One Year After, Ihedioha Visits Lord’s Chosen for Thanksgiving
Stories by Mary Nnah
In the spirit of Thanksgiving and in gratitude to God for honouring his request, made last year, while campaigning to take over the governorship seat in Imo State during the 2019 electioneering year, Governor Emeka Ihedioha who eventually won the election for that year, last Sunday, turned up at the just concluded Lord Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries international crusade tagged, “What God has Determined Shall be Done.”
The governor who was at the crusade last year for prayers to conquer his opponents, showed up again this year, in company of his adorable wife, Lady Ebere Ihedioha, at the Chosen International Secondary School, Along Oguta Rd, Mgbidi, Imo State, venue of the crusade, to show gratitude to God.
“Exactly a year ago I was here, I committed my candidature to God, and urged you to pray for us and you did, and our Lord also did answer your prayers.”
“Today marks the anniversary of that historic visit to this place and in the spirit of thanksgiving, I consider it only wise in obedience to God for His faithfulness and loving kindness, that I should come along with my wife this time to say we are indeed grateful”, Ihedioha said.
Speaking further to the mammoth gathered during the four-day crusade, the governor said “To God be all the glory. We thank God for His goodness and we rededicate ourselves to the service of our state and to the service of our people.”
He commended the massive crowd of people from various parts of the country and the world at large who he said have come to boost the economy of Imo State.
“I applaud you my dear chosen people, our brothers from across the world who, today, have come to boost the economy of our state from across various states of our land, from various continents and countries of the world. I have noticed that you have here men and women who love God and love our people. We pray that God would also return the same favour and love to them. To my brothers and sisters form Imo State, the home of The Lord Chosen, we are the chosen ones.”
He specifically thanked the General Overseer of the Lord Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries, Pastor Lazarus Muoka, saying, “Our father in the Lord and spiritual director, Pastor Muoka and your dear wife; our son in whom we are well pleased and we are proud to say that you are part of us and we are proud to say that we are also part of you.”
He urged Muoka to continue to pray for him, noting that his might and knowledge was not enough to run the affairs of the state but requires the grace of the Almighty God to do so. “We need God to lead and direct us so that we can lead our state to become the most prosperous state in our country”.
He told Muoka that as he has continued with the tradition of coming to Mgbidi for over 10 years now, which he described as historic and has become an identity of the area and part of the state’s annual calendar, the state government shall continue to associate with the church.
Chief Razaq Akanni Okoya, the industrial mogul of the famous Eleganza conglomerate has a larger than life image.
He has a Midas touch having run his conglomerate successfully for over five decades recording tremendous successes. As he turns 80, the industrialist and philanthropist, evokes hard work and wealth.
Everything fits him perfectly. Chief Okoya who is synonymous with the famous Eleganza group of companies, is one of the most successful amongst his contemporaries.
No doubt he is a businessman who has continued to make significant strides in his endeavours. Okoya is admired and adored by many so much that his fame as a traditional title holder, billionaire business man, philanthropist, a socialite have continued to glow and many have tagged him a rare gem.
The Aare of Lagos means different thing to different People: To the less privileged, he is a great philanthropist whose milk of kindness flows ceaselessly. In the business community, he is a man with a Midas touch because his business acumen was unequal. Like an old wine, he continues to get better with age as he has not rested on his oars. Eleganza has been around for over five decades controlling Nigerian markets and even extend its tentacles to other West African countries.
Five years ago, he floated another company tagged the new Eleganza Industrial City Limited, which is built on 35 acres of land in Ibeju-Lekki. It is new, big and better.
The whole idea of the newly established EICL according to him is to have household items in one compound. Not only that, they want to be able to give Nigerians and the West African countries what they produce locally at affordable price and not only that to become a household name, which has been one of his dreams. The Oluwaninsola Landlord’s life is synonymous with charity and the business magnate’s impact extent beyond his immediate family as his philanthropic gesture has impacted many beyond Lagos and beyond. These days, many of his activities revolve around religion and service to humanity through his philanthropy.
This cut across the various sectors of the society. At various times, he has supported medical establishments and hospital homes by donating lifesaving equipment. His contributions to the manufacturing sector and the economy in Lagos are immeasurable by giving employment to thousands of people.
Currently, he has thousands of people under his employment. Having achieved what he wanted to achieve right from his young age, he has continued to give back by assisting many people in establishing various business ventures. He also organises annual pilgrimage for Moslems and feed over 2,000 under-privileged every week.
In recent years, he has thrown his weight in support of the Nigerian educational sector. Several undergraduate students have benefited from his Alhaji Akanni Okoya Scholarship Awards a few years back when he gave out 100,000 Naira each to extraordinary brilliant undergraduate students picked across four tertiary institutions in Lagos State. At 80, he has achieved beyond human expectations.
At 80, he is still very active. The secret lies in the passion for his business. As he turns 80 tomorrow, one can learn several lessons from his exploits. Consistency, perseverance, hard work, commitment, passion and integrity are the only vehicles that can drive you to success and not by cutting corners.