Those Who Made Us Unmarried[1]
25.10.2015
The demise of the governor’s mother has opened my eyes to many things. Besides politics, though not separate from it, Ebonyians can pray especially for the dead and mostly when it occurs in the kitchen where everybody is eating from its pot. I appreciate the mass response of Christians for the weeks Ebonyians fasted for the dead. Never in the world have I seen such prayer offered for the dead at different locations.
Next, the prayer taught me that either Ebonyians are all Catholics who hold on the doctrine of purgatory or that other Christian denominations who ridicule the doctrine are confused or they are hungry. How can one pray for the repose of the dead when you believe that heaven or hell is automatically open for one immediately after death? Let me leave that debate while you think about it.
I guess nobody will be disappointed because I guess also you know what time we are entering. We are heading to celebration galore- 75 years of birth, 50 years of priestly ordination, and 38 years of episcopacy of Most Rev. Dr. Michael Nnachi Okoro, the Catholic Bishop of Abakaliki, the grandfather of this Column. November 15, 2015, is our destination. From now till then, we take a political leave to tell the story of the birth of the church that succeeded in making an Abakaliki man to queue up in the line of those insisting they will not marry; and when he is asked to go, the village will revolt the expulsion of their son. I mean to tell the story of the birth of the Catholic Church beginning from Lower Niger and later to Ogoja and Abakaliki.
Abakaliki becoming a diocese in 1973 was a natural consequence of the evangelizing work that preceded it; it was not directly intended. The journey that later resulted in creation of different Catholic Dioceses in the Lower Niger began like a mustard seed. Like an inspiration, the evangelizing efforts of the missionaries, forbears of Catholic, were in matter of years to grow into powerful institutions with leaps and bounds stretching far beyond Africa. Put in specific history, Catholic was born in the Lower Niger on December 5, 1885 thanks to French Missionary Pioneers.
On September 29, 1885, the feast of Archangel Michael, the first missionaries, a team of four, began the work of evangelization of this part of the world. This team of four comprising of two priests- Fr. Joseph Lutz who was then Superior at Rio Ponge and Fr. Horne- and two brothers- Br. Hermias and Br. Jean-Gotto- all left their mother house in Paris for Liverpool. They had one defined objective- to plant the Catholic Faith in South Eastern Nigeria at the time referred to as the Lower Niger.
Then on Oct. 10, 1885, they left Liverpool and arrived at Sierra Leone on Monday, October 26, 1885 and remained for eight days in Freetown with Fr Lutz’s old friends and acquaintances. Fr Lutz had worked as a missionary in Sierra Leone for over ten years before he was appointed to head this new team to Eastern Nigeria. The third voyage began on Nov. 1885 when they left Sierra Leone for yet to be amalgamated Nigeria and arrived at Lagos. On Nov. 20, 1885, the team reached Akassa where they asked for permission from Captain Christian to pass up the River but he refused their request. Then on Nov. 21, 1885, the team reached Brass where they met Mr. Townsend who was very kind to them. Mr. Townsend proposed to take them to a town 200 miles away called Onitsha and on Nov. 25, 1885, they set out from Brass. After nine days they reached Onitsha on Dec. 5, 1885.
In their Missionary journal, they wrote: “After nine days of a painful journey the Fathers fairly tired arrived at Onitsha. Mr. Townsend went with them to the King from whom they asked permission to establish a residence in his country. The King received them kindly and promised a plot of ground, father himself could choose.” As a matter of fact, on Dec. 5, 1885, they chose the site “Onu Nkisi”, the place where the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha is situated today. Then in Jan. 1886, the King signed the site off to the Catholic Church. Part of their agreement with the king’s agreement with the missionaries read: “I, Obi Anazonwu, King and Chiefs of Onitsha, do of our own free will grant unto the Roman Catholic Missionaries of the Holy Ghost the ground chosen by them in perpetuity free from all tribute and dues…” That was the agreement that planted the mustard seed of Catholic Faith in this part of world.
On April 7, 1889, Pope Leo XIII granted a request to create Apostolic Prefecture of Lower Niger with the Local Superior Fr. Joseph Emile Lutz as the first Apostolic Prefect. The creation followed the consent of Bishop Le Berre who found it so difficult to administer Onitsha from St. Mary’s Gabon. The Director General of the Central Council for the Propagation of Faith in Paris, in charge of German-Cameroon Mission was to carve out a part for German missionaries. Before Fr Lutz would resign he had built the Prefecture to an enviable height. He built the people, church, schools, hospitals, dispensary, workshop and house of refuge. He took ill in July 1894 and later died in 1895.
Father Joseph Reling became the second Apostolic Prefect after Fr Lutz. He came to Nigeria in 1891. Ill health had forced him back home and while at home he was named the Apostolic Prefect. He set to return but becoming ill en route he was constrained to end in Senegal hoping full recovery to no avail. He later returned to France and sent in a letter of resignation on July 4, 1898. While he was away, Fr Bubendorf stood in for him.
