Bishop Mike Okonkwo Lecture holds at Muson Centre; Chief Nike Akande is Guest Speaker; Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa chairs occasion

The 18^th Edition of the Bishop Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture holds Tuesday, September 5, 2017, with former Minister of Industries and current President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industries, LCCI, Chief (Mrs) Dr. Onikepo Akande as Keynote Speaker.

Chief (Mrs) Akande would be speaking on the theme of the lecture which is ‘Made in Nigeria Products: A Vehicle for Sustainable Development.’

The Lecture, which holds at the Shell Hall of Muson Centre, Lagos, has as Chief Host, the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, while Chairman of the occasion is Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, former Chairman/Managing Director of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Plc Nigeria.

Special Guest of Honour for the event is Chief Eric Odinaka Umeofia, the President/Chief Executive Officer of Erisco Foods Ltd.

Born on September 6, 1945, from Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, Dr. Michael Chukwuweike Okonkwo, is The Presiding Bishop, The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) with headquarters in Lagos.

The Annual Lecture series was instituted in the year 2000 as part of activities to mark his birthday.

The 17^th Lecture, with the theme: ‘The State of the Nigerian Nation: Redefining Our Values,’ was chaired by Chief Arthur Mbanefo and the Guest Speakers were Prince Frank Nweke Jnr and Mr. Gbenga Sesan .

Dr. Mike Okonkwo graduated from the Morris Cerrullo School of Ministry and the Covington Theological Seminary in USA, and holds several doctorate degrees and honorary awards. He is the Convener of the Communion of Covenant Ministers International (CCMI) a gathering of Pastors designed for Fellowship, Spiritual Covering, Mentoring, Strengthening, and Networking, through conferences, seminars and other interactive sessions. He is a co-host of the National Ministers Conference (NMC). He is a Trustee and also a member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN).

He is the Patron and Founder of the Empowerment for the Less Privileged (ELP) Foundation, a non-governmental organisation committed to alleviating the plight of the less-privileged in the society through donations to hospitals, establishment of free vocational training centres, running free preparatory schools for students in the secondary schools, and facilitating regular public enlightenment campaigns on health issues amongst others. He also pioneers a scholarship fund for talented students.

With a pastoral staff strength of over 250 men and women, the ministry has several arms all geared at reaching the “unreached” wherever they can be found. To this end, the ministry has a Prisons Outreach, which ministers to inmates in various prisons and remand homes; Word Ambassadors-this group of people organises crusades in various towns and villages; and the ‘’We Care’’ Ministry, which ministers to the less privileged through relief items, food stuffs, free basic medical care, soft short term loans and encouraging petty trading in order to make each individual self sustained.

Others are Dunamis Publications, which co-ordinates all literature generated from the ministry, Maranatha Power Play House, which ministers the word through various anointed drama presentations, The Singles Fellowship, set up to encourage the singles on how to enjoy and make the most of their single-hood while preparing them for the responsibilities of the married life, and The Intercessory Unit, the arm of the church that is dedicated to prayer not only for the ministry and programs of the ministry, but for the Body of Christ as a whole and Nigeria as a nation.

Still in a bid to positively affect the less privileged, Bishop Mike Okonkwo in partnership with his wife under the aegis of the Women of Global Impact, sponsors free cervical screening for women in rural areas and annual donation of food and clothing to the less privileged women with particular reference to widows in the villages. A peace loving man, he risked his life to ensure the reconciliation of warring parties during the Ogbunike communal clash which invariably led to the sustained peace the town enjoys today.

Bishop Mike Okonkwo is married to Bishop Peace Okonkwo and they are blessed with a daughter.