CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF ABUJA IN RETROSPECT
“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase,” (1 Cor. 3:6).
By Wed, Nov 6, 2019, the Catholic Church in Abuja would be 38-years-old that is, judging from the day she was proclaimed an Independent Mission by the Vatican. In this relatively short span of time, she has been served by four bishops in different capacities – an Ecclesiastical Superior, an Auxiliary Bishop, two Residential Bishops, two Coadjutors Bishops, two Archbishops, and two Cardinals.
Giving that within the same time space or more, some dioceses in Nigeria have had only one shepherd, Abuja could be seen as rapidly growing. Indeed, at the 2006 census, the city of Abuja had a population of 776,298, making it one of ten most populous cities in Nigeria. According to the United Nations, Abuja grew by 139.7% between 2000 and 2010, making it the fastest growing city in the world, this mainly because the capital was well planned.
The land now called Abuja was originally the south-western part of the ancient Habe (Hausa) kingdom of Zazzau (Zaria). It was populated for centuries by several semi-independent tribes. The largest of the tribes was Gbagyi (Gwari), followed by the Koro and a few other smaller tribes. In early 1800s when Zaria fell, the King fled south with some followers and his brothers “Abu Ja” and Kwaka.
History has it that the name “Abuja” was derived from “Abu Ja,” a brother to the exiled King Muhammadu Makau, the last Hausa ruler of Zaria. Makau left Zaria after he met his waterloo at the hands of the Fulani invaders and settled in the location known today as Abuja. At the wake of Makau’s demise, his brother “Abu Ja” succeeded him as King in 1825.
The full name of the King was Abubakar, shortened to “Abu.” By some accounts, his fair complexion earned him the nickname “Ja” which in Hausa, means “red” or “fair-skinned” hence, “Abu Ja” literally translates to “Abu the red” or “Abubakar the fair one.” Another historical source claims that the name “Ja” is a short of “Jatau” who was Abubakar’s father. Well, the name finally caught on quite easily when the two nouns “Abu” and “Ja” were united as one word and rendered simply as “Abuja.”
So as it were, King Abubakar Jatau founded the kingdom of Abuja in 1828 which became a major commercial centre where goods were exchanged by long distance traders. The inhabitants successfully fought off the Fulani aggressors and were not conquered as the neighbouring lands were. Yet, in 1902, with the superior firearms, Abuja was finally occupied by the British colonial army that reorganized the territory and called them “emirates” which means “kingdoms” in Arabic.
The promulgation of Decree No. 6 on Tuesday, February 3, 1976 by General Murtala Ramat Mohammed created Abuja as the new Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. On Thursday, December 12, 1991, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida made the historic move of shifting the Capital of Nigeria finally from overpopulated Lagos to the more central city of Abuja marking the mass exodus of civil servants and peoples into the new capital.
The territory was carved from parts of Niger which contributed 80% of the land, Plateau (Now Nasarawa State) which contributed 16% of the land and Kwara (Now Kogi State) which contributed 4% of the land. Abuja is located in the central region of Nigeria, surrounded to the north by Kaduna State, to the east by Nasarawa State, to the south-west by Kogi State and the west by Niger State.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja according to 2018 directory corresponds territorially with the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, which is estimated at 950,000 sq. km. in area, and has, according to another source, an estimated population of 3,095,118 as of 2019. Its Catholic population is about 550,115. Earlier, the Nigerian Hierarchy desired to have an Ecclesiastical circumscription corresponding to the Civil Territory.
This, found expression in the late 1979 and received the approval of the Sacred Congregation for Propagation of the Faith and Evangelization of the Peoples. Consequently, the Independent Mission of Abuja was established on Friday, November 6, 1981.
By simultaneous decree, His Eminence Dominic Cardinal Ignatius Udoh Ekandem, then Bishop of Ikot Ekpene Diocese, was appointed the Ecclesiastical Superior of the new Mission. He was endowed with authority to perform all acts necessary for the rule of this mission according to the prescriptions of Canon Law and the special instructions of this Congregation.
By the Apostolic Letter of Wednesday, July 19, 1989, signed by Josef Tomko, the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of Faith and by the Cardinal concerned with the public affairs of the Church, Abuja Independent Mission was raised to the status of a diocese, Suffragan to the Metropolitan Church of Kaduna.