Fr Rene Pawlas took from Fr Reling in 1898. He had come to Lower Niger in 1890. Like his predecessor, he was forced to return to Paris in 1893 on account of ill health. On recovery he was sent to Senegambia where he worked till 1898 when he was appointed the Apostolic Prefect. He worked hard but sadly on March 15, 1900 he died without having made an important impact.
The next Apostolic Prefect was Fr Leon Alexandre Lejeune who was appointed on May 23, 1900. The period after the first 15 years of Lower Niger Prefecture would become revolutionary. He would stay till 1905. It was during this period that contact would be made with Calabar. At the time, Calabar had become one of the most important towns in Nigeria. With a population of about 20,00 to 35,000, it attracted many merchants and colonial government officials. It was also an important connection by sea between South-Eastern Nigeria and the outside world. It was visited monthly by 8 ocean liners- four from England and four from Germany, as well as many cargo-boats.
Fr Lejeune and his missionary team visited the Station of Calabar on February 2, 1903 and soon after quickly built two schools. He stayed and worked in Old Calabar from June to mid-September. He did much to build the church and schools and strengthen Catholic faith.
The rest of the story like the coming of an Apostolic Missionary Fr Joseph Shanahan who was to help Msgr Lejeune would be the growth, spread and the fruition of God’s kingdom. Within passage of time the order of progression in ecclesiastical circumscription moved from Mission, Prefecture, Vicariate, Diocese, to Archdioceses.
In 1934, Calabar was carved out from the Prefecture of the Lower Niger and what remained was raised to the status of Vicariate known as the Vicariate of Onitsha/Owerri. In 1948, Owerri was separated from Onitsha and made a diocese. From these three (Calabar, Onitsha and Owerri) nine other dioceses sprang up. At various time Calabar province would break into: Calabar, Ogoja, Ikot Ekpene, Abakaliki and Uyo. From Owerri came: Owerri, Umuahia, Port Harcourt, Orlu, Okigwe and Aba. In 1950, Onitsha became an Archdiocese. And from it came: Onitsha, Enugu, Awka, Nsukka, Nnewi, and Awgu.
It will not be long and we see how that message got to Abakaliki making many Ebonyians childless in a culture where a man without child is considered waste.
In Bishop Shanahan’s time i.e. from 1902, the area given to the Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans) to look after stretched from Onitsha-Owerri-Port Harcourt-Calabar-Makurdi and eastwards to embrace the territory formerly referred to as English Speaking Cameroon. Unlike other areas within the above axis, Ogoja offered a great field for the Catholic Church as Protestant Churches did not come to Ogoja until the Catholic Church had worked for years. Though the Presbyterian and Lutheran Churches had penetrated Itigidi, Obubra and Ikom before the Catholic Church came to the area, their missionary activities hadn’t much impact on the people before the advent of Catholicism.
By 1911, Fr, Lena had opened Ikot Edemodo in Akpabuyo in Calabar. From there attempts to open stations at Oban and Ogoja had been embarked upon. In 1921, Fr. James Mellet who was stationed at Calabar Mission set out with Fr. Douvey to explore the possibility of Tiv Mission through Ogoja. The journey was tedious but on May 15, 1921, the Eve of Pentecost, they arrived at Ogoja and the following day, Pentecost Day, they said Mass for the people. Because of the difficulties encountered in establishing the Tiv Mission, they abandoned it and settled at Ogoja.
In 1914, Fr Francis Howard had come to Ndibe-Afikpo in one his tours and had negotiations with local leaders, starting a school with Mr. J. J. Duke from Calabar as headmaster. This initial attempt to establish a mission through school failed because of opposition from the people and in 1916, the school at Ndibe was shut down.
Between 1916 and 1920, another attempt came from missionaries at Eke, near Enugu, to establish mission no longer at Afikpo but in Abakaliki Town, the seat of the present Diocese. About the same time, another missionary incursion was ongoing at Ishiagu area of the Diocese between 1922 and 1923 where school was opened by the church. The mission at Abakaliki axis was faced with many challenges. Besides the cultural barriers, there was scarcity of priests. For instance, between 1930 and 1931, there was no priest in the present Diocese of Abakaliki. In 1932, there were eight priests in Ogoja and only two were in Abakaliki province.
In recognition of paucity of priest, in 1928, some priests from Dioceses in Ireland who had come out to Nigeria as volunteer missionaries following the invitation of Bishop Joseph Shanahan, began to come together with the desire to form a missionary society; their leader was Fr. P. J. Whitney. Rome gave approval and new society called St Patrick’s Missionary Society for Africa or simply the Kiltegan Fathers was canonically erected in 1932.
