The Real Mike Behind the Skull Cap[1]
15.11.2015
Felix-Uche Akam
In his 75 years of existence, Bishop Michael Nnachi Okoro has left indelible good impressions of the real person he is, telling people skull cap does not change nature. His impression on every person is entirely singular and unique but all of them impassioned, united in spotting out his virtues, sometime describing these uncommon virtues in light mood.
Chief Martin Nwanchor Elechi, the former Executive Governor of Ebonyi State, is right when he says: “Talking about His Lordship, Dr. Michael Nnachi Okoro is like the proverbial six blind men who went out to ‘see’ an elephant and each of them gave a different description of what he thought the elephant was like but when you put together the totality of their impressions, it is not even enough to describe the elephant.” No wonder his cook for some 30 years now, Mr. Boniface Nwankwo Ewah says the Bishop is a compendium of diligence, service, humility, good humour, knowledge, beauty and sportsmanship.
Chief Elechi’s assessment is a fruit of a relationship with the Bishop that has lasted for close to 50 years. Chief Elechi explains: “I knew him so many years ago before the civil war when as a junior priest I sighted him on a number of occasions within Abakaliki area without placing him anywhere. It happened that when the then Bishop of Ogoja Diocese, Bishop Thomas McGettrick granted me dispensation to proceed with my wedding without formalities because of the war situation, I came back with a letter from Ogoja and gave it to Fr. Sullivan at St Theresa’s; and that was in 1968. And I didn’t know who was who. But the marriage was to take place at Ezzaofu in Izzi at my father-in-law’s compound. Lo and behold Fr Michael Nnachi Okoro as he was called then. He had come to officiate at the wedding. He conducted the marriage on the 24th day of August 1968, 47 years ago. So if anybody thinks that he got to know me as a governor yesterday, the person is wrong. Ever since then we got on well.” He describes the Bishop as not just a leader of the church but a great personality.
Fr. Dr. Emmanuel Obuna, the Vocations Director and the Secretary of the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki has lived under the same roof with Bishop Okoro for 27 years serving also as his personal secretary. During these years they have ‘eaten together in the same table, prayed together, played tennis together; concelebrated Masses at the Cathedral together at every major celebration and solemnities of the church’s liturgical year; visited the same medical doctor together every year for their annual medical checkup; and so on.’ He is in the best position to tell the world about the Bishop having been with him at such close quarters for so long. He takes one round the very simple and everyday incidents in the life of the celebrant which will give one a better insight into the true personality of the real man behind the skull cap.
The first impression one gets encountering Bishop Okoro is his deep and infectious simplicity. This is a Bishop who does not go with all the ostentations of a Bishop. His regale is simple; his liturgical celebrations direct and inspiring. He chooses simple words laden with deep meaning in his speeches. He talks softly and straight to the point but sends one thinking each time he finishes speaking.
Simplicity is not a virtue which the Bishop acquired yesterday; it has been part of his entire life. Tracing to a point his memory could recall, Fr Obuna points out his encounter with the Bishop’s simplicity when he writes: “Years before he was ordained bishop, he was raised to the rank of Monsignore by Rome. But nobody ever heard it. No official ceremony was ever performed to vest him as a Monsignore as was done everywhere else; never for one day did he dress in the official regalia of a Monsignore; he simply continued to go about his pastoral duties dressed like every other simple priest in the diocese- with no titles and no honors attached,” he can still recall.
He relates another incidence where the simplicity of the Bishop shocked his audience: “The bishop once visited his elder sister in Akwa Ibom State. She was entertaining a large number of guests in her house and since he was quite advanced in age, at a point, she sent the bishop into the kitchen to get her a tray for serving the guests. As the Bishop humbly left the room to run errand, one of the guests asked his elder sister, “Is that man not a Catholic Bishop?” His sister replied, “Of course he is a Bishop but he is also my younger brother.” In other words, as her younger brother she could still send him on errands and he would obey her as his senior!”
Chief Martin Elechi has a similar impression about the Bishop’s simplicity: “Looking at him if he is not in the official uniform of the Bishop and even seeing among him other priests you would not know who he is. He is so simple in his carriage. He doesn’t puff up to show the important position he is holding. He is so natural that when you see him, he is simple, humble and his humility disarms you.”
Martin Eze, the Abakaliki Diocesan President of the Laity Council of Nigeria, sees His Lordship, Bishop Okoro as a very simple man who dresses simply. “You hardly differentiate him in the midst of other priests except when he is wearing his mitre or handling his crosier.”
Msgr. Patrick Mary Anene Muo is the Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki. He has known the Bishop for more than 50 years. He is one of the few priests in the Diocese who passed through the Bishop as a lecturer at Bigard, Enugu. Asked about the qualities he admires in the Bishop, the Vicar General says: “His Lordship is very simple and tolerant with people’s weaknesses and faults.”
Mother Helen Eze, the Superior General of the Sisters of Jesus the Good Shepherd Congregation, said Bishop Okoro is “a simple person as manifested in his pastoral life, social life and liturgical practices. He is always disposed to listen to the yearnings of his flock.
The Bishop’s simplicity has always made people miss him in his court. Visitors who go to look for the Bishop pass him by without knowing he is a Bishop. Outside his official hours, he walks around the compound in a simple T-shirt and dark trousers. On one such occasions, an old and retired teacher from outside Abakaliki came looking for him one evening. As the old man was walking up from the gate, the Bishop was strolling down towards the gate in his usual simple attire. On meeting the Bishop, the old man asked him, “Is the Bishop in?” The Bishop politely responded with, “What would you like the Bishop to do for you?” The old man in anger grumbled and left…
The Bishop is so humble and does not allow position to get into his head. Chief Martin Elechi while supporting this view cites an example of his usual personal encounter with the Bishop: “take the ritual of kneeling and kissing a bishop’s ring. I tried to do that several times but he wouldn’t allow me. He would rather shake me like somebody senior to me or at best like somebody who is his equal in spite of the great height he has attained. And I got along with him forgetting that obeisance.” He explained.
[1] An Article published on November 15, 2015
