Onaiyekan, Gana, others pay tributes to former Aso Villa chaplain, Rev. Okoye<\/p>\n
Tributes<\/p>\n
By Emmanuel Oloniruha<\/p>\n
Religious leaders, statesmen, and Christian faithful on Wednesday in Abuja paid tributes to the late former Chaplain of the Aso Rock Villa Chapel, Rev. William Okoye.<\/p>\n
The dignitaries gave the tributes at a service of songs to celebrate the life, ministry, and legacy of Okoye, at the All Christians Fellowship Mission (ACFM) Abuja.<\/p>\n
They described Okoye, who was the founder of ACFM, as a courageous preacher, a selfless patriot, and a man of uncompromising integrity who consistently spoke truth to power.<\/p>\n
Speaking with newsmen, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, described Okoye, as a visionary pioneer who laid the foundation for Christian worship in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).<\/p>\n
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Onaiyekan, reflecting on the early days of the nation\u2019s capital, recalled how Okoye started his ministry under modest circumstances when Abuja was still largely undeveloped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know him as one of the pioneer Christian ministers in the FCT. When he started here to gather people in a \u201cbacha\u201d (temporary shelter) to pray on Sundays, there were no churches here.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were very few Christians around. People in Lagos refused to come to Abuja; they thought the new capital was not serious.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout the same time, our church came down here too. Bishop Matthew Kukah led our team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Cardinal highlighted the cordial relationship between Okoye and the Catholic faithful in FCT rooted in mutual respect and shared history.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember him as somebody who came, saw there was a need, and did something to fill it. And that little seed planted has now grown into a big tree, what is now called the All Christians Fellowship Mission,\u201d Onaiyekan said.<\/p>\n
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Former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, also described Rev. Okoye as a giant who loved Nigeria, a fearless defender of the gospel and a unifier in the body of Christ.<\/p>\n
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He recalled their routine morning devotion sessions at the Presidential Villa, highlighting Rev. Okoye\u2019s dedication to national transformation through prayer and godly counsel.<\/p>\n
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Gana added that Okoye was never ashamed of preaching the gospel or afraid of speaking the truth to the power even when he served under former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe was somebody who was very courageous. We worked with Presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe was ready to speak the truth to power, whoever you are. If it\u2019s the truth, Okoye will say it. You may be annoyed, he doesn\u2019t care. As far as it\u2019s the truth, you will hear the truth.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSo Nigeria has lost a giant, somebody who loved the people tremendously, and he loved the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is what brought him to government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Gana noted that the late cleric lived a sacrificial life rooted in honesty, righteousness, and service to humanity.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted the church to be involved in community life, himself involved in touching lives, because for him, his life has been crucified with Christ,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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In his tribute, Rev. Moses Aransiola, the National Director of Nigeria Prays and General Overseer of Gethsemane Prayer Ministries, described the late Okoye as a bosom friend and partner in ministry whose life was defined by unwavering integrity and deep commitment.<\/p>\n
Aransiola noted that Rev. Okoye\u2019s unique assignment of pastoring two sitting Nigerian presidents was a testament to his spiritual authority and trustworthiness.<\/p>\n
He said that God gave Okoye that grace, not only to affect the grassroots and general Christians, but also the opportunity to affect the nation from the top to let his integrity rub off on leadership.<\/p>\n
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He urged Nigerians to emulate the deceased by standing for truth and avoiding shortcuts, adding that \u201cintegrity, commitment, and loyalty pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat everybody is chasing after, compromising their lives, their name, their integrity, God brought to Reverend Okoye easy and cheap.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s like Jesus saying, you seek the kingdom, every other thing shall be easily added to you. Without demand, God gave him everything people are chasing after.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSo it pays to live a life of legacy like we have seen today. We thank God that nobody is mourning in this place; everybody is in a celebration mode. Why? Because somebody has left a legacy that all of us have come to honour,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Speaking, the son of the deceased, Mr Victor Okoye, described his father as a true man of God, a father, teacher, pastor, disciplinarian, counsellor, provider, and one of the greatest influences in their lives.<\/p>\n
He said that their father lived an examplary life of hard work, discipline, contentment, generosity, sacrifice and devotion to Christ.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, we mourn his passing, but we also celebrate a life well lived\u2014a life devoted to God, to people, and to a life of integrity, service and purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaddy believed in honesty, hard work, discipline, compassion and service.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe taught us that character matters; that we should guard our name and use whatever God gives us to serve others,\u201d Okoye said.<\/p>\n
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Delivering a sermon at the service, renowned preacher Bro. Gbile Akanni tasked Christains on living a life of purpose and eternal impact.<\/p>\n
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Akanni urged Christians to reflect on how they spend their lives, saying Rev. Okoye lived a life of service to God and humanity.<\/p>\n
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Tracing the late pastor\u2019s early missionary work in Benue State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Akanni highlighted his selflessness, simplicity, and steadfastness in ministry.<\/p>\n
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\u201cPapa Okoye fought a good fight. He fought against sin, worldliness, and compromise to maintain focus, vision, and simplicity.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe was not looking for anything for himself; he was looking for what to do to push men forward,\u201d Akanni said.<\/p>\n
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He urged Nigerians to focus on battles that carry eternal value rather than engaging in empty and aimless conflicts, noting that God only celebrates those who finish their assigned courses well through perseverance and endurance.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Religious leaders, statesmen, and Christian faithful on Wednesday in Abuja paid tributes to the late former Chaplain of the Aso Rock Villa Chapel, Rev. William Okoye.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[774,123,773],"class_list":["post-1307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-legacy","tag-rev-okoye","tag-tributes"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1308,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307\/revisions\/1308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}