From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
It was a great boost for the Archbishop Valerian Okeke Music Academy (AVOMA) recently, as a philanthropist and politician, Chief Johnbosco Onunkwo handed over a music complex to the group. The edifice was also furnished with furniture and equipment.
Daily Sun gathered that Onunkwo, an Anambra governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had also donated vehicles and other logistics to the group in the past.
Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha, Valerian Okeke during the pontifical high mass marking the dedication of the music complex described Chief Johnbosco Onukwo as a politician with a difference and rare gift to humanity.
Onunkwo gave an inspirational testimony of how his association with the AVOMA group turned his life around and gave him several miracles.
He said he has received many breakthroughs in difficult situations including the miraculous delivery of a baby boy by his wife in the United Kingdom in spite of life-threatening complications.
“Initially, I wanted to be spending money on the project in trickles, as a ‘civil servant.’ But I discovered that anytime I remember AVOMA, blessings come to me. I heard the angelic voices of the children and was marveled.
“In my house in the village, we normally do all night vigil on the first night of every month. AVOMA now said they would come and be with the Onunkwo family in one of the nights.
“My wife was pregnant and in the UK in transit to America to deliver. But in the UK, she had complications. When she got to the hospital in the UK, the doctor said it was a 50-50 chance. Then, we were no longer talking about the life of the baby but how my wife could come out alive.
“In the midnight, she entered the theatre, and I signed my consent. Then I burst into songs of praise, because I know God wouldn’t allow me to be put to shame.
“With the angelic voice from AVOMA and other priests present storming heaven with praises,, at midnight, I got a call that the surgery had been completed and surprisingly to even the doctors, the baby was alive and kicking and my wife was okay too. In the morning, I told the AVOMA singers that my covenant with them is in the present continuous tense. This was because there is no place you hear the angelic voices in prayer and praises and there won’t be exploits in the spirit,” he said.
He recalled that even during the COVID-19 lockdown, everything was on standstill in the country but God was still bringing the resources needed to deliver on the project.
“It was tough but I like working in sorrow so I can reap bountifully. On October 12, 2020, I prayed to God to release what we would need to complete the project and He not only answered but surprised me beyond expectation. I am a living witness of the assertion –From zero to hero.”
He noted that the important lesion in the situation was to sow painfully and help someone in need without expecting anything in return so that God would do his own surprise.
“I’m privileged to get closer to Archbishop Okeke whose persona exudes grace. We are tapping from that grace. I have not benefited anything from government but God has been giving me favours to my own surprise.”
He said Nigeria is blessed with enormous resources and urged the citizens to avoid complaining of hardship but rather try to be unique and distinct in whatever they are doing.
“In my life trajectory, I was a village palm tree cutter, did menial jobs to survive and also engaged in cab driving. The first thing I did after youth service was to buy a car so that I can mingle with the big men who come to Port Harcourt airport.
“I was driving big men around and served one for three years and he refused to bless me. One day, I collected a letterhead and wrote to a company and I was employed. That was the beginning of my journey to real progress.
“We have been commissioning projects everywhere – schools, free medicals etc and it is not by our own power but God’s grace. By March, we shall commission a hospital I’m building in my father’s memory,” he stated.
He advised people to identify their strengths and let go of their weaknesses.
