AHIARA CRISIS: COUNTDOWN TO CATASTROPHE?

[Fr David Ihenacho's article published in The Sun Newspaper in May 2013]

Barring some last-minute resolution, deals and other yet-to-be known permutations, the stage appears set for a catastrophe of immense magnitude engulfing the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara, Mbaise, Imo State, and subsequently the Catholic Church of Nigeria and Africa as a whole, on Tuesday, May 21, 2013. That is the day Msgr. Ebere Peter Okpalaeke, the pope-appointed bishop-elect of Ahiara Diocese is scheduled to be ordained and installed in Maria Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral, Ahiara, Mbaise.

As the day for this totally avoidable Armageddon draws near, fear and uncertainty have seized control of all the dwellers of Mbaise land. Mbaise people are worried sick about what will become of them and their precious Catholic faith when the dust settles after their expected titanic battle against the Nigerian Catholic hierarchy on the vexed issue of Msgr. Okpalaeke’s potential bishopric in Ahiara Diocese.

For many people in Mbaise, what is about to occur in their land is likely to result in an end to Catholicism as we know it in the territory. The mere thought of this is causing sleepless nights to many Mbaise sons and daughters across the world. This is because Catholicism is all that many Mbaise people have got going for them in the world. There is practically nothing here to give succour to the indigenes of Mbaise land other than the Catholic faith.

There is no government presence here. There is practically nothing the Nigerian government and her subsidiaries in both the defunct East Central State and the present Imo State have done for the people of Mbaise in the last one hundred years. The Catholic Church appears to be the only thing the people of the area can cling unto in their desperation resulting from an absolute lack of any meaningful government concern in their territory.

And should Mbaise land lose her Catholicism as a result of this imminent “war”, it will certainly devastate the psyche of Mbaise peoples everywhere. The trauma resulting from such an event will take generations to heal. But the greatest tragedy of the event will undoubtedly belong to Catholicism in general both in Nigeria and the world over. In the event Mbaise Catholicism goes under as a result of this raging crisis, Catholicism worldwide would have perhaps suffered one of its greatest setbacks since the Reformation. This is because Mbaise land is famous worldwide as the “Ireland of Africa.” Such is in recognition of Mbaise people’s fidelity and dedication to the Catholic faith. There appears to be no other place in the continent of Africa that the Catholic faith has taken a deeper root than in Mbaise land.

Unfortunately, this century-old advantage is about to go up in flames in order to satisfy the desires of one single priest from Awka Diocese in Anambra State. It is very unfortunate that the Catholic Church of Nigeria is about to throw away the 99 dedicated sheep from Mbaise in favour of one wandering shepherd from Awka Diocese. People of the world must know that a tragedy of unspeakable proportion is in the offing in Mbaise land as a result of what is being seen by Mbaise people as “greed,” “injustice” and “Satanic grab-it-all mentality” that have crept into the Holy Roman Catholic Church of Nigeria.

Since the announcement of Msgr. Okpalaeke’s appointment on Friday, December 7, 2012, as bishop-elect of Ahiara Diocese by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the once idyllic Mbaise land has known no peace. The people of the diocese, mainly the clergy and lay faithful have been fighting a relentless battle to get the Vatican to change her mind on the appointment. But all have so far proved abortive as the Vatican and the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria [CBCN] appear stuck to their guns and more determined than ever before to ordain Msgr. Okpalaeke as the substantive bishop of Ahiara Diocese, come what may!

What all this translates to is some kind of an epic battle is brewing in Ahiara Diocese on the said date of the ordination. The people of Ahiara Diocese are fine-tuning their preparations to defend against what they perceive as an army of injustice that is about to invade their land. Mbaise people believe that they have a moral obligation to fight injustice and internal colonization which they believe the Nigerian Catholic hierarchy appears to be fostering and foisting on them in this 21st century Nigeria. Communities in Mbaise have formed their militias who are now keeping vigils against any surprise attacks.

On their part, the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, fired by their “holy obedience to the Holy Father” and some “righteous zeal” see no other road ahead of them than to speed ahead to Ahiara Diocese on May 21, 2013, to ensure the realization of the Episcopal mandate given to Msgr. Okpalaeke.

However, while many bishops insist that there will be no use of force during the ordination, the same is hardly true of some individuals and organizations working for the bishop-elect. Just this last Saturday, May 11, 2013, the Supreme Knight [SK] of the Knights of St Mulumba, Chief Anthony Onuh, KSM, was at Christ the King Cathedral, Aba, Abia State, where the Knights had gathered for their investiture, and in front of the bishop of Aba Diocese, Most Rev V.V. Ezeonyia, CSSp, boasting of how he had mobilized his Knights across the nation and readied the police and the army from all over Nigeria to descend on Ahiara Diocese on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 to ensure the Episcopal ordination of Msgr. Peter Okpalaeke.

My fellow compatriots, a freak freight train is in full speed on its way towards Mbaise land. And a huge train wreck of near nuclear proportion will happen on that day of the Msgr. Okpalaeke’s ordination in Ahiara Diocese if the Nigerian Catholic hierarchy and the elite Catholics of Mbaise land do not back down from this deadly dance. This needless explosion will surely occur unless one of the combatants reverses course to allow sanity prevail. So, as the countdown for that “day of wrath” begins, one has to ask whether such a battle is needed in the young Catholicism of Nigeria. Can the Catholic Church worldwide afford this needless disaster? We doubt it!

We believe that there is still a way out of this imminent catastrophic train wreck. First, the bishop-elect must know that he has obligation to serve the Catholic Church in good faith. In view of the current crisis and the deep bad blood that is running as a result, Msgr. Okpalaeke must know that there is no possible way he could serve God and the Catholic Church in good faith in Ahiara Diocese. The pool is terribly poisoned for him. If he does not yet realize how impossible the bishopric of Ahiara Diocese has become for him, then he is living in a dream world. As far as we are concerned, it is all over for the bishop-elect in Ahiara Diocese. His bishopric symbol and credentials have been terribly distorted and damaged by the persistent crisis in the diocese.

Second, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria should know that it is about time they started looking beyond the appointment Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI made in favour of Msgr. Okpalaeke in Ahiara Diocese. They must start looking after the welfare of the more than one million Catholics who hail from Mbaise rather than the interest of a single individual called Peter Okpalaeke. History will not be kind to them if in pursuit of a slipping mandate given to one individual priest from Awka Diocese they throw away the souls of over a million Catholics in Mbaise.

Third, Mbaise Catholics must know that it is totally un-Catholic for them to pretend to dictate to the Pope who will eventually emerge as their bishop. It is the Pope who has the right to appoint bishops in the Catholic Church. That tradition is not going to change because there is some crisis in Ahiara Diocese on the appointment of a bishop Mbaise people do not like. The people of Ahiara Diocese must know that the most they are likely to get as a result of their agitation is more transparency and fairness in the processes that produce bishops in Nigeria.