By Everest Ezihe
Life is full of myths and uncertainty, just like Nneoma Nkechi Rochas Okorocha, the wife of Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, in the eyes of the world, she stands and represents different things to different persons but all the attributes are anchored on sterling characters that are beneficial to humanity.
It is not by chance that she receive this Nneoma accolade from the Catholic Church. It is simply in her nature to always do good. Her sing-song is that this life is vanity but the best services ever rendered is that rendered to humanity and always conscious of heavenly race.
Ironically, she is not boisterous of her doing good. Despite being a wife of a multi-billionaire personality who is also a political icon, simplicity and humanity are in her blood while helping and serving the needy is her passion and compassion. Nneoma is one woman you will visit no matter how many times; she must visit her bedroom to shower you with love gifts. Certainly, you will never identify her worth by her dressing. Thus in so many public functions, so many people mistake her personality, if not the litany of personal aids and security men that surrounded her. She often feels irritated by the officials accompanying her; she is the type that always wants to be free.
Nkechi Okorocha
Do you know that Nneoma as she is popularly called due to her meek of human kindness is the type that likes to enter keke or taxi to go to the market, buy all the things she wants to buy and interact with a market woman and freely enter the Keke to her husbands Paradise on earth palace? Simplicity and interacting with less privilege and the poorest of the poor inspires her a lot.
Unfortunately, official doom and her personalities do not guarantee most of her life desires. Recall that she is not only a wife of a frontline Governor and a business mogul; she is the Chairperson of Southern Governor’s Wives Forum. Apart from being the founder and proprietor of Women of Divine Destiny Initiative (WODDI), a non-government philanthropic organization, a project which has been in existence long before she became the First Lady of Imo State.
She primarily established this organization due to her passion in uplifting the welfare of families. A consummate woman of distinction who is also charity people filed, no wonder in Imo state and Nigeria at large most people described her as Mother Theresa of our time.
To demonstrate her instinct for hard work, discipline, visionary leadership and managerial acumen when her husband was sworn in as the 5th substantive Executive Governor of Imo State on May 29th, 2011, she saw a greater need to continue with her philanthropic projects and then expanded the scope of WODDI, which now has other charitable initiatives through which she has equally made bold imprints on the sands of history. These include: She Needs A Roof Project (SNARP), Skills Acquisition Centre, Nneoma Campus Summit, Nneoma Kitchen, Leadership Forum and IMO monthly Prayer Meeting.
Others include Girls Child Summit, Nneoma Schools Stop Over Programme, Nneoma Fit for Life, Nneoma women Empowerment Programs, August Meetings and Health Programmes among others.
That Nneoma Rochas Nkechi Okorocha is a workaholic is simply overstating an obvious, she is the Vice – President of Rochas Foundation Incorporated which comprises of Rochas Foundation Colleges, spread across the nation in Owerri and Ogboko in Ideato South local government areas of Imo State, Jos in Plateau State, Ibadan in Oyo State and in Kano, Kano State. Efforts have been advanced to build more of the schools in Bauchi, Abuja and Lagos States.
Despite her religious life, hard work and philanthropic by nature, she is equally an epitome of natural beauty with brain, a voracious reader and an ardent lover of education. She holds Diploma in Catering and Hotel Management from Malvin School of Catering and Hotel Management Owerri, B.Sc (Hons) Degree in Accounting and Masters Degree (M.Sc) in International Law and Diplomacy, all of the Universty of Jos. Just last April she reached the pinnacle of her educational pursuit as she finished her thesis and bagged Doctor of Philosophy Ph.D. in International Affairs and Diplomacy from Imo State University, Owerri.
As a mother with burning desire to re-invent her generation and better the future from her milk of intellectual prowess, she has authored several books and presented papers on topical issues.
The books she personally authored and based on her personal experiences in life are:
Woman: The Home Builder, Woman: The Intercessor, My Child, Dignity of Womanhood, The Power of Image, Nneoma Magazine series, SNARP Magazine series and Woman: Vessels for Transformation.
The books are emotional and knowledge driven and it depicts her personality.
Even being a frontline member, Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA), Member, Nigeria Guild of Editors as well as other professional bodies, she is also the Chief Executive Officers of Lamonde Homes and Lamonde Hotels.
Nneoma Nkechi Rochas Okorocha’s life is a true testimony of God’s infinite mercy and grace in all ramifications of human endeavor, born in Umuso, Eluama in Isukwato council area of Abia State of rich parents, Late Chief and Lolo Bernard Nnadi Nwosu and married to a futuristic but courageous young man with poor parental background, Owelle Rochas Okorocha of Umuduruehughara, Ogboko in Ideato South local government area of Imo State.
The blissful marriage is blessed with 6 biological children, 4 grandchildren and well over 10,000 adopted children from the six geo-political zones of the country.
Okorocha is too fond of her, the reason is not only because they dance together regularly nor is it because they most often pray and worship together even as they joke a lot but because she understands her husband’s password. Here- in, lies the secrets of the love birds.