AHIARA DIOCESE CRISIS: THE UNTOLD STORIES…26

Explosion of Initiatives … [vii]

As earth-movers buzzed their way into the proposed site for a brand new diocesan centre, a new era of construction galore dawned in Ahiara Diocese. Day in and day out, the bulldozers kept mowing down palm trees and other forms of vegetation at the site sparing only the ones in the piece of land that was tangled up in the courts. This was indeed a very exciting period in the life of the new diocese. It signaled to all Mbaise people that there would be no going back in their dream to build a model Catholic diocese in their homeland. The response of Mbaise sons and daughters everywhere in the world was excitement and more contributions to the coffers of the new diocese.

When words began to spread that the diocese was about to begin the much-awaited construction of the diocesan centre, one of the up-and-coming architects at that time from Mbaise, Architect Festus Njoku, from Oke Ovoro, who was resident in Enugu approached the bishop and volunteered to provide the architectural designs for the structures that would be erected at the centre. Architect Njoku would obtain from the bishop the details he needed to produce the first architectural design of the bishop’s house that was slated to be the first to be constructed at the new diocesan centre.

Architect Njoku would eventually produce what was considered then a masterpiece of a building plan for the bishop’s residence. Everybody in the diocese was excited. The progressive spirit of the Mbaise people was once again in full display. Bishop Chikwe’s call to all Mbaise sons and daughters everywhere with some talents or professions to come forward and render some help to the new diocese was beginning to yield some fruits. Beholding the beautiful design for the bishop’s house produced by Architect Festus Njoku, there were chants: Mbaise nwere mmadu, Mbaise nwere Mbaise [Mbaise has great people, Mbaise has great people] in every corner of Mbaise land. The excitement over the new diocese was beyond belief.

The building works of the new bishop’s house would be undertaken by Chief [Now Eze] B.N. Amaechi, of Amrud Engineering Ltd based in Owerri. Chief Amaechi and the building department of his Engineering Company had gained the trust of the entire diocese following the feat they performed in accomplishing what was considered then an almost impossible task of raising four solid buildings for the new diocese in the premises of St Brigid’s Church within the last three weeks preceding the inauguration of the new diocese. It was the company’s valiant effort in that regard that ensured a smooth inauguration of the diocese on January 31, 1988.

With Chief B.N. Amaechi fully in charge of the construction of the new bishop’s house, his fire-brigade approach to works in general that had blossomed in the days leading to the inauguration of the diocese was re-awakened. Chief Amaechi brought in numerous workers and the construction of the new bishop’s house was a beehive of activity. The work was going on night and day every day except on Sundays. Every evening, many from far and near in Mbaise land would gather around the new site to feast their eyes on the speed with which structures in the new diocesan centre were coming into being.

While the multiple constructions at the new diocesan centre were in full speed, Bishop Chikwe initiated several other constructions around the diocese. First, there was the need to construct a brand new major seminary in the new diocese. Since her inauguration the diocese had been sharing the spiritual year major seminary owned by Owerri Diocese. Bishop Mark Unegbu had been gracious by allowing the seminarians of the new diocese to continue to obtain their spiritual year seminary formation in the facility owned by Owerri Diocese. But towards the end of 1991, the arrangement ran its full course. It was time for the two dioceses to completely go their separate ways. That entailed that Ahiara Diocese would have to construct its own seminary as quickly as possible. That was a very herculean task indeed.

But Bishop Chikwe was not one who would shy away from confronting any challenge head on. He immediately initiated the acquisition of a land for the new seminary in Egbelu Umuhu Enyiogugu. There was excitement in Umuokule, Umuoye and Umuhu villages of Enyiogugu at the prospect of hosting the first major seminary to be built in the new diocese. Many of the villagers responded joyfully to the call to donate their pieces of lands freely for the project.

But as it was becoming the norm in Mbaise land at that time, while many people would respond joyfully and hand over their lands for a diocesan project, one or two families or individuals with lands at some critical spots at the proposed site would hold out and refuse to do business with the new diocese. They would refuse to hand over their lands either through outright purchase or exchange. They appeared to find pleasure in making life difficult both for the new bishop and for the new diocese.

This was the scenario Bishop Chikwe met as he ventured to begin the project of St Mulumba Spiritual Year Seminary in Egbelu-Umuhu Enyiogugu. The negotiation for some pieces of lands central at the site would drag on for some considerable length of time and would eventually end up in the courts. And that would result in another unwanted long delay in getting the project started.

