AHIARA DIOCESE CRISIS: THE UNTOLD STORIES…20

Explosion of Initiatives … [i] [updated]

Having weathered the storm that erupted as a result of the publication of the first list of priests’ placements in the new diocese, Bishop Chikwe appeared poised to unleash his wonderful initiatives for the building up of the rural Diocese of Ahiara. But first, he had to confront and tackle the grave problem starring him on the face. And that had to do with the large number of priests squeezed into the eighteen parishes of the diocese who had been “deported” from Owerri Diocese following Bishop Unegbu’s non-canonical “edict” that priests of Mbaise origin previously incardinated into Owerri Diocese had suddenly become personae non gratae in his diocese and therefore were no longer needed as a result of the creation of the new diocese of Ahiara in their homeland of Mbaise.

Bishop Chikwe was determined to assuage the malignant effects of this apparently unjust and discriminatory “edict”. He appeared to have a two-pronged action plan to address the perceived priests’ surplus in the new diocese. First, he was determined to send as many Mbaise priests as possible to dioceses in Nigeria or elsewhere in which there was urgent need for priests. In the very first meeting of the Presbyterium of the diocese, he told the priests to get ready to be deployed as missionaries to many dioceses in Nigeria and elsewhere. According to Bishop Chikwe, we must transform our present liabilities or hiccups into our future gains. One of the ways we could do that, he said, was to send some of our best priests to the missions. Bishop Chikwe insisted that the new diocese must live up to her nickname as the “Ireland of Nigeria.” Living up to her calling as the “Ireland of Nigeria” meant that the new diocese must rise and become the chief missionary-producing and sending diocese of Nigeria.

Contrary to what was thought previously, Bishop Chikwe’s proposal in this regard was met with an apparent unanimous approval. Many priests who were present at that meeting expressed their willingness to serve for sometime at least as missionaries to dioceses other than their home diocese of Ahiara. All the priests who were ordained from the late 1970s were informed to prepare themselves to be sent to missions either in Nigeria or elsewhere around the world. There was that consensus that every true Mbaise priests would be ready to make any sacrifices that could help the new diocese succeed. Many said that if going to the missions to serve for sometimes was what it would take to help the new diocese stand firm on her feet, they would be willing to make the sacrifice.

The promise of the bishop to send out priest missionaries to other dioceses of Nigeria took immediate effect. Shortly after the inauguration of the diocese, Bishop Chikwe announced that two bishops from the western part of Nigeria had requested that Mbaise priests be sent to them as missionaries. They were the dioceses of Oyo and Ado Ekiti. Responding to these requests Bishop Chikwe sent four priests to the dioceses concerned. As a result, Fr Canice Osuji [now late] and Fr Joseph E. Egbule would become the first missionaries from the new diocese of Ahiara to be sent to Ado Ekiti Diocese, while Frs. Emmanuel Iregbu [now late] and Joseph O. Ezeji were sent to Oyo Diocese. These four pioneer priest missionaries from the new diocese of Ahiara complemented the Mbaise priests who were already missionaries in foreign countries sent to their respective places by Bishop Unegbu of the old Owerri Diocese. These included Fr Cletus U. Ogu who was working as a missionary in Zimbabwe and Fr Matthew Iwuji who was already a missionary to the United States of America.

The second action plan of the new bishop was to send as many priests as possible to further their education both at home and overseas. The bishop told the priests that to have as many of them as possible sent out for further education would be one of the chief projects of the new diocese. But he said that all would be contingent on a few things, namely, the availability of tuition scholarships overseas, the strength of the lean resources of the diocese to cater for higher education for priests, and the need of the diocese in general. He said that even though the diocese needed and would encourage as many priests as possible to obtain a higher education, it would be subject to diocesan needs more than anything else. He promised that every priest in the diocese would have an opportunity to obtain a higher education. But the whole process, he said, would be done fairly and in a way that would be beneficial to the individual priests and the entire diocese.

