Chris Okotie
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Reverend Chris Okotie (b. 16 June 1959) has been pastor of The Household of God Church International Ministries, Lagos, Nigeria since February 1987. Born to Francis Idje and Cecilia Okotie, in Ethiope-West, Delta State, then Bendel State.
[edit] Biography
He attended secondary school at Edo College, Benin City, where his music talent began to evolve. In 1984, he became a graduate at Law from the University of Nigeria at Nsukka. Eloquent, intelligent, and witty, Okotie largely abandoned the law profession soon after graduation and went on to a highly successful pop music career.
At the height of his pop music success, he found God, attended the Grace Fellowship Bible School, and soon after, established the Household of God Ministry.
One of the highlights of his ministry is his charitable outreach. He is the mastermind of the annual Karis Awards (est. 1990), hosted by his church. The Karis Awards sets out to recognise and financially reward, in the presence of current government functionaries, Nigerian citizens who have selflessly served the nation. Past recipients have included nationalists such as Mallam Aminu Kano and Chief Mrs Margaret Ekpo, activists such as Pa Michael Imodou and Major Isaac Adaka Boro, as well as Nigerians who have distinguished themselves through their honesty (such as a policeman who found hundreds of thousands of naira at an accident site yet returned all of it to its source).
The GRACE Program also hosted alongside the Karis Awards, makes presentations of significant cash and material contributions to orphanages,institutions for the physically challenged and similar organisations.
In 2003, politics beckoned. Okotie ran for the President under the banner of the Justice Party (JP). He lost to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in the May 2003 elections.
He became the first clergyman in the history of contemporary democracy to chair a political party, the Fresh Democratic Party (FRESH). FRESH is one of the newly registered political parties in Nigeria. Okotie also becomes the most popular presidential aspirant in Nigeria as reported by the Silverbird Popularity Poll conducted by Silverbird TV and Vanguard Newspapers in Nigeria - the first ever opinion poll to be conducted nationwide[citation needed]. Reverend Okotie has announced that he will contest for the presidency in the 2007 elections.
The concept of the GRACE event which means G = God's R = Riches A= At C = Christ E = Expense His Motto is True Greatness is not in being great but the ability to make others great. He has being an amazing teacher, Father friend and Pastor to so many other group in Nigeria.
In every generation there are a few people that exist to bring about change, effect change and stict their neck to ensure that the change is executed effectively.
Pastor Chris Okotie is a phenomenal man and one of Nigerians brightest creative, controversial, talent and gifted teacher of this generation.
He has fought against all odds to tell the truth about the Bible and most the messages preached even refuted by some known minsiters are being followed. He is a Pace and a trend setter.
CriticsThis is not completely true.
Despite his smooth personality and words, Chris Okotie is not without faults, critics argued that he is just an overzealous and overambitious individual who want to assert himself in politics because of his confident in manipulating words, and its personal ambition not the love of the country that is driving him to politics. The criticism is based on what Chris Okotie did to consolidate power at the early stages of the House Hold of God Church; he summarily dismissed some of the leaders of the church, whom he regarded as potential threat to his absolute control of the church’s finance, leadership and sometime his interpretation of the Bible. The critics also point to his failed marriage and his seemingly fictitious books which he present as an interpretation of Bible mysteries. Notable among the dismissed members from the leadership position in the House Hold of God Church were Taiwo Odukoya and his wife Bimbo Odukoya. Bimbo, who is now deceased, later became one of Nigeria’s leading Christian youth councilor.
== Publication: ==
The Last Outcast (2001)
