By Senior Citizen Solomon Okpo
Ladies and gentlemen, saints and choristers, trumpeters and tambourine shakers, gather around! A mighty man of melody, the General Overseer of Music in the House of God, Pastor Elijah Uchenna Nkemakolam, is celebrating another birthday! But the real question remains, will this man ever slow down?
From dawn till dusk, from Sunday services to midweek rehearsals, from choir retreats to emergency praise sessions, this man is a divine workaholic! While ordinary mortals yawn through morning prayers, he is already fine-tuning harmonies. While the congregation claps casually, he is orchestrating a symphony in his head. While some of us are still negotiating with our snooze buttons, he is downloading fresh inspiration from Heaven’s Celestial Choir.
A man of many parts, choir director, vocal coach, instrumentalist, preacher, event planner, and, some say, unofficial sound engineer—his energy defies human explanation. If given the chance, he would probably organize a praise and worship concert on the very streets of Heaven before settling into his eternal mansion!
Today, as we mark this great occasion, we can only wonder: will Pastor Elijah take a break? Will he, just for once, resist the urge to correct an off-key soprano or restrain himself from adding “just one more” key change to the anthem? The answer, of course, is as predictable as a church elder’s “Hallelujah!”
So, as the trumpets sound and the drums roll, we celebrate this tireless minister, our maestro of melody, the indefatigable shepherd of sound! May his years be as sweet as his chords, his health as strong as his bass lines, and his joy as unending as his setlists!
Happy Birthday, Pst. Elijah Uchenna Nkemakolam!
May your anointing never go off-key!
