AHIARA DIOCESE CRISIS: THE UNTOLD STORIES…14

Race to Inauguration

Returning home after his Episcopal ordination in Rome, the new bishop settled at Assumpta Cathedral where he divided his time between his former residence at Mount Carmel Church, Emekuku, and his temporary residence at Assumpta Cathedral. Immediately after the ordination, preparation for the new bishop’s installation and inauguration of Ahiara Diocese on January 31, 1988 took off in a more dramatic and ferocious fashion. There were two main fronts where the preparations were taking place with all intensity.

At Assumpta Cathedral there began the marathon meetings of the Joint Committee for the installation of the new bishop and the inauguration of Ahiara Diocese. Prominent Catholics of the old Diocese of Owerri and their counterparts from the new Diocese of Ahiara were constituted as members of this special committee.They began meeting more frequently in earnest to ensure a smooth and successful inauguration.The Committee was concerned with fulfilling some previously agreed severance package for the establishment of a new diocese coming out of Owerri Diocese. It worked also towards the provision of accommodation for the installing prelate and his staff, namely, the Papal pro-Nuncio, Archbishop Paul Tabet, as well as the provision of a few other items such as a brand new Peugeot 505 Car for the new bishop of the new Diocese of Ahiara.The precedent for this was already set in 1980 when Orlu Diocese was created. So, what the joint committee did was to actuate an already existing template for the establishment of a new diocese.

But the place of real activity was in Mbaise land where a very large committee dealing with the nitty-gritty of the installation and inauguration met almost every day.The committee in Mbaise was working night and day at a breath-taking speed of light.The deadline for the inauguration was barely three weeks away.And the goals to be accomplished by every subcommittee were enormous. The new diocese to be inaugurated had practically nothing available to host the installation and inauguration of a diocese. And Mbaise people decided that they would not offer any excuses for any lapses whatsoever.They determined to provide every basic thing that would be needed for a successful inauguration of their diocese.And that was what the subcommittees set out to accomplish.

There was no basic infrastructure of any kind in Mbaise land to build upon as far as the new diocese was concerned. Nothing was on the ground to stand a diocese on.From cruets and chalice for the liturgy to a room in which the new bishop could rest in; there was practically nothing at St Brigid’s Church, Ahiara, to begin a new diocese with. The situation of St Brigid’s was not only deplorable but in fact scandalous. It was poor and unkempt lacking in almost anything that could suggest that Mbaise people had attained some level of modernity. The committee was more than determined to change all that within the remaining three weeks before the inauguration. So, the various subcommittees set to work. They determined to work at a jet-speed to meet all their targets.

The Works Committee headed by Chief [Now Eze] B.N. Amaechi had the most on its plate. For it to achieve its many set goals it would have to work at a speed unknown to any of its members before.And that it set itself to doing. It determined to erect some very important buildings at the compound of St Brigid’s Church within the three weeks available.And the works took off at every spot.First, the rectory of St Brigid’s Church needed a little renovation. There was no room in it in which the new bishop could live. To address this situation, the Works Subcommittee members decided to reconstruct the garage area of the building.They tore it down, rebuilt and decked it.On top of the old garage they constructed the new bishop’s bed room. The former garage itself was transformed into the new bishop’s sitting [living] room downstairs.Brand new upholstery seats and beds were introduced in the available rooms of the now transformed rectory.

With regard to staff quarters, especially for the priests who would work at the new chancery office of the new diocese, there was nothing at all that could be reconstructed or transformed into a temporary residence for them.So, the Works Subcommittee set a target to construct a bungalow of three mini-flats with all the conveniences to accommodate the three priests.And immediately work began most ferociously on the bungalow. About two weeks into the preparation for the inauguration a brand new bungalow of several mini-flats was standing majestically in the compound of St Brigid’s Church, Ahiara. What a miracle!Everybody was in shock at the speed the whole place was getting transformed.

The next challenge for the Works Subcommittee was to provide a temporary secretariat for the new diocese.Again there was nothing by way of building that could be reconstructed and transformed into a temporary secretariat for the new diocese. The Works Subcommittee that executed the instructions and policies of the Central Working Committee embarked on constructing a brand new temporary secretariat of about six rooms with all the conveniences. Again workers were mobilized to attack this aspect of the challenge. Everything would have to be ready within three weeks. And before one could even blink an eye, the temporary secretariat of the new diocese was standing in the outlying area of St Brigid’s Church.