An earlier Apostolic Bull of Sunday, June 11, 1989, signed by Pope John Paul II enthroned Dominic Cardinal Ekandem as the First Bishop. He was Installed by the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Paul Fouad Tabet on Saturday, December 16, 1989.
On Saturday, July 7, 1990, the Residential Bishop of Ilorin, John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Abuja. Following the retirement of Cardinal Ekandem on Monday, September 28, 1992, Onaiyekan was officially appointed Second Bishop of Abuja on Saturday, November 14, 1992 and installed on Wednesday, January 6, 1993.
The Appointment of Bishop Onaiyekan as an Archbishop came simultaneously with the elevation of Abuja Diocese to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Abuja on Saturday, March 26, 1994. He was installed the First Archbishop of Abuja on Sunday, August 7, 1994. Don’t forget that the appointment of Cardinal Ekandem as the First Bishop of Abuja came with a Personal Title of Archbishop.
As a result, while His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan is the FIRST Archbishop–Of–Abuja, his predecessor, His Eminence Dominic Cardinal Ekandem had the honour of being the FIRST Archbishop–In–Abuja because in his days as Abuja shepherd, Abuja was not yet an Archdiocese.
Surprisingly, Ekandem had been a Cardinal for 13 years, 6 months, 3 weeks and 1 day before his promotion to the Archbishopric. On the contrast, Onaiyekan had been an Archbishop for 18 years, 8 months and 3 days before his elevation to the Cardinalate.
Yes, On Sat, Nov 24, 2012, which incidentally marks the 17th death anniversary of Cardinal Ekandem (He died Friday, November 24, 1995 at Garki, and was buried on Saturday, December 2, 1995 at OLQN Pro-Cathedral, Garki, Abuja), Archbishop Onaiyekan was elevated to the Cardinalate by Pope Benedict XVI. He was installed Cardinal-Priest of San Saturnino on Wednesday, July 3, 2013.
In humility, he sensed earlier when his shoulders were becoming weak that he needed an assistant as provided in can. 403 § 1 and that wasn’t long in coming. On Tuesday, November 8, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed an Auxiliary Bishop for the See of Abuja.
Then, on Thursday, February 2, 2012, the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja received the precious gift of that Auxiliary Bishop in the person of Msgr. Anselm Umoren, MSP. For the past 7 years, he has collaborated with Cardinal Onaiyekan, bringing about legendary innovations in the Archdiocese.
On Tuesday, January 29, 2019 Cardinal Onaiyekan clocked 75 and following canonical provision of can. 401 § 1, he was due for retirement pending the formal acceptance of his resignation letter by the Pope.
After dutifully searching for the best among the arrays of equally worthy successors, The Holy Father Pope Francis on Monday, March 11, 2019, appointed as Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Abuja, H.E. Msgr. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, formerly Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Jos.
Prior to these epochal events, when Abuja became an Independent Mission on Friday, November 6, 1981, the Catholic Church was already well established in Nigeria. It had about eighteen dioceses or prefectures, grouped in three ecclesiastical provinces of Lagos, Onitsha and Kaduna.
Following his appointment as the Superior of Abuja in 1981, the bad roads from Ikot-Ekpene and Abuja, made regular movements between the two dioceses very difficult and therefore affected rapid development of Abuja. As a result, Cardinal Ekandem appointed Fr. Mathew Kukah then Director of Social Development for Kaduna Ecclesiastical Province and National Secretary Social Development Office, Lagos, as his Personal Aide in Abuja Mission.
A brief meeting was held between His Grace, Archbishop Peter Jatau of Kaduna, then Bishop Christopher Abba of Minna and Fr. Kukah at St. Mary’s Catholic Church Suleja in January 1982. It was resolved that Fr. Kukah’s immediate assignment would be to liaise with the Federal Government to Procure land and register the presence of the Catholic Church in Abuja.
The group later paid a courtesy call on the then Minister of FCT, Mr. John Kadiya. At this meeting, Fr. Kukah was formally introduced to him and his Land Officers. Bishop Abba offered Fr. Kukah a room at the Parish house in Suleja, Niger State. Fr. Kukah’s previous appointments coupled with the preparations for Pope John II’s visit in 1982 meant that for first three months, he could only shuttle to and fro Kaduna before finally taking residence in Suleja in May 1982.
