Remembering the first Bishop-Archbishop of Abuja

By Father Kenneth Agwu

“I hold it a noble task to rescue from oblivion those who deserve to be specially remembered” – Pliny the Younger

Here, attention turns to one of the most significant religious figures in Nigeria, perhaps, Africa. He is none other than His Eminence Dominic Cardinal Ignatius Udo Ekandem, a Man Whose Life and Episcopacy Seemed a Conglomeration and Agglomeration of Many Firsts. He would have been 107 years on Sunday, June 23, 2024.

In my book, Quaeso Manus, I dedicated a whole chapter, in fact, the first chapter, to the memory of Cardinal Ekandem because of my admiration of him and the eternal impact he has had in the Nigerian Church. He is surely larger than life for his feats are inimitable and unrepeatable.

Just take a look at his meteoric rise in episcopal hierarchy in brief. He was:

1. Appointed First Auxiliary Bishop of Calabar to Bishop James Moynagh, SPS, and Titular Bishop of Hierapolis in Isauria, by Pope Pius XII, Friday, August 7, 1953.
2. Appointed First Bishop of Ikot Ekpene by Pope John XXIII and Installed by Archbishop Sergio Pignedoli, Apostolic Delegate to Nigeria, Saturday, May 11, 1963.
3. Appointed First Apostolic Administrator of Port Harcourt by Pope Paul VI, due to transfer of Bishop Godfrey Okoye after the Nigeria Civil War, Tuesday, March 17, 1970.
4. Created First Modern Native West African/Nigerian Cardinal by Pope Paul VI, Monday, May 24, 1976.
5. Appointed First Ecclesiastical Superior of Abuja Independent Mission by Pope John Paul II on Friday, November 6, 1981.
6. Promoted to First Archbishop-in-Abuja by Pope John Paul II after serving 13 years, two weeks and four days as Cardinal in an Apostolic Bull of Sunday, June 11, 1989.
7. Installed First Bishop-Archbishop of Abuja Diocese by Archbishop Paul Tabet, the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Nigeria, Saturday, December 16, 1989.

Of all his feats in the episcopacy however, his designation as the First Bishop-Archbishop of Abuja tends to breed confusion. Is there a difference between his designation as the First Bishop-Archbishop of Abuja and his successor’s designation as the First Archbishop of Abuja? There is! What then is the difference?

Cardinal Ekandem’s designation as ¬Archbishop is honorific that is, given as a mark of respect but having no duties. He was elevated to the honorific status of Archbishop in recognition of his trailblazing endeavours in Nigerian Church. When he was given the title by Pope John Paul II, Abuja was not yet an Archdiocese hence the peculiar designation Bishop-Archbishop of Abuja.

In fact, until his retirement as First Bishop of Abuja on Monday, September 28, 1992, Abuja was still not an Archdiocese hence, he couldn’t have been an Archbishop of none extant Archdiocese as some tends to suggest when they designate him as the First Archbishop of Abuja, he was not and could never have been.

To get the picture clearer, the present Bishop of Ekwulobia Diocese is not an Archbishop even though he is a Cardinal (Peter Cardinal Okpaleke) just as Cardinal Ekandem was Bishop of Abuja. However, Cardinal Okpaleke is the most ranking of Nigerian prelates today who are still in active service.

The Pope may in recognition of this unique status honour him with a title of an archbishop as it was done to Cardinal Ekandem.

Unlike Cardinal Okpaleke and Cardinal Ekandem however, John Cardinal Onaiyekan who succeeded Cardinal Ekandem, is the First Archbishop of Abuja. How so? Here is what transpired.

Precisely one year, five months, three weeks, and five days, after Cardinal Ekandem retired as the Frist Bishop of Abuja, Abuja Diocese was elevated to the status of an Archdiocese on Saturday, March 26, 1994, along with the dioceses of Benin City, Calabar, Ibadan, Jos, and Owerri.

In a unilateral decision, the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, promoted all the substantive bishops of these six newly promoted archdioceses to archbishops hence, on Sunday, August 7, 1994, the archbishop designate, Bishop Onaiyekan, the Second Bishop of Abuja Diocese was formally installed as the First Archbishop of Abuja Archdiocese.

