PRIMATE NDUKUBA SHOWERS ENCOMIUMS AS BISHOP OKEKE, WIFE ON TRIPLE CELEBRATIONS

(By Alex Uzoigwe)

    The Primate, Church of Nigeria, the Most Rev Dr Henry Ndukuba, has described the former Bishop on the Niger, the Rt Rev Sandy Okeke and his wife, Dr Ngọzi Okeke (Nneobioma) as quinticential ministers of the Gospel.
      According to the primate, Bishop Okeke made an indelible contributions in the spread of the Gospel in the Diocese on the Niger which exponential impact he said would ever continue to be felt.
   The primate poured the encomiums in the homily he said today, Friday, August 4, 2023 during a solemn church service marking a three-in-one ceremony organised for the Rt Rev Okeke and his wife at the All Saints' Cathedral, Onitsha.
      The event was in commemoration of the duo's 50th wedding anniversary, 82nd years of the bishop and 72nd years of his wife.
         Underscoring several groundbreaking inroads which he said Bishop Okeke made in the spread of the Gospel in the diocese and beyond, the primate encouraged the diocese to continue to keep the fire aglow.
     He charged the Church to endeavour to raise people who he said would be capabable of taking the Gospel further.
     He commended the Diocese on the Niger for organising the event, explaining that it was always expedient to remember and appreciate one's labour while one was still alive, adding that doing so was the best way to appreciate one.
    Bishop Okeke was made Bishop on the Niger in 2000, the Episcopacy he held until 2011 when he retired.
      The occasion attracted several dignitaries from politics, commerce, education and religion, among who were the former Governor of Anambra State, and the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, the Chancellor of the University on the Niger, Prof Chinedu Nebo and more than ten Anglican Bishops including several archdeacons, priests and hundreds of lay persons.
      In his brief vote of thanks, the chief celebrant, Bishop Okeke, thanked the primate for finding time to honour the event irrespective of what he called emergencies of the moment.
       He also appreciated the Bishop on the Niger, the Rt Rev Dr Owen Nwokolo, and the entire diocese for organising the ceremony for him while expressing deep gratitude to Mr Obi for his presence.
     Also, while recognising the many dignitaries, the host Bishop, the Rt Rev Dr Nwokolo thanked everybody at the service for making time to attend.

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