Both Bishop Chikwe and the entire diocese were patiently pleading and negotiating with some land owners to release their lands so that the new diocese could start erecting some necessary infrastructures that would help her take off properly. The difficult negotiation would continue for a long time. But at the end of the day, the construction began in earnest.

There were quite a few buildings to be constructed simultaneously. Both the bishop and the officials of the new diocese were determined to erect some state-of-the-art buildings for the new formation house in the diocese. Bishop Chikwe was always insistent that any structures to be raised in the new diocese must be state-of-the-art. He wanted nothing but the best of everything for his new diocese. His slogan was always “Ahiara Diocese deserves the best and must have the best of everything.”

Meanwhile, the Spiritual Year in-takes of 1992-93 would commence their formation in the temporary camp-house at St Brigid’s Church compound which used to house the officials of the new chancery at the beginning of Ahiara Diocese. But Bishop Chikwe was determined to ensure that their use of that temporary facility did not last more than a year. So, he made sure that another fire-brigade kind of work was begun at the Enyiogugu permanent site of St Mulumba Spiritual Year Seminary. And within a space of one year, the buildings of St Mulumba Spiritual Year Seminary were ready for use. It was amazing. Nearly every priest of the diocese held his hands up in appreciation of the marvelous accomplishments of Bishop Chikwe.

Another hotspot of construction in the new diocese was Mater Ecclesiae Seminary Nguru. Constructions at Mater Ecclesiae Seminary had tagged on along the many other constructions going on in the new diocese at that time. It appeared as if the new diocese had suddenly turned into a huge construction site. Everywhere one looked there was a diocesan construction going on. How the projects were being funded not many knew. But there was construction work everywhere.

The reason was the fact that there was practically nothing permanent to stand the diocese on at that time. So, when the door opened for construction in the new diocese, nearly every part of the diocese needed some kind of construction or reconstruction. So the construction at the new diocesan centre was followed in quick succession with other constructions in the two seminaries of the diocese, namely, St Mulumba and Mater Ecclesiae Seminaries.

Shortly after the inauguration it was discovered that Mater Ecclesiae Seminary needed some urgent action along the line of construction of some structures. The creation of Ahiara Diocese had completely transformed the status and stature of Mater Ecclesiae Seminary Nguru. It became the new diocese’s main seminary and the gateway to priestly formation in Mbaise land. The seminary had graduated from being a preparatory feeder seminary to a full-fledged one that would house all the six classes of a secondary school. And that called for an urgent action along the line of provision of buildings and other facilities urgently needed in the seminary.

Mater Ecclesiae Seminary was inaugurated in October of 1982 as a preparatory seminary to St Peter Claver Seminary Okpala. It was established to replace St Mary’s Minor Seminary Umuowa Orlu that was ceded to Orlu Diocese after the latter’s creation and inauguration in 1981. Mater Ecclesiae Seminary had been hurriedly built by a great Mbaise philanthropist, Eze Nwachukwu-Udaku, the traditional ruler of Nguru Nwenkwo Autonomous Community with some business agreement with the proprietor, Bishop Mark Unegbu of Owerri Diocese. Buildings at the Seminary were few. They had been targeted to accommodate only the two preparatory classes of a junior seminary.

Mater Ecclesiae Seminary was at the inception of Ahiara Diocese a preparatory secondary school for the two earliest classes of a junior seminary. So, the buildings were sufficient only for the would-be junior seminarians in the two earliest classes of seminary training. Moreover, all the buildings of the school bore the look of having been hurriedly built. The chapel and the refectory were all built with the shapes of an industrial warehouse. The dormitories were just shelters for sleeping without any conveniences. And the classrooms were nothing to write home about. From all indications, the people who conceived and built the structures of the seminary were not looking far ahead into the future. The buildings were just put up to take care of the needs of that particular moment. The inadequacies of Mater Ecclesiae Seminary Nguru were a major concern for the new bishop and the entire faithful of Ahiara Diocese at the beginning of the diocese.

Perhaps a little history of Mater Ecclesiae Seminary will help throw some light on the storied life of the Catholic Church in Mbaise land. Mater Ecclesiae Seminary Nguru Mbaise was blessed and commissioned in October of 1982 by His Grace, Archbishop Francis Arinze at the invitation of His Lordship Bishop Mark Unegbu, the bishop of Owerri Diocese. Yours truly was present at that commissioning ceremony and covered it as a journalist representing The Leader Newspaper. The wonderful occasion of the inauguration of Mater Ecclesiae Seminary Nguru was perhaps the only recorded visit of His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze to Mbaise land in his long years as the Metropolitan of the large Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province [comprising today’s two provinces of Onitsha and Owerri] and later as the powerful Nigerian Cardinal at the Vatican.