Again, the Central Working Committee set her sight at the Arena the installation would be taking place.St Brigid’s Church itself was ruled out as a possible venue for the installation because it was adjudged to be too small a place to accommodate the mammoth crowd that would converge at Ahiara to be a part of the occasion. The Central Committee with its Works Subcommittee decided to construct a brand new Arena with a state-of-the-art podium and booths in the quadrangle of St Brigid’s old Church compound across the road. Immediately workers were converged at this spot to make sure it was made ready for the ceremony that was only three weeks away. The Works Subcommittee at the instruction of the Central Working Committee also touched on St Brigid’s Church whose status had suddenly risen from that of a local parish Church to a Cathedral.

While the Central Working Committee for the inauguration with its most busy subcommittee, the Works Subcommittee, steamed full speed ahead, the other subcommittees were also very busy.

The Liturgy Subcommittee was firing in all cylinders.The Maestro, Peace Val Ihim, was hard at work preparing the mammoth choir that would sing the special songs he had composed for the occasion.The other arms of the Liturgy Subcommittee were equally hard at work providing every aspect of the liturgical materials the new diocese would need not only for the occasion of the installation but also for a proper take off as a full-fledged diocese since the diocese had practically nothing to begin with. Besides working hard to provide the basic needs like cruets and chalices for the liturgy, the liturgy subcommittee embarked on getting ready for use on the day of the installation the first diocesan liturgical uniform for concelebrating priests. It was a golden chasuble customized for Mbaise priests who would participate in the occasion of the installation.

The other arms of the Central Committee such as the Finance Subcommittee charged with raising the monster capital for the installation, the Protocol and Publicity Subcommittee, the Entertainment Committee and the Security Subcommittee, were busy doing their own things.The publicity subcommittee embarked on producing a very memorable brochure that chronicled the history and different aspects of the growth of the Catholic Church in Mbaise land.

Showcasing some of the best minds in Mbaise who are in the mass media, the protocol and publicity subcommittee embarked on marketing the event of the inauguration of Ahiara Diocese and the installation of Bishop Chikwe all across Nigeria. Notwithstanding the fact that the event occurred more than twenty five years before the birth of the social media, people from all over Nigeria got to know that an event of the greatest significance was about to take place in Mbaise land thanks to the activities of the publicity subcommittee.

While the preparation for the inauguration of Ahiara Diocese and the installation of Bishop Chikwe was a beehive-like, back at Owerri preparations continued at both the joint committee level and between the new Bishop and his former boss being Bishop Unegbu.For the joint committee laboring to procure and provide the agreed package for the new bishop of a new diocese separating from Owerri Diocese, the headache became providing a good accommodation to the Papal Nuncio and his entourage.

The joint committee had allegedly and falsely believed that the accommodation of the Papal Nuncio and his entourage would be a sure thing at Bishop Unegbu’s rectory.But the latter allegedly declined accommodating the Nuncio insisting that the august visitor to the installation would have to be accommodated at the Concord Hotels Owerri. This created confusion among the members of the joint committee.It made some people conclude that the frayed nerves between Bishop Unegbu and the Nuncio which had flayed up in the days leading to the creation of Ahiara Diocese had not subsided. It was also thought in some quarters that Bishop Unegbu was still sulking about the creation of Ahiara Diocese. One way or the other, many people were convinced that Bishop Unegbu was unhappy with what was happening around the creation of the new diocese.

Notwithstanding the bad public relations which a potential accommodation of the Papal Nuncio at Concord Hotels might bring to him and the entire Owerri Diocese, Bishop Unegbu stuck to his gun insisting that an accommodation had to be reserved for the Papal Nuncio at the Concord Hotels in new Owerri. For a while a good number of the members of the Joint Committee would be terribly confused about how to proceed. But on learning about the confusion that was developing regarding where to accommodate the Papal Nuncio, the Military Governor of Imo State, Navy Captain Amadi Ikwuechegh with his wife, Frances Ikwechegh, both strong Catholics and the first governors to be Catholics in the history of Imo State, stepped in and offered to accommodate the Papal Nuncio and his entourage in the government lodge. This brought a tremendous relief in the whole preparation for the installation. It quelled the palpable anxiety that had grown exponentially over where the august visitors from the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos were to be accommodated.

To be continued….