Posted by By NWABUEZE OKONKWO, Onitsha on
The dust raised by the agitation for the creation of Obosi Diocese out of the existing Anglican Diocese on the Niger is beginning to settle as the Synod of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion has approved the creation of two new dioceses from the present Diocese on the Niger.
• Holy war subsides as Anglican Synod creates two new dioceses
The dust raised by the agitation for the creation of Obosi Diocese out of the existing Anglican Diocese on the Niger is beginning to settle as the Synod of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion has approved the creation of two new dioceses from the present Diocese on the Niger.
However, the agitation for Obosi Diocese has finally been put to rest with the creation of "Missionary" Diocese of Mbamili and "Missionary" Diocese of Umueri.
The door for the creation of additional dioceses out of the Niger Diocese which has its headquarters at All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha, Anambra State had been thrown open in 2003 by a synod of the diocese, making many Anglican faithful at the Archdeaconry levels, including the Obosi Archdeacon to apply for a new diocese.
The application for Obosi new diocese was championed by a group of Anglican faithful from Obosi under the aegis of Anglican Community of Obosi Archdeaconry for the creation of the Diocese.
In their agitation, the group led by Dr. Bertram Nkemena (KSC), Bernard Offor and Sir G. A. Nwokolo had hinged their reason for wanting the diocese on "interest of evangelism."
They, therefore, forwarded their application to Bishop Ken Sandy Okeke, urging him to use his good office to carve out Obosi Diocese for them. They told him that the Anglican community in Obosi, Oba, Nkpor, Ojoto, Awada, Ugwuagba, Umuoji and Akwu-Ukwu had reached a consensus and thus their applying for the creation of the Obosi Diocese or whatever name it may be called.
However, in an attempt to give the proposed creation exercise credence, Bishop Okeke appointed a committee to look into the agitation for the creation of Obosi Diocese. The committee later submitted its report to the Diocesan Synod which turned down the request for the creation of the Obosi Diocese for well articulated reasons.
Among the reasons adduced by the committee led by Justice Pete Obiora for the rejection of the creation of the new Obosi Diocese was that there was no consensus among the towns and communities mentioned in the application for the Obosi Diocese.
Justice Obiora, chairman of the committee, in explaining the rationale behind the Diocesan Synod's rejection of the application, after their working tour of the areas where they conducted a referendum, emphasized that any diocese to be created out of the existing one should promote peace and unity of the church and should not be designed to satisfy the whims and caprices of a few individuals in a community.
Obiora disclosed that most of the signatories of the parishioners within the affected parishes and Archdeaconries earlier included in the request for the proposed Obosi Diocese had disassociated themselves from the agitation, pointing out that his committee is also prospecting new dioceses in the riverine areas of Mbamili and Ayamelum council areas of the Niger Diocese.
Obiora further stated that in the case of Obosi communities' request the committees set out to ascertain the desirability and viability of creating a new diocese out of Niger Diocese, presented its report to the Synod, which rejected it based on the committee's findings that the request lacked merit.
Obiora said that in the course of the committee's interaction, they found out that the people who the Obosi Anglican community mentioned in their application as those they wanted to form the new diocese with were not carried along and were not signatory to the application and, therefore, Obosi community alone cannot be granted a diocese.
Insisting that it was not the fault of the bishop, but the consensus of the synod which rejected the application with genuine reasons, Obiora declared: 'The bishop has nothing personal against Obosi becoming a diocese and there is no application for Ubiaja diocese being promoted by the bishop as alleged, but the constitution of Anglican Communion stipulates the conditions for creating a diocese and one of them is goodwill not out of strife or ill will.
On the issue of transferring some churches within the Obosi land to Onitsha South Archdeaconry, as alleged by the applicants, Obiora said that political boundary is different from ecclesiastical boundary, and in some cases, some towns in a state are administered by another diocese from another state for convenience.
In his contribution,the chancellor of the Diocese on the Niger, Professor Ilochi Okafor, reminded the agitators that their request must meet the provisions of the constitution of the communion, stressing that any request made for a new diocese by any part of the communion should be properly channelled and must represent the wishes and aspirations of the people asking for the new diocese.
Okafor, who is also the vice chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, warned that the church would not allow a situation where a group of people in a community cause disaffection among other members in the quest for a new diocese.
Referring to the agitation for the creation of Obosi Diocese, the chancellor made it categorically clear that no diocese would be created in an atmosphere of rancour and bitterness, adding that the recent press statements on the issue lacked merit and at the same time violated the constitution of the Church of Nigeria.
In their contributions, the Synod Secretary of the diocese, Venerable Emma Ekpunobi and the Deputy Registrar of the Niger Diocese, Justice Paul Obidigwe, said categorically that Bishop Okeke did not interfere with the work of the committee on the creation of the new diocese, adding that the bishop would always support the wishes and aspirations of any group in the diocese working for a just cause.
Ekpunobi who is an Obosi indigene and Obidigwe insisted that the bishop does not literally create diocese, but the synod of the diocese, which meets once every year, called for respect of constituted authorities and due process in the agitation for a new diocese, pointing out that only the Obosi Anglican community signed their request for a diocese.
The applicants which did not hide their feelings when they discovered that their application had been rejected, had accused the bishop on the Niger of blocking the creation of Obosi diocese to pave way for the creation of Ubiaja diocese which will have Awka-Etiti, the bishop's home town as the headquarters with Obosi as part of the diocese.
They contended that Obosi was due for a diocese as it is not only one of the oldest churches established by the early missionaries as far back as 1882 (about 126 years ago), but also the only church that has not been made a diocese among its contemporaries, such as Oji River, Lafia, Bida, Calabar, Uyo, Lokoja, Minna, Ideato, Ika, Esan, Damaturu, Jalingo, Gombe, among others.
They also alleged that the bishop in a bid to diminish Obosi's request for a diocese ceded about six churches situated on Obosi land to Onitsha South and Central Archdeaconries, which is already causing a stir in Obosi, considering the chequered land problem between Onitsha and Obosi.
According to them, "the ceding of part of Obosi land has generated so much tension in the town that the traditional ruler of the community, Igwe (Engr) Josiah Nwokobi, had to write the bishop to reverse the decision, but to no avail and we view it as a ploy by the bishop to apply a divide-and-rule tactics in order to weaken our nerves".
The agitators consequently in a letter to the Primate of Anglican Communion, Most Rev Peter Akinola, dated July 24, 2007 asked that they should from the date of the letter be administered directly by the primate since they wished to cease to have any further relationship with the Diocese on the Niger.
However, after all the holy wars and verbal words by both parties they seemed to have resolved their grievances with the creation of the two new dioceses even as none of the newly created dioceses fall within the much agitated Obosi axis.
The two new dioceses were christened "Missionary" Diocese of Mbamili with headquarters at Umuikwu-Anam in Anambra West council area and the "Missionary" Diocese of Niger-West with headquarters at Umueri, Anambra East council area, all in Anambra State.
The creation of the Mbamili and Niger West dioceses has put to rest all agitations for new dioceses in the Diocese on the Niger, including that of Obosi and Awka-Etiti.