Disabled by polio at the age of four, he could not walk until he was 10 because rehabilitation and prostheses were unavailable during the civil war that ravaged eastern parts of Nigeria. Although his father had plans to have him trained as a cobbler, Okoli had ideas of his own and insisted that he be enrolled in school. Siblings and other students carried him to and from school. Against all obstacles he excelled in his studies and graduated from the University of Lagos as a medical physiologist. He went on to head the Special Sports Federation of Nigeria and National Paralympics Committee. He took Nigeria to the Atlanta and Sydney Paralympics where Nigeria won a number of medals. Okoli received the National Honours Award of Officer of the Order of the Niger by the government of Nigeria in December 2006.