VP Osinbajo’s Remarks At The 59th Birthday Celebration Of Senator Rochas Okorocha On 30/09/2021

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REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE 59TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION OF SEN. ROCHAS OKOROCHA ON THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2021

On September 22nd 2018, in Owerri at his 56th birthday, (that is the birthday of my dear brother, Senator Rochas Anayo Okorocha), I was speaking to the boys and girls of the Rochas Foundation Colleges and the Rochas Foundation College of Africa, I said the following about their father and founder then:

“You will come across many wealthy men and women in life, many dignitaries political, religious and business leaders and celebrities of every kind, all popular, all well-known, but you will find only a few men and women of significance. Significance is the step beyond being popular or being important, it is a position of merit not just physically but also spiritually, only men and women who transform the lives and destinies of others especially those who have no way of paying them back thereby attain significance.”

Significance comes to a man or woman when you take on an assignment that can shape the destinies of others, spending your own resources. Not just by making one donation, but committing your whole life, to the enterprise. That is how to attain significance.

But we are told already that Rochas Okorocha at the age of 37 started the Rochas Foundation, which now has 21 tuition-free schools across 12 states in Nigeria. This includes the Rochas Foundation College of Africa which has children from 31 African countries- orphans or underprivileged in some way, schooling in one of the best school and boarding facilities that I have ever seen. And all of these free of charge. Certainly, the man has attained significance.

A man can have thousands of children all over the world as Senator Okorocha has. But also the burden of caring for them and the man himself is on a patient, kind-hearted wife. My sister, Her Excellency, Mrs Nkechi Okorocha, is the mother of thousands of Okorocha children and an activist for the rights and welfare of widows. She started the SNAP project an acronym for SHE NEEDS A ROOF PROJECT, a scheme that builds comfortable houses for poor women especially widows and she has built scores of decent houses for them.

But what is even more remarkable is that the young Okorochas are following the excellent example of their father, and mother. All are involved in consequential philanthropic activities.
• UCY is the DG of the foundation.
• Anam has the Anam Rochas Foundation,
• Amen has the Juremi Foundation.

And the seeds are evident, legacy is built every day. I think the Okorocha family led by their Patriarch are building a formidable legacy indeed. Showing us all what selflessness and generosity can mean to the lives of thousands. Serving God by serving the children that God brought into this world. Showing us that unity is possible in a nation as diverse as ours, and in a continent of nations so different. And daily as these talented children blossom and grow to be the giants in science, the arts, in politics, and religion, we see what the love and sacrifice of one man and his family can do.

So, my dear brother, on this special anniversary of your birth, my wife and I join your dear family and millions all over the world to wish you a very happy birthday.

As your days so shall your strength, wisdom and favor with God. God Bless you, my dear brother.