The general belief in Mbaise land today is that His Eminence Francis Cardinal Arinze hardly ever visited or interacted with Mbaise people during his long years as a distinguished prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Everything he knew about the Catholic Church of the Mbaise people was perhaps what he had gotten second hand through hearsay, or what he had gotten from the news media. He hardly ever experienced anything about Mbaise people up close and personal. He never listened to Abigbo Mbaise playing in Mbaise land. In fact, hardly does anybody today recall seeing him attend functions like funerals, weddings, cultural celebrations, ordinations, etc., in Mbaise land either before or after the diocese had been established. For the many years he was the Metropolitan of Onitsha and Owerri Provinces [as one province then], Mbaise people never factored in his reckoning and never benefited from his graceful presence.

As the father and chief shepherd of the Catholic Church in Southern Nigeria, His Eminence knew about the very loud and outstanding Catholicism of the Mbaise people. He knew and perhaps heard about the serious gains the Catholic Church was making in Mbaise land. He knew about the booming priestly and religious vocations in Mbaise land. The missionaries with whom His Eminence worked very closely with at every stage of his greatly successful apostolate as a Catholic prelate loudly testified to the miracle of large vocations in Mbaise land by nicknaming the place the Ireland of Nigeria. Why His Eminence Cardinal Arinze remained aloof and indifferent to the boisterous Catholic life in Mbaise land has remained a great mystery till today. The situation is complicated the more when one realizes that Mbaise land is only about 60 kilometers from Onitsha, His Eminence’s homestead.

His Eminence’s absence from the Catholic Church of Mbaise was not for a lack of an invitation to him to come to Mbaise land. The door of Mbaise Catholicism was always open for him to come and bless the people. Mbaise people held Archbishop [later Cardinal] Arinze at the highest esteem. They loved him dearly and longed to see and interact with him. But they were hardly ever afforded the opportunity. Common folks of Mbaise attribute his absence in Mbaise land to his lack of love and respect for the people of area. But this appears not to be totally accurate. There was never any known disagreement between His Eminence and the people Mbaise of land. Rather Mbaise people had unbelievable respect for His Eminence and would have been greatly blessed if he had made any efforts to come and visit with them even for once.

The situation appears even much more complicated when we factor in the fact that there were many invitations to His Eminence to come and visit Ahiara Diocese which never worked out. Many senior priests of Ahiara Diocese recall today with regrets the lamentations of the late Bishop Chikwe who felt greatly frustrated and distressed each time he saw his repeated invitations to His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze to come and celebrate Masses for Mbaise people turned down or canceled at the last minutes. The late Bishop Chikwe always expressed openly his desire to host Cardinal Arinze in Ahiara Diocese. But he was never granted that opportunity.

It is on record that the late Bishop Chikwe invited Cardinal Arinze a few times before his death but his invitations were all turned down or canceled outright at the last minutes with genuine excuses, we believe. And when eventually Bishop Chikwe died, a very heartbreaking time for the people of Mbaise, the whole diocese longed and waited for their father in the faith, His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze, the highest cleric in the Nigerian Catholicism, to visit and condole with them over the tragic loss of their beloved shepherd. But His Eminence never did. That was when the feeling started to harden among Mbaise people that perhaps they were not good enough for His Eminence to extend the grace and shadow of his healing presence among them.

How come His Eminence, whose name is ARINZE [AHUIZI, in Igbo heartland dialect, meaning; empathy, sympathy, pity, compassion, fellow-feeling, mercy, etc.], never made a formal or an informal visit to Mbaise land in all his years as a powerful cleric in the Roman Catholic Church is arguably a powerful factor in the current bishopric crisis in Ahiara Diocese. As His Eminence’s name became unfairly or fairly associated with the bishopric saga in Mbaise land it felt like some dose of gasoline had been poured into the fire.

The argument of the local folk in the diocese was and still is that somebody who had previously shown a lack of love for them cannot of a sudden have their best interest at heart. The translation of this among local folks in Mbaise land is if His Eminence has anything to do with the appointment of this particular bishop, it would not bode well for Ahiara Diocese.

To be continued…