainee following the State of Emergency in 1970.

While at UWI Bro Ome was Publications officer of the Guild Council. He took part in several student activities, particularly the Guild Council’s community outreach programme, teaching “O” Level subjects at the St Paul’s Street, Community Centre. Bro Ome also joined a group of activists, PIVOT, which existed from 1967 to 1970. And he co-founded the Mt. Lambert Freedom Fighters. Members of PIVOT and the Mt. Lambert Freedom Fighters later became members of NJAC.

After his release from prison in 1970, Bro Ome joined the staff of the Arima Government Secondary from which he as retired in 1971. He served as Chairman of the NACC from 1974, while continuing a hectic round of lectures travel and mobilization in Trinidad & Tobago, the Caribbean, Canada and the United States of America.

In 1984 he initiated the radio series, “ The Story of Emancipation” which he later condensed into a book by the same name. He has been a regular contributor to NJAC’s newspaper, LIBERATION and has written on cultural and economic matters.

Bro Ome contested elections four times, three times during General Elections, 1981 (St. Joseph), 1986 (Tunapuna) and 1991 (Diego Martin Central) and once during a bye- Election (1991, Diego Martin Central).