Bishop Nwokolo celebrates Father’s Sunday with inmates of Onitsha correctional Centre, donates N1m, food items

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The Anglican Bishop on the Niger, Rt Rev Dr. Owen Nwokolo, brought smiles on the faces of the inmates of Onitsha Correctional Centre with donations of N1m and bags of food items.

The food items include 10 bags of rice, three bags of beans and five bags of garri.

The N1million will cover the cost of repairing the Centre’s vehicle for conveying the inmates to courts and three overhead tanks as requested by the Deputy Controller, Onitsha Correctional Centre, Dr. Sunday Igwe.

Nwokolo’s visit to the facility was to commemorate the global Fathers’ Sunday with the inmates.

The visit which invariably, has now assumed an annual routine of the Diocesan, culminated in a solemn church service during which event some of the inmates either received the sacrament of confirmation while some were received into the Anglican Youth Fellowship (AYF).
In his Homily preceding the rites, the bishop restated what he described as impossibility of man to serve two masters.

He had while expounding the theme of the message, “Trusting God in all things”, remarked that it is only God that one could worship and not satan and his agents, warning that one should not worship the devil in order to get rich or fame, explaining that satan’s gifts “are fake, useless, ineffective and of no practical significance”.

He passionately admonished the inmates against worrying themselves as a result of their present condition, reminding them that God, after all, is not oblivious of their plight.

Drawing their minds to the soothing parable of the birds and flowers, he told them that if God could take care of the birds and flowers, He could care much more for them, human beings, than animals and plants.

“Watch how God feeds the birds of the air. It is God that feeds them and takes care of the flowers. Think of it, birds and human beings, which do you think God values more?”, the bishop appealled to their emotions.

He therefore encouraged them to refrain from worries about their fate, entreating them to “know that tomorrow is always better than today. So, we encourage you not to worry about tomorrow, only seek first the kingdom of God and you will see how miraculously all others will be given you.

“Soon you will see that whatever that is spoilt in your life will be perfectly fixed by God if only we can trust and follow His ways and worship Him”, Bishop Nwokolo assured them.

Bishop Nwokolo explained that the money he donated was in response to the request by the Deputy Controller concerning some immediate needs of the centre.

The Deputy Controller had earlier in a brief speech complained to the bishop that some times the inmates skipped court hearings of their cases because of lack of vehicles to convey them to court.

He consequently pleaded for financial assistance to enable them fix their spoilt vehicle for court runs.

He also requested for one overhead water tank but in response, the bishop promised to give them three overhead water tanks for which he raised a cheque of N1 million, the cost of repairing their vehicle inclusive.

Receiving the cheque, Dr Igwe thanked the bishop and Diocese on the Niger for the gesture and prayed God to bless them.

In a brief chat shortly after the service, the Chaplain of the Centre, Ven. John Nkwoemezie, expressed joy for the year’s outing saying that the 2024 Episcopal Visit outshone that of the previous year by degrees.

According to him, the candidates for both the AYF and the confirmation performed extremely well in catechism and scripture reading, adding that while 21 boys were received into the AYF, 21 also received the sacrament of confirmation.

The chaplain commended Bishop Nwokolo for the fatherly care and invaluable attention which he said the chaplaincy regularly received from him.

He however appealed for volunteer church workers to help the chaplaincy’s weekly ministrations, lamenting that the place needed more hands to help beef up the services of the chaplaincy in the center.

The bishop was accompanied by his wife, Dr Nonyelum Nwokolo, a team of his ministers and numerous diocesan parishioners.