Still, this does not take away the shine off Cardinal Ekandem as a man who played a major role in the foundation of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja. His impact is evident but for posterity, it is important that he is not donned with a borrowed robe as some have attempted to do in a bid to deify him.

Certainly, Cardinal Ekandem himself knew this fact and never by omission or commission regarded himself as the First Archbishop of Abuja. He knew his place and properly took it and did his bit during his time as the Chief Shepherd of Abuja Independent Mission and later, Abuja Diocese.

Born on Saturday, June 23, 1917 to Nwa Ibong Umana Essien and Chief Ekandem Ubo Etuk, then village Chief of Obio Ibiono in what is now Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Both parents were of royal stalks and staunch adherents of African Indigenous Religion which made young Dominic’s contact with it not only feasible but inevitable.

As a man of means, Dominic’s father, Chief Ekandem had many wives (one account says 18 another about 28) and Dominic’s mother was his second wife. Her marriage to him was her second, having married earlier. According to Dominic’s testimony, “She was a born leader, a hardworking farmer, and a petty trader with a proven reputation for honesty and fairness.” She had two children for her first husband, a boy and a girl. Three – two boys and a girl – were born to Chief Ekandem. Dominic was the second and as a result, he was named “Udo,” a name customarily reserved for all “Second Male” offspring in Ibibio land.

More than anyone else, Chief Ekandem exercised the greatest influence on Dominic’s life. Revered as a disciplinarian, he sent Dominic out very early in life to be trained and disciplined by educated guardians. The first among the successions of guardians was Akpan Philip Inwang whom he served as a house boy.

While under Inwang’s tutelage, at eight-years-old, he received the Sacrament of Baptism on Tuesday, June 23, 1925, at Mkpatak. He was baptized by Fr. Joseph Hansen, an American Holy Ghost Priest who had the pastoral care of Obio Ibiono. Young Dominic made his First Holy Communion in 1926. Two years after, he received the Sacrament of Confirmation at St. Joseph, Annua, after going through a course of instructions at the hands of Bishop Charles Heerey, then Coadjutor to Bishop Joseph Shanahan. It wasn’t long, however, before tragedy struck.

After the completion of his Standard One education at St. Peter’s Primary School, Ikot Mbang, Ibiono, Dominic transferred to St. Joseph’s Primary School, Annua, to continue his education. He had scarcely settled down for studies when at eleven-years-old, he lost his mother in August of 1928 when he was in Standard Two. She was never baptized until her death, which was certainly an excruciating experience for Dominic. Nevertheless, he never let fear or pain or loss prevent him from forging ahead, from moving forward. He always believed the best was yet to come. And the best did come at the appointed time.

In 1932, Dominic sat for the First School Leaving Certificate Examination, also known as the Standard Six Examination. He was successful. But what would he do with his life? After sieving through a barrage of conflicting desires amidst fear and doubt, he opted for the priesthood, a decision totally strange at the time. However, having received his father’s blessing, on Friday, January 13, 1933, he began his Junior Seminary formation at St. Paul’s and ended it at the famous CKC, both in Onitsha in 1937.

He went for three years’ apostolic work from 1938 to 1940 before he was deemed fit to proceed to St. Paul’s Major Seminary, Enugu for his Philosophical studies in 1941. The seminary was later transferred to Okpala in Ngor Okpala where he had his Theological studies beginning in January 1945.

Upon graduation, on Sunday, December 7, 1947, Archbishop Charles Heerey of Onitsha in absence of His Lordship Bishop James Moynagh, then newly Consecrated Apostolic Vicar of Calabar, ordained Ignatius Ekandem the First Priest in the whole of Ibibio, Efik and Anang lands of what was then Calabar Diocese at St. Anne’s Church, Ifuho, a Church which would amazingly later become his Cathedral Church.

His first posting was as a curate to Ifuho Central Mission where he had been ordained. He served under Fr. Mathew Magrath (the Superior) and Joseph Murray, both Irish Missionaries of the St. Patrick’s Missionary Society. He stayed there for two months with the specific assignment to visit outstations and to open more, if possible.

