By Elijah Ugani
The Director of Communication of the Catholic Diocese of Ogoja, Very Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Eroh in this interview, gave insight into the much talked about centenary celebration of the diocese of Ogoja.
Below is the except of the interview.
Rev. Fr. Emma Eroh is the parish priest of St. Joseph parish, Okuku and the Director of Communication of the Catholic diocese of Ogoja.
Fr. Eroh gave a run down of the growth of the church from 1921 to date with the impacts created by the Church to include schools, hospitals and parishes spread across the diocese of Ogoja.
On the significant of the centenary celebration, Fr. Eroh held that “The Centenary is the commemoration of the arrival of the missionaries in Ogoja in 1921, when our ancestors first received the good news and provided a fertile ground for the planting of the Catholic Church, from which it has grown into a diocese and in fact it has given birth to diocese of Abakiliki in 1978. We are celebrating these great moments and achievements in the entire diocese.
“There are series of activities streamlined to mark the centenary. It was kicked off on the 2nd of February, 2021 with the lighting of the centenary candle by His Excellency, Most Rev. Dr. Donatus Akpan, Bishop of Ogoja Diocese.
March next month, we will have a diocesan and parish retreat. His Lordship will be visiting various parishes in the 10 deaneries that makes up the diocese.
“The climax will be in May, where they will be baptism of 100 candidates and confirmation of 100 candidates all drawn from across the diocese.
“On the 12th of May, His Lordship will visit the correctional centre, orphanages, the refugees settlements, old catholic schools and aged catholic members who can no longer come to church.
“The 13th of May will feature the wedding of 100 couples, while the the 14th of May will be a centenary lecture by Most Rev. Dr. Lucius Ugorji, (Bishop of Umuahia Diocese) and Vice President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), lunching of a book that chronicled the achievement of the diocese as well the conferment of the tittle of Monsignori to deserving priests and papal and diocesan awards to some of the lay faithfuls who have contributed to the growth of the diocese.
“The hallmark of the celebration will feature the ordination of Priests.
On the growth of the church since inception, Fr. Eroh noted that “there have been a great transformation from that little seed sowed. St. Benedict Primary School, Igoli was established and parishes created, we have 89 parishes and 12 quasi parishes, what we call the Roman Catholic Mission (RCM).
“The first indigenous priest was ordained in 1965, now His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Ukpo Rtd. (The Emeritus Archbishop of Calabar). Today, we have over 120 priests in the diocese.
“The Bishop in his ingenuity in collaboration with the priests, is developing the land for the building of a new cathedral as unanimously agreed by priests and lay faithfuls. In terms of health and education, we have hospitals and schools spread across the diocese. In communication, His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Ukpo, the pioneer priest of the diocese, berthed the Message Newspaper.
“Bishop Donatus came in with the new vigor and his drive for agriculture has led to the formation of Ogoja Diocesan Agricultural Investment Programme (ODAIP)”.
When asked to juxtaposed the disposition of our fore fathers to the gospel with today’s Christians.
Fr. Eroh averred that “We must thank our fore fathers who received the message and gave away their traditions to imbibe it and passed it on to their children. We must commend Christians in Ogoja diocese, that this seed that was planted has grown and is still spreading like wild fire up till now. Though there exist some challenges of Pentecostalism, were some Christians are in dare need of instant miracles and prosperity and other traditional practices, but we are not where we used to be”.
When asked what Monsignori means in the church.
Fr. Eroh held that “Monsignori is a title of honor conferred on deserving senior priests who have live creditable and impacted positively in the lives of Christians, and must be at least 65 years of age. It is conferred by the Pope through the nomination of the Bishop. Some of our very senior priests will be conferred with the tittle”.
When asked to comment on the allegation of using TTC Ogoja as a take off for the proposed state Polytechnic, the communications Director stated that “I can confirm to you that there is no dialogue between the state government and the diocese in terms of turning TTC into anything Polytechnic.
“What I can categorically say is that TTC is about being turned into an Institute of Health Management and Technology, work has gone far, consultation has been made, Provost has been appointed along with an Acting Registrar.
“A Post Graduate Diploma programme affiliated to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka is going on there at TTC.
“We were going for a full flesh university, but when we checked our resources, we realized we were not going to be able to run a university, we were advised to begin an Institute that will later metaphors into a full flesh university”
Fr. Eroh used the opportunity to call on Catholics especially and all Christians across the globe to join the diocese of Ogoja in this auspicious celebration. He assured that the celebration will be live streamed for those who will not make it to attend and in observance of the Covid-19 protocols.
