By Jude Atupulazi
A business mogul, Engr Dom Okafor, says the erection of Ekwulobia as a diocese is like bringing the Gospel closer to the people; a development, he says, that will convert more souls to God.
Okafor who spoke to Fides on the phone, hailed the Supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis, for deeming Ekwulobia fit for such an elevation, even as he congratulated the new bishop of the diocese, Most Rev Peter Ebere Okpaleke.
Okafor, who said the appointment of Bishop Okpaleke came at the right time after what the bishop went through in Ahiara, Imo State, said it was a reward for patience.
He commended Bishop Okpaleke for remaining calm in the face of the humiliating experience he went through in his last assignment and noted that such virtue was needed in his new task.
Okafor enjoined members of the new diocese to cooperate with Bishop Okpaleke, especially in this early period of solidifying the diocese.
He also congratulated the Bishop of Awka Diocese, Most Rev Pailinus Ezeokafor, for his fatherly role and for holding the forte all these years as bishop of a very large diocese; even as he also congratulated the Auxiliary Bishop of Awka Diocese, Most Rev Jonas Benson Okoye, for what he termed the bishop’s spade work in Ekwulobia, which, he said, had made the work of the new diocesan bishop less difficult.
