For Bishop Matthew Okpebholo, a life dedicated to God and the poor.
BY TONY ERHA
A little while ago, exemplar gentleman, shepherd-in-the-Lord’s vineyard, caregiver extraordinaire and a man with the Midas touch, Bishop (Dr.) Matthew A. Okpebholo JP, celebrated his 75th birthday, with pomp.
He marked it with his usual unconditional free giving, to the indigents and assisting institutions in a bid to serve the poor, who are dependent on them. Above all, his birthday’s marking offered him more reason to give thanks and praises to the Lord Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of his faith. Thereby, his family members, friends and the Christendom rallied around him for a thanksgiving to God, for his worthwhile living, which he had all along dedicated to serving God and giving back to humanity.
Bishop Okpebholo is so lucky for being God’s anointed and one showered with His blessings. In a clime where life expectancy is only 55 years of age, having become a septuagenarian, gives room for cheers, for he is 20 years in excess of the 55 years of a life expectation of a Nigeria, in the canal world. In Pslams 90:10, the holy book benchmarks longevity at “threescore years and 10; 70 years”. It then means, inter alia, figures beyond 70 is ‘age-bonus’
“Aha tomi bh’ agbon bhe emoen-ata, oria ki le elanmen non le enin”; says an idiom of Esan, a nativity of celebrant Bishop Okpebholo. ‘When a man turns old, in truth and uprightness, a meat-portion is often bigger than an elephant, that life has reserved for him” The gifts of a deserved aging man are numerous, as well as they are rewarding. The Graeco-Romans have it that “childhood is ignorance, adulthood breeds mistakes and old-age poses lots of regret”. Bishop Okpebholo’s would have none of these because he began his life in God’s marking and is bound to end well.
For a young man, who was gifted the wisdom of God and realised in his young age that he was going to follow His footpath, is programed to receive from God in the same manner King Solomon received silver, gold and life’s abundance from God, when all he modestly asked for wisdom.
Long before this writer came to know Matthew Okpebholo, as a hard- working, prayerful and promising young man, in 1980, he always admired him to be a devoted Christian, who had given his life to Christ and was also doing his ordinances. It was a common knowledge amongst. That was in a higher educational institution, where he did his business. It was long after 1974, when was already a devotee of the Church of God Mission, under the tutelage of the late charismatic tele-evangelist, Archbishop Benson Idahosa.
In that era, when soul-winning for Christ was most vigorous and impactful, one could recollect that the inter-denominational Christian body of workers and students of that school, was already dutiful, flocking many open and other crusades staged at Uromi town and the locality, that were organised by the young Matthew Okpebholo, who was later in 1979 ordained pastor of the church, by the Archbishop Idahosa of blessed memory. It is now history, that after a few years in 1985, he became a substantive pastor, as well as meteoric rise on the church’s rungs.
Subsequently, he was formally ordained into the five-fold ministry as a Reverend Minister under the Church of God Mission on 6th August 1989 by the same Archbishop. And for decades, his zest at saving the lost soul and widespread distribution of love and care has characterised the life of this noble and diligent personality, with his establishment of the Esan District’s Cathedral of the Church of God Mission at Uromi, his hometown, aside other churches and evangelical activities, with proceeds from sundry business he engaged in.
Yes, his calling and entrenchment to the arduous task in the Lord’s vineyard can’t be said to be uneventful and not an eye opener. In a similar manner depicting the call of Apostle Peter at the Sea of Galilee, thus emphasising the benefit of handwork or professional trade, Jesus had called on ‘Fisherman’ Peter into God’s kingdom as a ‘Fisher of Men’.
In one of his numerous, but selected motion pictures of his remarkable outdoor evangelism backed by teeming television viewings around the world, the late Archbishop Idahosa, who had ‘fire in the tongue’ made a vividly accuracate soothsaying, when he called out a young Matthew Okpebholo, from a multitude, for instantaneous divine blessing; That he is was “an Iron Bender”, who will prosper, making Uromi, a village, the headquarters of his business, with branches across the country. And it came to pass.
Young Matthew Okpebholo, until now is an honest, soft-spoken and kind-hearted man, who is easily attracted to people and so gain their trust. At the aforementioned tertiary school, he had had an ‘inexplicable’ trust and admiration from the provost (head) of the aforesaid school that was very difficult to please. Because Okpebholo was industrious and trustworthy, the provost took him for a son and had gone beyond his original profession to give him contract jobs.
It was only by hard work, diligence, trustworthiness and God’s making, not by sheer coincidence, that he became a multiple billionaire and multi-giver, who came to own a gigantic construction company and other subsidiaries, with headquarters in his Uromi town and branches in Abuja, Kaduna, Warri and others. His ubiquitous business brand name is Ray Royal.
Often described as a man, who has the ‘Midas touch’, an allusion to the mythical Greek king, who derived gold and wealth from all businesses he ventured, Bishop Okpebholo gained his frequency with opulence, from a cheerful soul that is appended to love, humility, charitable giving and Godliness. It is interesting that Matthew Okpebholo, who was nicknamed “Mr. Noble’, is a ‘free giving marathoner’, who had taken the nobility from the decades that I got to know him to the presence.
With numerous activities already etched in his name, before the Matthew Okpebholo Foundation, an official trustee which came handy, following lots of his unrestrained giving, the general activity is known to cover areas as education, roads and infrastructure, local community enhancing, agriculture, health etc. He had tarred, repaired and handed over roads and bridges to local communities and governments. Hundreds of thousands of students benefit from his educational scholarship schemes, much more as he had built roads, infrastructure and others to schools. He continually builds health infrastructure, donate schemes and other facilities to health institutions, like that of the University of Benin and Irrua Teaching Hospital, Irrua, which was inaugurated during his last birthday anniversary.
Born on 15th June, 1950 to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Okpebholo in Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State, is married to Rev. (Mrs.) Veronica Okpebholo, an equally dedicated woman of God. They have six children and several grandchildren.
To many people, it may seem that Bishop Okpebholo and Edo State governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo are blood relations. But, it is only a coincidence of name. Both are lovable personalities from the same Esan, another name for the Edo Central Senatorial District. But both have striking similarities. Down to earth, humble, kind, generous and focused!
Tony Erha is an Abuja based journalist and activist.
