At almost ninety years old, this tall slim, enigmatic man is still very busy. His book, DARE TO LIVE MY PASSION; Memoirs of an authentic Railway Man, will be launched on the 18th of July in Lagos. At an age when most men would have retired and gone to bed, Pa Nath (as he is fondly called) is blossoming, his fertile mind and incredible writing skills still getting better. The RADICAL REBEL (as he refers to himself) has authored several books – all of them after retirement:
Re Positioned For Christ: Testimony of a man of the world saved by Grace.
Controlling Reality: The Nigerian Railway system, junk or Jewel?
Let us raise the Decibel of National Loyalty: Reflections of a silent activist.
In addition to his books, Pa Nath keeps churning out articles on practically every contemporary issue. He has a well-stacked library where, he confesses, he “virtually lives.”
The Renaissance Editor-in-Chief, Olisa Egwuatu, had a chat with the irrepressible Pa Nath in his home at Lekki, Lagos and left with a burning impression that Nathaniel Chukwuemeka Ugochukwu Okoro has defied age.
Early Years
He was born on 26th February, 1931 to Pa Joseph Ugochukwu Okoro of Umeelebi kindred, Umuayalu village, Egbu-Owerri and Ma Bernice Nwobiara Okoro (nee Anyanwu Dede of Umuakuru, Emekeukwu). His father was an Artisan in the signals department of the then Nigerian Railways and his mother, a dressmaker for women.
The family was distinguished not by the paradigm society would ordinarily employ to define persons of high station and affluence. Papa and mama were distinguished by raw strength of character and by the gracious ways they lived their lives.
Egbu Owerri, now in Imo State, southeast Nigeria, he says, was a peaceful and humble community bound by common ancestry, shared values, and common threats. Life then was framed by customs, precedents and conventions which centered around the “offor” as symbol of truth.
“But I grew up in Umuahia and later Aba railway ‘barracks’ as the railway community was then called by non-railway people. I am still intrigued even today that our parents, with no formal education, certainly knew the future value of education hence they made us go after it with passion and dedication despite their meager resources”.
Young Nath came from a poor home – living with his family in a mud walled, thatch-roofed house, but rich in family discipline, moral training, honesty and hardwork.
The Whining School Boy
He had his first schooling moments at the St. Stephen Primary School in Umuahia Township (1939-1944). He proceeded to the Methodist Central School also in Umuahia in his fourth year. From there, he sat and passed the entrance examination to Uzuakoli Methodist College from class five and got admitted into Preparatory Class (euphemistically referred to as “prepare to go to school or prepare to go home”). This was not what he expected, so he decided to go back to the Methodist Central School to read standard six and enter a proper “college.”
Going to Owerri
“I sat and passed the next Common Entrance Examination from Methodist Central School and was admitted into Secondary Class I at the Owerri Government Middle School (now Owerri Government Secondary School) in 1945.
When I sat back later in life and reflected on the nature and composition of the 21 classmates that I left behind after four years of secondary schooling, I dare to group them into four categories:
- Artists: represented by Clement Emutchay and Grace Anowey (we had a few girls then)
- Brainiacs: represented by MSC Okoye and Godwin Akuruka – they were brilliant and as ‘smart as a whip’. You had to work twice as hard to displace them in the first two positions at every terminal examination.
- The sports giants: as represented by the likes of Uzoma Ejiogu (100 yards, 200 yards and cricket), Patrick Obi (tennis), Emmanuel Ajoku (football) and Akuruka (Cricket).
- Philosopher-Kings: represented by Evans Orjih and Ebenezer Asinobi
“My biggest problem then at Owerri was choosing what group to hob-nob with among the four groups in our class.”
Excellent teachers
We had the privilege of having the best teachers around at the time. R.F. Jumbo (Education Officer-in-Charge/Principal); Mr. Green – Mathematics; Mr. N.U. Ejiogu – Geography; Mr. T.A. Amadi – Biology; Mrs. V.M. Amadi – English & Dramatic Arts; Mr. J.W.A. Ohiwerei – Physics and Chemistry, Mr. Okon – Physical Education.
Moral Code
“When wealth is lost nothing is lost, when health is lost something is lost, but when character is lost all is lost.” These words were drummed into our ears at every opportunity and obviously played a vital role in our formation.
This code was reinforced by the school mantra, “Work hard, play hard, keep straight” which emphasized the discipline of hard work and transparent integrity.
Not forgetting the spiritual intelligence students gained from religious knowledge classes and moral instruction taught at morning devotion.
“As old boys we joyfully celebrate our Alma-mater with pride because of the impact which the school’s moral code made on our lives,” Pa Nath says.
The College Anthem
Pa Nath still recites the school anthem effortlessly, over 75 years after he first heard it: “Remember where you come from, wherever you may chance to go, uphold your supremacy, to do and to stand for the right, our Alma-mater and our country, we shall always hold them dear, for the Lord will surely bless you, Good old GSS”.
Hear him, “This became the fulcrum of my response to issues, the guiding principle of my relationships, and the force beneath the focus, direction and purpose of my working life as I pursued my vision to become the Chief Executive of the NRC and to build “Okoro of the Railway” as a brand”.
A non-negotiable habit that he acquired at school was the culture of reading books extensively and expansively. We were encouraged to “Let books by our dining table for the reason that we shall be full of delights, and to let them be our mattress and we shall keep restful rights.” Pa Nath says this was a quotation from an unknown author which was used to inculcate in his generation the benefits of reading.
