I Have Had Many Sad Days –Bishop Okonkwo...

           

You were in the Biafran military, how did you fare?

After three months training in the Biafran military in late 1969, they took us to the army headquarters in early January 1970. They wanted to send us to the front but somehow, I escaped with one of my immediate younger brothers and one other person. Somehow, we did not go to the front.  With hindsight, I now know it was God’s doing because that very night, Biafra surrendered to Nigeria and the war ended. That was in 1970.

What was the general feeling then?

The only thing left with any person during the war was to seek the face of God. That is how I found the Lord and gave my life to Christ and then I started going to church. In 1972, I came back to Lagos and was worshipping with the United Church of Christ; they still have their headquarters in Enugu.  I was there till I resigned my job from African Continental Bank, when I received the call. But I kept on with UCC till 1979 when the Lord began to speak with me that ‘it is time to move on.’ That is how The Redeemed Evangelical Mission was founded in late 1980 and we inaugurated it in January 1981.

So far, what has been your happiest day in life?

I have got a lot of happy days in my life. They are many: when I gave my life to Christ, it was a happy day because it became evident to me that there was joy unspeakable and full of glory.  That was what motivated me to start going to church without looking back. It was not that at that time, I had any material attraction, but I just found out that anytime I was in church, I was happy. Secondly, when TREM started, it made me happy because it gave me focus.  It was like it gave me a purpose for life. Also when I got married, I was happy.

So, how did you approach your wife?

My wife was approached through my elderly sister.  I knew that I wanted to get married to her but I could not really walk up to her to make her know my intention. I was very shy when it comes to issue of ladies. I did not have the boldness of talking to a lady. So my elder sister spoke to her and told her that I was interested in marrying her.

Are you saying that when you had not become a believer, that you never had a girlfriend?

I would not say that I had a girlfriend because as I told you, I was shy. I did not have a girlfriend, even though  I had not become a believer then, because I could not talk to any.

Has your wife substantially contributed to your growth in life?

Absolutely! If I had not married her, I may not have reached the level I am now, talking about the contribution of a human being to ministerial growth. For me, she is a strong pillar as far as the ministry is concerned. I hear of people who get married and their wives will not allow their husbands to function well, more especially as one in the ministry.  If you are in the ministry, whether you like it or not, you are a man of the people. You are husband to many women (without sinful undertone) and father to every person. So if you have a wife that is policing you, you can never function in that dimension. The truth is that you will never be fulfilled because you know that you are called to the people.

So there have not been situations where your wife asked you, ‘Why are you talking to this person?’ ‘Why did you give this person this thing?’  Or ‘Why do you relate with this person?’

If she did that to me, there is no way my ministry would have advanced the way it has. I do not walk and look at my back, wondering what would my wife say. No! I just do what God has led me to do. At times, for instance, people will come and be thanking her. They will say, “Madam, thank you for what you and your husband did for me.”  It may be something that I gave to the person and I did not even remember it again. When I come back home, she will tell me, ‘do you know that this person came and thanked me for what you did for her and you did not even tell me?” I will say, ‘Oh! I have even forgotten.’ And that is it. It never generated any quarrel. She pays attention to details, knows people and remembers them.  Some of the deficiencies I have, she covers them, there are many good things I can say about her.

What have been your saddest moments?

I have had many sad days. One was when I lost my first daughter. That was in December 26, 1984. She was in the church on Christmas Day and sang Christmas carols with other children. In the midnight, she took ill and we thought it was something that would just go away but by the morning of December 26, she was dead.  And that was it. For me, it was not funny. Another sad experience was when I lost my immediate younger brother who, he and my wife said that they would stand by me in this my call (ministry). He schooled in Lagos University Teaching Hospital and finished there and joined the Navy.  He was an officer in the Navy but he was shot dead in the church by robbers in Akoka, Lagos. I was outside the country.  That day, he went to the church on an assignment that I gave to him with an elder in the church who is now late.  Armed robbers followed them as he drove inside the church compound. They started struggling over the vehicle and one of the robbers shot him in the stomach. After one week, he died.  For me, that was a sad period also. Of course, there are a few betrayals you get from pastoral staff you believed were standing by you; only for you to discover that they have a different agenda, which of course may set the ministry back.  Some of these things are not funny.