After those first two months, Fr. Ekandem was transferred to Afaha Obong in 1948 to assist Fr. Murray who had been assigned to open a new Central Mission at Afaha Obong. He remained there to work with Fr. P. Laffey who replaced Fr. Murray. In 1952, he was appointed Parish Priest of Abak and later first Rector of what would later become, Queen of Apostles’ Seminary, Afaha Obong, previously located in the premises of St. Mary’s Teachers Training College Ediene, Abak, with a separate dormitory for the few seminarians who at that time attended classes at Holy Family College, Oku-Abak. How did this happen?

Apparently, the parable of the mustard seed (cf. Mt 13:31-32; Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18-19), sums up the provenance of the Seminary which was inaugurated at a solemn ceremony presided over by Bishop Thomas McGettrick who also said the evening Mass that day at Holy Family College around 1948. Within the College, there was a special group of students who showed special interest as different from the general student body. This special group, governed by their special “Code of Conduct,” especially the Rule of Silence – Magnum Silentium – was “set aside” and kept in a different Cottage within the school compound. A combination of factors, however, would later pave the way for the separation of the emerging seminary from the Holy Family College.

First, Fr. Michael Hays, the Principal of the Holy Family College, wasn’t favourably disposed towards such development. Second, Fr. Ekandem noticed that the seminarians attending lessons at Holy Family College made the seminarians mix with the other boys who were being educated for other vocations apart from the priesthood and this, he thought, was not quite helpful to the seminarians as it might tempt them to lose their vocations and follow secular pursuits. To forestall such eventuality, under the supervision of Fr. Dominic Ekandem, “the seminarians,” who were about twenty in number, were relocated to Afaha Obong. It was allocated its own staff, and Fr. Brendan Bolgier was appointed as its rector.

Later, when the seminary has settled down and well-established as a formal educational institution, Fr. Dominic Ekandem was re-appointed rector, taking over with great trepidation from Fr. Bolgier, following his transfer to Uruan Inyang. Fr. Dominic’s fears stemmed from the lack of special experience as a teacher, apart from the three years he taught at Calabar during his probation. However, he intensified efforts and with the approval of Bishop Moynagh and support of God’s people, he helped to improve and build on what he inherited. While there, a call came from Rome for higher service in the episcopacy. Fr. Ekandem would, therefore, hand over to Fr. Matthew Graham as the next Rector.

Pope Pius XII appointed Fr. Ekandem to the office of Bishop as the First Auxiliary Bishop of Calabar and Titular Bishop of Hierapolis in Isauria on Friday, August 7, 1953. Six months later, on Sunday, February 7, 1954, Bishop James Moynagh, SPS, consecrated him the First West African Catholic Bishop after which he became the youngest in the episcopacy in Anglophone West Africa. Then on Friday, March 1, 1963, Pope St. John XXIII appointed him the First Bishop of Ikot Ekpene. When it became impracticable for Bishop Godfrey Mary Paul Okoye, CSSp, dubiously tagged “the most Biafran of the Biafran Bishops,” to go back to his diocese after the Nigeria Civil War; at the instance of Pope Paul VI, Bishop Ekandem served from Tuesday, March 17, 1970 to Tuesday, October 16, 1973 as the First-Apostolic Administrator of Port-Harcourt Diocese.

At the death of Archbishop John Kwao Amuzu Aggey of Lagos on Monday, March 13, 1972, Bishop Ekandem was elected to succeed him as the President of Episcopal Conference of Nigeria on Friday, March 16, 1973 and was re-elected in 1976. Archbishop Aggey we must note, was the First African and the First native prelate to occupy that post. He succeeded Archbishop Charles Heerey of Onitsha Archdiocese. On Friday, April 25, 1976, Bishop Ekandem was Nominated Cardinal and Created by Pope Paul VI the First Nigerian Cardinal and appointed Cardinal-Priest of San Marcello on Monday, May 24, 1976. Shortly after, on Friday, August 27, 1976, Cardinal Ekandem was elected First President of the nascent national umbrella organization of Christian Churches, called Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, at their second meeting at the Catholic Secretariat in Lagos.