In 1934, the area comprising: Calabar-Uyo-Ikot Ekpene-Ogoja-Abakaliki was carved out from the territory once catered for by the Holy Ghost Fathers and given over to the Kiltegan Fathers and called the Prefecture Of Calabar. Msgr. James Moynagh was the first Prefect Apostolic of this prefecture. He sent more missionaries to Ogoja Province. In 1937, he sited St. Thomas’ T. T. C. at Ogoja to attract immediate grant from the government as there was yet no post-primary institution at Ogoja Area. By 1937, there were three stations, Ogoja, Abakaliki, and Boki.
On the account of the vastness of the area, Ogoja- Abakaliki was in 1938 carved out of the Prefecture of Calabar and named the prefecture of Ogoja. Msgr. Pat J. Whitney, the founder of the St. Patrick’s Missionary Society was chosen to be the first Prefect Apostolic of the new prefecture and when he became ill after two years, Msgr. Thomas McGettrick succeeded him in 1940.
When Msgr. James Moynagh was ordained Bishop in 1947, Calabar became a Diocese; and with Episcopal ordination of Msgr. Thomas McGettrick in 1955, Ogoja also became a Diocese. From the time when the territory, including Abakaliki was assigned to St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, it was clear that better attention was focused on the Ogoja Mission.
With more attention going to Abakaliki, in 1938, St Theresa’s Abakaliki had been opened and was quickly followed by St. Mary’s Afikpo in the same year. In the next 17 years, between 1940 and 1957, more parishes were opened in the following order: Ishiagu (1949), Ezza (1949), Izzi (1952), Okposi (1953), Nkalagu (1954), Umuezoka (1955), Effium (1956), Ikwo (1957).
At the same time, many schools were opened at various stations including Abakaliki area. According to statistics, by 1960, there were 178 Catholic Primary Schools in Abakaliki area of Ogoja Diocese. In 1967, shortly before the state forceful takeover of schools, there were 249 primary schools with numerical strength shooting up as high as 38,820 boys and 12,120 girls. The implication is that all these pupils were baptized before or at schools. Staffing of the schools presented a serious problem which was solved by recruiting teachers from Anua from where Monsignor Thomas McGettrick took up appointment in the new Prefecture. Because the training of teachers was so important since without trained teachers government would not assist schools. Teachers’ Training Colleges were opened together with secondary schools to absorb the products of missionary primary schools.
The church in Ogoja reached maturity in 1965 when the first indigenous son, Joseph Ukpo was ordained priest. The Abakaliki part of Ogoja Diocese in the same year on December 19, got their first indigenous priest, Michael Nnachi Okoro.
In 1971, Ogoja had an Auxiliary Bishop, Fr. Joseph Ukpo in 1971. And in March 1973 Abakaliki was carved out of Ogoja Diocese. In the same year, Bishop Joseph Ukpo took over from McGettrick who went over to man the newly created Diocese of Abakaliki. Bishop McGettrick, a veteran missionary of St Patrick’s Society had been the bishop of Ogoja since 1955. On November 27, 1977, Rev. Fr. Michael N. Okoro, was ordained an auxiliary Bishop paving way for possible indigenous Bishop.
The establishment of the Catholic Church in Abakaliki Diocese was not free of severe opposition and obstacles. Apart from the initial indifference on the part of the ‘pagan’ populations, local chiefs there and then refused to cooperate with the missionaries especially in the provision of land for schools and churches. Where they did, it was usually contaminated land such as burial grounds or disputed land. The missions at Afikpo and Ezza were built on former burial grounds. In addition, the prevalence of customs such as killing or abandoning of twins, polygamy, female adolescent circumcision and second burial ceremonies proved big obstacle to a real Christian conversion of the people.
Opposition from other Christian denominations, especially the Presbyterian Church, was strong in parts of Afikpo, Unwana, Okposi, and Ikwo areas. In the early 50s, Mr. Gunning, the District Officer for Abakaliki had plans of making Ikwo an entire Presbyterian area. His idea to encourage one Christian sect to establish in an area might have been to minimize religious conflicts. In reality this would be no solution at all.
Despite family opposition and initial hardships, the diocese recorded outstanding success in the growth of indigenous vocations especially since 1970. Whereas the diocese had only one indigenous priest before the Civil War, it had 17 by 1979 and 30 senior seminarians studying for the priesthood.
With the retirement of Bishop Thomas McGettrick in June 1983, the task of shepherding the flock had fallen on Bishop Michael Nnachi Okoro who was subsequently installed the Residential Bishop of Abakaliki on November 27, 1983, six years after his Episcopal ordination. Bishop Okoro was to begin the work of consolidation of the diocese. He became the chief shepherd of a diocese with 144,000 Catholics out of a population of 1,240,000; some 17,000 catechumens, 22 parishes, three hospitals, one leprosy centre, one minor seminary, one monastery that was just beginning and ten marriage training centres.
Yes, by priestly ordination, Bishop Okoro solved people’s puzzles in this part of the world: Can a Black man more so Ebonyian be a priest?
[1] Published October 25, 2015