Before departing to London in March 1986 for studies, Kukah succeeded in obtaining registration of almost all the churches which later formed the pioneering parishes and institutions of Abuja Archdiocese. Apart from Fr. Kukah, Cardinal Ekandem also had his pioneering team like Msgr. Dominic Inyang and Rev. Sisters Theresa Nwanuro and Mary Tuku of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus (HHCJ).
From the oral testimony of Msgr. Kenneth Enang, Cardinal Ekandem was the first cleric to celebrate Mass in Abuja. Fr. Aloy Udoh testify that such was done somewhere in Garki Village.
But on Easter Sunday of 1982, Msgr. Inyang was posted to start St. Paul’s Parish, Phase III, Gwagwalada. By same token, the former St. Kizito’s Parish in Bwari was in 1982, renamed St. Theresa’s Parish Bwari at the request of the organization that funded the building of the present Church. Fr. Samuel Aririatu was posted by Bishop Christopher Abba of Minna as the first parish Priest.
This has often led to the argument as to which is the first Parish in Abuja. Well, as it is clear from the above, St. Theresa’s Bwari which was later ceded to Abuja, was already in existence as a parish in Minna before the emergence of Abuja Independent Mission. St. Paul Gwagwalada which though came into being later than the Bwari Parish, remains the first parish created by Cardinal Ekandem in Abuja.
In 1983, a Marist Brother, Wilfred Ifeilichukwu Ojukwu, who already began his journey to the Priesthood in 1975 with the Congregation of the White Fathers in Canada, met with Cardinal Ekandem in Rome through the acquaintances of Dr. & Dr. (Mrs) Chike Akunyeli who urged him to return home.
After remarkably short period of probation under Very. Rev. Fr. Kenneth Enang then Vicar General of Ikot Ekpene Diocese, on Thursday, July 16, 1983, history was made when Cardinal Ekandem ordained Dr. Willy Ojukwu as the First Priest of Abuja, at Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State. On Sat, August 20, 1983, he officially began his priestly ministry in Abuja as the pioneer parish priest of St. Kizito’s Kuje.
Although Fr. Ojukwu holds the record of the First Priest Ordained for Abuja, followed by Fr. Aloysius Udoh, the late Fr. Gabriel Udoh (later excardinated and incardinated into Calabar diocese where he died), and then Fr. Anthony Onyeso; yet, from the unfolding narratives, the late Fr. Michael Akawu ordained Saturday, February 4, 2017, has gone down in history as the First Gbagyi Priest of Abuja. By that fact, Fr. Akawu remains the First Indigenous Priest of Abuja.
To wrap up our narratives, it is important to note here that other priests who joined Cardinal Ekandem in the pioneering work and helped in fast tracking the development of the young mission were Very Rev. Fr. Richard Devine of the Society of African Mission (SMA) who supervised the building of the National Missionary Seminary of St. Paul Gwagwalada, the Handmaids International Nursery/Primary School, Garki, and the first phase of Pope John Paul Catholic Centre, Wuse, respectively.
Also involved in the pioneering work were the Holy Ghost Missionaries led by Fr. Casmir Eke, CSSp, who resided in Garki, since 1983, before relocating to open St. Peter’s Parish in Abaji. Very Rev. Fr. McGuiness, SPS, and Very Rev. Fr. Kenneth Enang were equally instrumental in pushing the young mission of Abuja from grass to grace through their connections to benefactors abroad.
If we follow the logic perhaps, in a very loose sense, the late Fr. Willy Ojukwu would be deemed as the first Abuja seminarian although he was never further trained in any seminary by Abuja. However, if we begin to think of a candidate admitted and trained by Abuja then most likely Fr. Aloy Udoh the Second Priest of Abuja who joined the Abuja mission as an acolyte on Tuesday May 3, 1983 would hold that record.
What we have done here is merely to beam a searchlight through the history of the Church in Abuja. At the opportune time I believe, a more detailed history of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja would be written by those who have the competence to do so. But I do hope that this feeble effort has succeeded in attempting answers to the questions raised by Fr. Kennedy Ohazuruike, a namesake that was not. Long live the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja!