The world is watching Igbo Catholicism as it goes on trial in the brewing crisis over the nomination of Rev Peter Okpaleke as the next bishop of Ahiara Diocese. I have spoken with many Mbaise clergy and laity and other Igbo Catholics on this matter and the issues involved run very deep with so much passion. I did observe during my three weeks stay in Nigeria and conversations with Igbo priests, nuns, bishops, laity, and scholars based on arguments being proffered by both sides in this debate, that the differences among Ndigbo are deep. Our ethnic identity, the wound of the Civil war, and the endangered existence of Ndigbo in Nigeria have not offered Ndigbo any identifiable ethnic, cultural, political or even religious homogeneity of any kind.
What is evident is a nativistic narrative of Igbo identity which has given wings to all forms of particularisms dictated by fear of the other, and a prioritization of local and clannish identity and the protection of specific localized Igbo interests over the overall collective good of the Igbo race.
This realization was frightening to me because I have always thought from a cultural perspective that there are core elements which unite Igbo people. I am now waking up from my innocence to a second naiveté about what it means to be an Igbo man and the concrete reality that a true Igbo man or woman could be considered a stranger among fellow Igbo because he or she comes from a different part of Igbo land.


The arguments of those who reject the nominated candidate could be summarized as follows: Mbaise has more than enough indigenous clergy to occupy the exalted position of bishop, indeed Mbaise clan has more qualified clergy than any other clan in Igbo land, why should an Mbaise son not be chosen? Furthermore, if bishops could be chosen for any Igbo diocese from any part of Igbo land or Nigeria, why is it that it is always clerics from Anambra state who are usually sent to other parts of Igbo land, whereas no non-Anambra Igbo clergy has been considered worthy to be a bishop in either Awka, Nnewi or Onitsha dioceses. There seems to be an orchestrated design to ‘anambranize’ the Igbo hierarchy. There is also the concern that the ‘imposition’ of a bishop who does not understand the local culture and history or speak the local dialect directly undermines the process of inculturation, and seems like a spiritual recolonisation of Mbaise people. Given its rich Catholic history, significant cultural heritage and traditions, and its vantage position as the Ireland of Igbo Catholicism, the argument goes, Mbaise Catholicism should be the diocese sending out priests and clerics to other parts of Igbo land, Nigeria and the world; the church in Mbaise land has come of age and does not deserve this distraction.


I wish to make three theological, cultural, and ecclesiological points with regard to this complex situation.
The first is that Igbo Catholicism is on trial today. I was with a very prominent Northern bishop at the recent national event to celebrate the elevation of Archbishop Onaiyekan to the rank of cardinal and the Mbaise situation came up. The Northern bishop in comical fashion said in broken English: ‘You Igbo Catholics have an Igbo problem. They send an Igbo man to be bishop of Minna (Uzukwu), the Minna people accepted him; they send an Igbo man (Akubueze) to be bishop of Uromi and now Benin, the ‘foreigners’ accepted him even though there were complaints here and there; now they send an Igbo man to fellow Igbo people and they are rejecting him. In the North, they send Kukah from Kaduna to Sokoto, the Hausas of Sokoto accepted him; they send Dodo from Kaduna to Zaria, they accepted him; they send Kaigama from Kafanchan to Jos, they accepted him…and you can look at the Yoruba bishops too, the cases of Atoyebi, Onaiyekan, Badejo, and Okojie..who are all bishops in dioceses different from their place of origin among their own ethnic group.”


I have always argued rather naively in the views of some of my friends, that an Igbo person should not be considered a foreigner among fellow Igbo. I will not change on this stand and it is a principle which I have lived and propose to every Igbo person. It is not simply an Igbo value that people should be judged on the basis of their character and not on the basis of their place of origin, this is a universal Christian principle found in many other traditions. The Christian is aware of a pilgrim principle which underlies our Christian life that our destiny and future is not tied to enslavement to an indigenous founding cultural and spiritual base. The indigenous principle which is at play in most issues of identity, or son of the soil syndrome refers to natural and cultural ties to ancestry and centres of origin and birth, but the pilgrim principle is the driving force for human existence and is rooted in Christian understanding of identity and history. The pilgrim principle indicates that we are reborn in Christ to a new life which relativizes every other identity because it gives us a new sense of being, it connects us to one and all in Trinitarian communion, and we can call God father and call every person our brother or sister. The pilgrim principle is also eschatological, in the sense that it governs our hearts to realize that the goal of life is not to be pursued solely through attachment to indigenous ties, but that these ties are to be used as instruments for the pursuit of the greater goal of life (eternity), and the grace of greater things defined by an expanded vision of the community, especially the people of God (the Church). The pilgrim principle reminds us that our true home is in God; and that from a very concrete sense that we are constantly on the move, an example of which is the fact that there are many of us Ndigbo who are scattered all over the world, and expect to be given equal rights and privileges everywhere and not be treated as strangers. Unfortunately, Ndigbo who are very migrant as a result of their enterprising nature, and who easily make friends across cultural and religious boundaries, are the ones who find it hardest to break down the boundaries imposed by their own internal ethnic politics of cultural and clannish identities.


We have a real cultural problem as Igbo people because you notice that the first question an Igbo person asks a fellow Igbo is: Ibu onye ebe? (Where do you come from?). Once you answer the question, there are two options: you are either accepted or rejected based on the prejudice and bias associated among Ndigbo with your clan or state of origin. The differences among us as Ndigbo are very essential and deep and I do not wish to minimize them, but after the Civil War and the ongoing marginalization of Ndigbo in Nigeria, I believe that the Igbo people should unite and work together as brothers and sisters for the good of the ethnic nation and the wider Nigerian, African and international community. Igbo Catholicism should be the veritable instrument for bringing unity in our communities, parishes, dioceses and states in Igbo land. However, if the Catholic Church in Igboland cannot help to create this unity within the wider Nigerian and Catholic family, then it becomes part of the problem.


The idea that an Igbo person should be considered a foreigner in any part of Igbo land should be considered a cultural heresy among Ndigbo. The politics of cultural and clannish identity is totally a different kettle of fish and demands greater interrogation in terms of cultural knowledge, cultural behaviors and cultural artifacts which are often particular, dynamic, and open to revision dictated by social changes. This is especially so with the extraneous realities of statecraft and church craft which brought additional divisive narrative and identity overlay over what was already extensively divisible socio-cultural units within the Igbo diverse cultural tapestry.

Nice piece and Well atriculated epistle. No blame game. I read and swallow my views

Nice write up... I think we igbos need to change our point of view towards other igbos. Even while i was in school, similar issues like this came up and it was very heart breaking to me to see fellow igbos been divided on state/tribal lines. I could remember when Bishop Gbuji was transfered from Iselle Uku diocese to Enugu diocese, some like this came up but was kept under control after the people involved came out to apologize. I just pray that this wont cause so much division.

D ibo case aside, i think the stuff is more than an ibo problem.
A similar thing (though d circumstance may differ) happened in edo state. Uromi diocese was created when arch bishop Epku was archbishop of benin. Rumours had it that he didnt judge any Esan man qualified for d ministry of bishop and so didnt nominate anybody for consideration, so for d uromi people, out of the blue came akubueze a guy nobody had even heard of (from isseluku diocese). During that time d priests in uromi where busy preaching about d universality of the church, it seems d idea worked and after a little hesitation akubueze who couldnt speak a single esan word was accepted.
That wasn't the case in benin archdiocese. Ekpu retired and a white man from ireland named burke became archbishop. Nobody had a problem with that, burke was the oldest bishop in d arch diocese after ekpu. He was welcome and was successful as archbishop until his past sins came back to hunt him. He was called to rome to answer for himself, he decided to retire into solitude and prayer. Because of the circumstance of burkes retirement he couldn't nominate anybody and Gbuji was appointed as apostolic administrator, rumours had it he wasted no time nominating his so akubueze for d archbishoric (akubueze was gbuji boy both from isseluku) while akubueze was about 5yr old as bishop. Bishop Dunia of auchi was older and more expirenced but akubueze had been approved by rome as archbishop. Benin disagree.
If it was time to chose d archbishop, dunia was next, if akubueze who was d youngest could be chosen then why not throw away all the bottle necks and appoint a benin man bishop of d benin metropolitan see. The benin people didnt want and ibo man, if dunia wasnt to be appointed then they want a benin son (neither dunia or auchi diocese complained, infact they didnt seem to have a problem with the process). Benin men and women even knight who should know better wrote petitions and sent to rome, the message was clear they didnt want an ibo man.
But rome had already given d directive and akubueze was installed, about 9months later, the benin groups started withdrawing their petitions.
The ahiara diocese case is just d expression of d canker worm eating deep into d fabric of our society, dat worm is ethnicity.

What you see in Ahiara is a deep discord among its presbyterium. The Bishopric is seen as a free for all, win at all cost. The Bishopric is no longer envisaged as a position of servitude and austerity that will help guide souls to heaven. It calls for any well meaning Catholic to query, what happened to the saying total abandonment to the service of God and mankind? What happened to the vows of poverty and obedience? One cannot but conclude that the priesthood is full of sycophants who see the priestly ministry as a means to self enrichment, and societal prestige. The Bishopric is seen as its consummation. The church in Igbo land should borrow a leaf from the recently elected Pope Francis, who lived a life of austerity, and service to the poor in his native Argentina. Ahiara is a dangerous precedent for the Church in Nigeria, and Igbo land in particular. I spoke to a friend of mine in the Ahiara presbytery who told me that part of the dissent is that the late Bishop Chikwe carefully selected priests from his own extraction of Mbaise to replace him. What is going on in Ahiara is an unending vicious circle of buffoonery that needs to be fixed by a non-Mbaise. Ahiara is mired in deep tribal, village against village sentiments that need to be corrected.

Ahiara is a replica of what obtains in the wider Nigerian society. This is the reason why we have refused to see any meaningful advancement in our polity. Nigeria is a nation where godfatherism, son of the soil, and “my own person”, trumps achievement, qualification and ability to get the job done. Hopefully, the Catholic Bishops in Nigeria will not further advance this ugly notion by allowing Ahiara to have the last say on this issue.