To execute his plan in this regard, Bishop Chikwe immediately sent two of the priests to the Catholic Institute of West Africa [CIWA]. At that point in time, CIWA education did not have much of a good reputation among priests. But the bishop made a promise to the two priests who willingly accepted to go to CIWA for their Master’s degrees. He told them that their education would continue elsewhere shortly after its conclusion at CIWA. Bishop Chikwe would religiously keep to his promise to Frs. Ethelbert Uwadoka and Innocent Olekamma. Immediately the duo concluded their CIWA studies he quickly facilitated their travel to Belgium and Germany where they would conclude their studies with PhD degrees.

And that was vintage Bishop Chikwe. He always kept his promise especially with regard to the education of his priests. He wanted nothing but the best education for all his priests. He also designated a few younger priests to study hard and sit for the entrance examinations into Nigerian universities. He itemized the fields of study he was interested in as the sciences for those who would later be teaching in junior seminaries and secondary schools, architecture, law, journalism, education, and the languages such as French, English language, Igbo, etc.

But the new bishop’s action plan to have as many priests as possible sent for higher education would immediately meet a roadblock as he turned his attention towards sending some priests to study overseas. At that point in time, Mbaise priests “deported” from the old diocese of Owerri who were already studying overseas numbered about eleven. There were three in the USA, four in Rome, three in Belgium and one in Austria who was yet a seminarian. To decongest the diocese the bishop wanted to send out more. But he met a serious roadblock in the process. Wherever he put in applications for the admissions of Mbaise priests they were turned down for no obvious reasons whatsoever. The entire Europe appeared blocked for Mbaise priests. The new bishop who had lofty ideas concerning the education of his priests was getting frustrated at every instance of the serial disappointments.

The diocese had nobody studying in Germany. The bishop struggled to see if he could get some priests to study in Germany. But it was blocked. He made several attempts in England, Austria, Australia, France and many other European countries but there was no luck. It appeared as if somebody was standing in the way of Ahiara Diocesan priests from getting admitted in some European universities. Even as some of priests of the diocese concluded their studies in Rome and Belgium, the bishop tried to see if he could replace them with new ones. But that proved an effort in futility. There was anxiety all over Ahiara Diocese.

It would take about twenty years for the facts to emerge of what happened to Ahiara Diocese in early 1988 with regard to the higher education of priests in European universities. A confidant of one of the leading bishops in the Igbo heartland area revealed that some Catholic Church leaders in Rome and their Nigerian counterparts deliberately blocked every move Bishop Chikwe was making to get his priests admitted to universities in Europe. This clique made up of some senior clerics in Nigeria and overseas wanted to punish Mbaise priests for daring to demand for a diocese of their own. According to him, they wanted Mbaise priests imprisoned in their rural diocese for a while. As a result, whatever admission was due to the diocese was diverted to other dioceses in Igbo heartland area.

Despite the cycle of frustrations he faced, Bishop Chikwe could not give up trying. Rather he throttled full speed ahead. He was determined to see that priests of Ahiara Diocese were not locked down in the diocese without any places to go or even to study as some ill-wishes of the diocese were wishing and hoping. In one of the Presbyterium meetings of the diocese in late 1988, the bishop made a very passionate appeal to the priests of the diocese both at home and in overseas. He told them that he had been making some serious efforts to get places of study for the priests in some European universities but was not being successful. He requested that any priests who had some ideas or connections that could help the diocese secure some places for mission or university admissions for our priests in foreign universities should quickly help out.

The bishop said that the diocese needed all hands to be on deck in order to address the problem of having more priests than places of work in the diocese. He noted that his earlier intention was to send the vibrant young priests of the diocese to great universities in Europe while reserving universities in America for some older priests who would go there for short-term courses. But since Europe appeared blocked for Ahiara Diocese he would welcome opportunities from whichever countries they could come to the diocese.

After calling for this rather fire-brigade kind of effort to decongest the diocese of surplus priests, Bishop Chikwe sent his requests to Ahiara Diocesan priests all over the world. Fr Innocent Emechete, who was then parish priest of St Charles Enyiogugu, whose document as a permanent resident in America was still valid, volunteered to return to America to try to help out. He was readily granted his wish. He quickly returned to Sacramento in California and began working immediately.