On leaving school he took the first opportunity to subscribe to membership of an oversea book club and joined the cultural and literary society club in Aba. Both actions were clear testimonies and instinctive demonstrations that the spirit and the letter of Owerri Government Secondary School passed through him – just as he passed through the school in physical reality.
Event that changed his Life forever
The event was triggered at about 11.30 pm one night in January, 1949. He and his siblings were getting ready to go back to school but there was shortage of money to send them all back at once.
“It was not that we did not see the dark cloud coming. It was simply that Mama’s savings and Papa’s salary combined could only pay my board and school fees as well as Godwin’s boarding fee. Realizing this situation shattered my peace. Godwin my immediate younger brother was going to my school as a fresh student. And our two other younger siblings, Dennis and Eugene, had to wait a week or more to enable our parents raise more funds before they could go back to their elementary school. To my young mind, this was a pill too bitter to swallow. I was about to clock eighteen years of age. I knew then that my parents were not rich enough to bear the burden of educating four children. That realization changed my expectations and relationships. It was a major turning point in my life. I could not perish the thought and had no option but to respond to the situation the best way I could. I resolved there and then, to take my future in my own hands without letting anyone know. Life after all is a risk.
“So, at Aba motor park next morning, I gave my school fees to Goddy my younger brother to enable him pay his full board and school fees; and to massage his ego and get him to stand strong among other freshmen as he registered for his first term/year at the school. Thereafter, I shepherded him into a vehicle headed to Owerri while I boarded another vehicle to Port Harcourt – then Eastern headquarters of the Nigerian Railways.
Recalibrating my life
“At first, the reality of my future without a fully-rounded formal education stuck me as bleak. I was convinced that I had the potential and inner strength to connect with the success I wanted at each stage of my life. The question was how to break out of the lowest grades of the career ladder if I did nothing to improve my education, skills and competency,” he says.
Pushed by passion to overcome his handicap, he registered to become a member of the cultural society (CULSO) where he learnt the 80/20 Pareto Principle.
The club was founded, he believes, by a group of literary-minded young men and women from various walks of life resident in the then Eastern Nigeria notably Aba, Umuahia and Port Harcourt. The society collaborated with several educational institutions and projects. Most of the teachers were graduates of no mean standing including graduates of Oxford and Cambridge working as administrative officers in Eastern Nigeria Civil Service.
Some of the names that mentored him were – Mr. Gerald Moore, P.K. Nwokedi (later Justice of the Supreme Court) and Francis Ella. Some of the active members he recalls were Joe Irukwu, Paul Ogwuma, Roland Asobie and U.U. Uche. Most of the members of the club finished strong and became distinguished professionals in their fields.
A Private Student
Nath Okoro proceeded to study hard for the London Matriculation soon after passing out of the Railway Traffic Training School. For some inexplicable reason, he moved on to prepare for the Railway Higher Training Examination without completing the London Matriculation and subsequently chose to burn the midnight oil for the Chartered Institute of Transport London Graduateship Examination as Railway Traffic Cadet. He proceeded later to also sit for and pass the Associate Membership Chartered Institute of Transport, London. He also scaled through relevant exams to become registered as Chartered Member of the Chartered Instituted of Transport before getting elected much later as Fellow of the CILT (Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport).
“Up to this point, my directed focus was sharpening my professional skills and to excel under competition with better qualified colleagues academically. My working life was punctuated by serial exposure to Railway operating and management training courses. This was so because promotion was usually through selection after oral or written examinations.”
After the Nigerian civil war, his unfulfilled yearning for academics remained strong. “I soon registered as an evening student for an Accounting Degree course at the University of Lagos (1970). This was inspite of the fact that I was already reasonably high up my career ladder in the operating and commercial department of the Nigeria Railway
He was forced in his second year to trade-off this academic pursuit when he was offered headship of his department as district superintendent (East), based in Enugu.”
A similar twist of fate (promotion and transfer) stopped him from completing the LLB Law Degree at the Lagos Center of London University.
“I later settled down to study successfully for the Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate Degree courses in Theology (Christian Education Comparative Religion) at Faith Seminary and Bible College, Sango Otta, Ogun State.
Search for significance
“My life question became how I could grow strong and strive as a useful person wherever God planted me even up to my old age.”
“Papa and mama were deeply religious in their time but they did not make a great outward show of their faith. I had an early lukewarm approach to matters of religion. Church going was a Sunday affair rather than a way of life. Therefore, I was long on confessing my Christian faith, but very short in practice.”
“God sent my childhood friend, Pastor Shyngle Iwogbe Wigwe, on a rescue mission. He invited me to an outreach at the Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos, organized by the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship, Victoria Island Chapter, Lagos. We honoured the invitation and things were never the same again spiritually, physically, emotionally and materially.”
Elder Nath Okoro thus moved from a railway man to a Christian Elder with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, bearing fruits even at his old age. He attributes this to divine grace, Holy Spirit enablement and a connection to heaven, through his relationship with Jesus Christ.
As a born-again Child of God, Elder Nath Okoro understands that His life is purpose-driven, not a series of accidents. “Today I would rather thank God for his abiding grace than correct the injustices I suffered which posed serious threats to my survival in old age.”
“I shudder to think that if not for God all I could have had to show for the modest contributions I made as a top public servant in the transport sector was an empty pocket. I am grateful that I have remained a brand, ‘Okoro of The Railways,’ in and out of the Nigeria Railways space.”
Olisa Egwuatu