Has the church contributed substantially to national development?

The church has done quite a lot.  We have many churches in the country which are preaching righteousness, good neighbourliness, fear of God, integrity and so on. The church also preaches against sin. If the church was not preaching, evil would have been worse. With the large number of  churches  we have in Nigeria and still the country is the way it is, then you can imagine what  it would have been if there were no churches. However, that is not to say that we have done all we should. I still believe that the church can make more positive impacts. We need to be more vocal. I do not think we are speaking as much as we should. There are some clergies here and there speaking but I think more men of God should be more involved in addressing national issues, showing the light and leading the way forward. We also need to sensitise our members more on their roles in nation building.

What is your best food?

Incidentally, I am a very good eater when it comes to food. I would not say that I have any best food. So long as the food is nice to me, it is a good food.  I am passionate about everything I do.  I like to taste or sample different types of delicacies. When I travel, for instance,  to Russia, I won’t want you to give me Nigerian food there. There have been occasions when I travelled and some Nigerians will say, “Let me give you a treat.” And they want to give me Nigerian food.  I will say, “I do not want it. Of course, you are not going to cook Nigerian food better than the people in Nigeria. So let me try the food they eat, for instance, in Russia.”

Do you have time to relax or unwind since you’re in church most of the time?

When I return home, I know that I am at home. I have to be husband to my wife and father to my children and we sit down. At times I sit on the floor, share groundnuts, banana and biscuits with my family and then read newspapers, watch movies. I love action and detective movies. I also watch football when it’s football season, like the match Super Eagles (recently) played, we were all there watching and cheering them up. If I travel outside the country, I go to swim. I go to the gym.

Why do you pay so much attention to your looks?

It is hereditary because my father was a fashion conscious person. Also my mother was also fashionable. She was selling clothes and clothing materials, so I imbibed it from them.

Which people have influenced you positively in life?

In terms of ministry, Dr. Morris Cerulo is one of those who truly impacted my life in very unique ways because it was when he gave me scholarship to come to his school of ministries that I got exposed to other ministries. I got exposed to John Huston, who is the father of Joel Huston. I got exposed to Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin and Faith Prize.  All these are people of God who have truly helped me in whatever I am doing. Also at the early stage of the ministry, there were people that assisted me.  Such people include late Rev.  Boyijo,  one of the founding fathers of Foursquare Church.

What puts you off in people?

When I see people who are not able to maintain confidentiality, they put me off.  In life, at times, people get exposed to confidential matters and when a person makes it a public issue, it is not acceptable. Even Jesus told his disciples, “Look! See that you tell no man.” He said that because it was not time to expose such. It could destroy. Also integrity in life is very important. When I see that someone is lazy and he wants people to help him, I wonder how such a person will grow in life except with God’s special intervention.  I do not like lazy and insincere people.  People should do their best in life and leave the rest to God.

How do we improve leadership in the country?

Have you wondered why many people want to be in government? Many of them believe that it is an easy way to affluence and influence. Even people who have not made any mark in the society or even in their chosen professions struggle so hard to be in government because they believe they will make cheap wealth. We should make governance in Nigeria less attractive.  We should look for people who have already made it in their chosen professions or endeavours and now want to become leaders in the country, not because they want to make more money but because they want to serve.   As far as I am concerned, most of our leaders across all tiers and arms of government are merely pursuing their selfish ambitions to the detriment of nation building.

What is your advice to young people?

They should not allow anyone use his personal ambition to push them into crime or do anything that will destroy the country. We have a bright future in this country.  It is still a developing nation. Despite our teething problems and challenges, I still believe that Nigeria will bounce back.