At that time, Fr Eugene Azorji had finished his studies in Rome and was residing in Staten Island in New York where he pursued another higher degree in education. The bishop asked him to scour the whole New York area to see if there could be any outlets for our priests. He readily accepted and also began working immediately. The same message was sent to Fr Anselm Anukam [now late] in the Los Angeles area and Fr Thomas Kizito Nwachukwu-Uduaku in the San Anthonio- Corpus Christi area. Everybody was hard at work to decongest Ahiara Diocese of priests that were not fully engaged in the new diocese.

The bishop enlisted all hands of Mbaise priests everywhere in the world to try to address what was being seen as a potential subject of mockery among anti-Mbaise forces in the Igbo heartland area, namely, that the new diocese had more priests than she had places for them to work. The most fruitful opening for Mbaise priests to be admitted into foreign universities, especially in America, would come to Ahiara Diocese from the leader of the Vocationist Congregation, Fr Louis Caputo, through Fr Matthias Ndulaka, his friend.

It would be recalled that from the mid-1980s the American, Fr Louis Caputo, began visiting Owerri Diocese looking for a place to open up his congregation – Society of Divine Vocations [SDV], alias, Vocationist Fathers. Despite his best efforts, Bishop Mark Unegbu appeared not to be interested in his mission. The only priest of Owerri Diocese at that time who showed him hospitality and help was Fr Matthias Onumajuru Ndulaka, the parish priest of Queen of Peace Parish, Ezi West, with its rectory located at Mbaise Secondary School, Aboh Mbaise. Through the friendship and hospitality of Fr Ndulaka Queen of Peace Parish rectory would become Fr Caputo’s operating headquarters whenever he visited Nigeria. It would be from there that he recruited his first Vocationist seminarians who were taken to America to continue their priestly training there.

But immediately Ahiara Diocese was created in late 1987, the fortunes of Fr Caputo and his proposed Vocationist Congregation in Nigeria changed. Fr Caputo now had a very hospitable and welcoming bishop to deal with. Bishop Chikwe readily opened his arms to welcome the new congregation into the diocese. He readily promised Fr Caputo a place to locate his congregation and an opportunity to recruit as many seminarians as possible to begin his Vocationist apostolate in Nigeria.

So when Ahiara Diocese got blocked in European missions and universities, and had no place to send out her priests for further studies, Fr Ndulaka reached out to his friend Fr Caputo, who accepted to give the diocese a place for a priest who would be studying in America. Fr Ndulaka turned the opportunity over to Bishop Chikwe who gave it to Fr Clifford Ekwueme. In late 1988 Fr Clifford Ekwueme travelled to America to begin his studies at Seton Hall University in Newark New Jersey. On finishing his Master’s degree in Biblical Studies, Fr Ekwueme was admitted to Fordham University for his PhD.

The New York Archdiocese agreed to give Fr Ekwueme accommodation at St Lucy Parish in the Bronx under one of the holiest and most hospitable white priests in America at time, namely, Fr Herbert D’Agenio of blessed memory. Through Fr Ekwueme’s maturity and excellence as a priest and Fr D’Agenio’s holiness and hospitality, New York Archdiocese gained confidence in Mbaise priests and opened her doors to our diocese.

Another priest of the diocese whose maturity and excellence in America nurtured the confidence of the authorities of New York Archdiocese was Fr Eugene Azorji. Operating from the Staten Island axis of New York Archdiocese, Fr Azorji worked tremendously hard to open up the the Archdiocese for our priests. Through him not less than five priests would be accepted to work and study in New York Archdiocese in the early 1990's.

That was how the snare set up against Ahiara Diocesan priests in the late 80s and early 90s was broken and we all escaped! Thereafter Ahiara Diocesan priests poured into America for their higher education. The rest is now history!

To God Almighty be all the glory, now and forever more. Amen!

To be continued ….