But more was yet to come as Cardinal Ekandem soon became the First Nigerian Prelate elected President of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa at the inaugural meeting held in the Nigeria’s city of Ibadan, from Wednesday, November 16 to Thursday, November 17, 1977. He then added a feather to his golden crown when he became the First Nigerian Prelate to participate in the Conclaves of Friday, August 25 to Saturday, August 26, 1978 and Saturday, October 14 to Monday, October 16, 1978. In Church history, 1978 at the time of writing, was the most recent year of three Popes. Paul VI, who was elected on Friday, June 21, 1963, died on Sunday, August 6, 1978. His successor John Paul I, elected on Saturday, August 26, 1978, died 33 days later on Thursday, September 28, 1978. Thereafter, John Paul II, who was elected on Monday, October 16, 1978, held the position until his death on Saturday, April 2, 2005.

Following his epochal participation in the two Conclaves of 1978, Cardinal Ekandem was appointed the First and the Only Ecclesiastical Superior of Abuja Independent Mission by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, on Friday, November 6, 1981. Years later, on Monday, June 19, 1989, the same Pope appointed him the First Bishop of Abuja with a personal title of Archbishop. Then, on Saturday, December 16, 1989, he was installed the First Bishop of Abuja Diocese by the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Paul Fouad Tabet.

In his zeal to nurture and train future priests for the Mission of the Church, he was the First Nigerian Prelate that mooted the idea of a National Seminary. He worked hard for the establishment of the National Missionary Seminary/Society of St. Paul on Sunday, October 23, 1977.

Following the eventual triumph of his modified idea in the establishment of a National Missionary Seminary, for which he was adjudged by colleagues as a pundit, he became the First Pro-Chancellor of Catholic Institute of West Africa when it was formally launched on Tuesday, December 8, 1981.

Fittingly, he was the First Retired Bishop of Abuja Diocese. He died on Friday, November 24, 1995 at Garki, Abuja aged 78 and was buried on Saturday, December 2, 1995 at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria, Pro-Cathedral, Garki, Abuja. He certainly was A Man of Many Firsts, the Trailblazer, Father of our Nation, and one of the eminent Successors of the Apostolic College. He spent his life in service to God and humanity and inevitably carved a niche for himself as an eternal legend.

His reward, which doubtless is great in heaven started while he was still here on earth. At the close of British Rule in Nigeria on Saturday, October 1, 1960, Fr. Innocent Jooji recorded that “Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of England, conferred on the ebullient Bishop the Order of the British Empire (OBE). His country Nigeria, as if unwilling to be outdone by Britain, awarded him the title, Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).” Not long after, the first Executive Civilian President of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari yet again conferred on him the higher Order of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR). Other titles and honours include:

* Chief of Ibiono Clan, Itu Division
* Obong Emem of Afaha and Otoro Clans in Ikot-Ekpene Division
* L.L.D (Honoris Causa) University of Chicago, USA
* D.LITT (Honoris Causa) University of Calabar, Nigeria

Cardinal Ekandem was Nigeria’s First Cardinal-Archbishop, the First Archbishop-in-Abuja and the First Emeritus Bishop of Abuja Diocese. In his mortal life, he experienced five popes, three of these – John XXIII, John Paul II and Paul VI have been elevated to the Altars of the Church as Saints. The decision to canonize John XXIII and John Paul II was made official by Pope Francis on Friday, July 5, 2013 following the recognition of a miracle attributed to the intercession of John Paul II, while John XXIII was canonized for his merits of opening the Second Vatican Council. Their canonizations were held on Sunday, April 27, 2014. Pope Paul VI was beatified on Sunday, October 19, 2014 and canonized on Sunday, October 14, 2018, all by Pope Francis. Pius XII’s cause of canonization was opened on Thursday, November 18, 1965 by Pope Paul VI during the final session of the Second Vatican Council. He was declared a Servant of God by Pope John Paul II in 1990 and Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday, December 19, 2009 while John Paul I was declared a Servant of God by his successor, John Paul II, on Sunday, November 23, 2003, and his heroic virtues was confirmed by Pope Francis on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 naming him as Venerable. Both are on their way to the sainthood.

In summary, Cardinal Ekandem was touched by saints and it would come as no surprise if he too joins his brothers in the sainthood in the nearest future. Happy 107th posthumous birthday Your Eminence!