By Raphael Edem
On Monday, August 14, 1989, the official newspaper of the Vatican, L’Osservatore Romano, published the news of the erection of the Catholic Diocese of Uyo. This was about a month after the then Pope, John Paul II, signed the document which excised parts of the then Calabar Diocese then known as the mainland zone. I still remember the joy and celebrations that broke out all over the mainland part of the then Diocese of Calabar. The Holy See had also appointed the then Rev. Fr. Joseph Effiong Ekuwem as the first Bishop of the new Diocese. I was barely 7 years of age, but the excitement was palpable all over the area now delineated as the new Diocese, and these celebrations were so infectious that even non-Catholics latched on to it. Uyo Diocese is the youngest of the 5 Dioceses that make up the Calabar Ecclesiastical Province, with Calabar Diocese having been created in 1950, Ogoja Diocese in 1955, Port Harcourt Diocese in 1961 and Ikot Ekpene Diocese in 1963.
I was part of the massive crowd which thronged the Cardinal Ekanem Seminary Grounds on Saturday, December 9, 1989, to witness the consecration of Joseph Ekuwem as the first Bishop of the new Diocese. I still have fond memories of my mother holding me firmly by the hand, while I strained my eyes to observe the proceedings on the podium, presided over by the then Apostolic pro-nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Paul Tabet. A young man who was born in 1949, ordained a priest in 1979 was being consecrated Bishop in 1989. Indeed, I consider myself privileged to have been a witness to history.
Therein began the period of service of Bishop Joseph Ekuwem to the faithful of the Catholic Diocese of Uyo. As a brand new Diocese, with practically nothing to start with, the Bishop set the ball rolling with his plan for Diocese which he laid out at his Inaugural Address during the first pontifical high mass of his episcopate. He came on board when the Diocese had no cathedral, no Bishop’s house, no Secretariat, no pastoral centre, no press. But he was determined to rally the faithful so we could lay a solid foundation for the work that needed to be done.
It is to his credit that the Bishop James Moynagh Pastoral Centre which houses the Bishop’s Office, the St. Dominic’s Church of Perpetual Adoration, The Cardinal Ekandem Auditorium, The Bishop Usanga Buildings, The CWO Building, The Media Centre and numerous other structures came into existence. He also established the John Paul II Seminarium, St Brian’s Model College, St. Benedict’s High School, the Spiritual Year Seminary at Obio Ibiono and many other institutions.
He discharged his pastoral duties creditably, visiting all the parishes and stations under the Diocese not less than three times during his time as Bishop of Uyo Diocese.
He repeated the same feat in the Archdiocese of Calabar and maintains that he needs to know the faithful to whom he is sent. In Calabar, he has visited at least 4 times, Mkpot, one of the stations bordering the Republic of Cameron. History has it that no bishop had ever set his foot there before him.
He created 40 new parishes in Uyo Diocese, in addition to numerous quasi-parishes and autonomous communities. He enlarged the scope of the Word Ministry, the evangelistic and outreach programme which he started as a priest in Calabar, and also encouraged and promoted the use of the mass media for evangelistion, and he personally presented a weekly programme on radio known as ‘usung akpaniko y’uwem”.
As Archbisop of Calabar for the past 11 years, he has continued on this development trajectory as he has acquired a large expanse of land and is currently building a pastoral centre named after one of his predecessors, Late Archbishop Brian Davies Usanga. In addition to the numerous other pastoral and other accomplishments, it is to his credit that an Auxilliary Bishop was chosen from among the ranks of the clerics in Calabar Archdiocese.
Bishop Ekuwem used his pulpit to preach the good news of the gospel and to also advocate for a just and fair society for all manner of persons. He never shied away from speaking truth to power and he was as generous in his commendation of good deeds as he was vociferous in his condemnation of the bad. He was, and is still a strong voice in the socio-political and cultural issues that affect the people, and has been widely acclaimed as a peacemaker, a mediator and an advocate for worthy causes. His homilies were unequivocally didactic and his public speeches and engagements always left no one in doubt as to where he stood on matters that affected the well being of the people. He was admired for his deep knowledge of scripture, sharp intellect, credibility and objectivity and was widely respected within and outside the Catholic Church. His role in the abrogation of the onshore – offshore oil dichotomy issue is well documented, as are his interventions in several socio-political issues that effect his home state and people.
Bishop Ekuwem also has a reputation for being highly disciplined and principled. He has proven to be a man of deep personal conviction and one who expects the highest standard of acceptable behaviour and discipline among his people. Despite his high position in the church and the society, he is without any airs whatsoever and willingly and easily mixes with people from all strata of society. He would mix with his students and staff during his leisure time, interacting with and creating an out-of-classroom learning experience for them. He loves to plant fruit trees and was known to climb coconut trees at the John Paul II Seminarium with his climbing rope. On three different occasions as Bishop of Uyo, he personally climbed and tapped the raffia palm trees, giving free palm wine to the people around. He loves to travel and explore new vistas. He has a keen interest in building projects and architecture and is known to make rough sketches of his projects before giving to an architect to fine tune. He is a good mixer, reaching out with love to the lowly, while also being at home with the highly placed. His predecessor as Archbishop of Calabar, Late Archbishop Joseph Ukpo, describes him as a man of rare intelligence who often gets upset whenever he realises that other members of his team are not quick enough to get an insight or understanding of his vision, ideas or points.
A widely travelled man and a polyglot, he speaks his native Afi dialect, Oron, Efik and Ibibio languages fluently. He is fluent in English, Latin, Italian and German, and also speaks some Igbo, French, Hebrew and Greek. He is a great lover of languages and he insists that in addition to their mother tongue, students in the schools he runs should be taught one more Nigerian language and another international language in addition to English. While he served in Uyo, he ran a language school where people from different parts of the country came to learn Italian, German, Latin, French etc.
Indeed, Archbishop Joseph Ekuwem is a man of many parts, who, despite his numerous achievements and attainment in life, still had his feet firmly planted on the ground. Reflecting on his life as a priest and a Bishop, he says that “the Bishop is a priest! He is only a Bishop in terms of service…He is only higher on the hierarchical order of the priesthood in the position of service, both to the other ministerial priests (one of whom he is), and to the other members of the “priesthood of Christ”, namely the religious and the laity…Other than that, he remains basically a priest.”
As this five star son of Akwa Ibom State turns 75 years old today, we raise our glasses to acknowledge an astute intellectual and an advocate for social welfare and justice. We celebrate this preacher of the gospel who in line with his personal motto, “omnia ad deum”, has handed and urges us to also hand ‘everything to God’. His life has been that of unflinching service to God and to the people of God, and a lot can testify to how much of a role model he has been.
As his official retirement kicks in today on this his 75th birthday (though he will remain in office until his successor is announced), we wish him good health and happiness in retirement. We pray that the advocacy he and others made for a just and egalitarian society may not be in vain. And we commit him to the care of the Almighty God whom he has diligently served, even as we continue to look forward to his contributions to the spiritual and moral well-being of the people of God.
Happy 75th birthday to His Grace, Most Reverend Dr. Joseph Effiong Ekuwem, The Archbishop of Calabar and the Metropolitan of Calabar Ecclesiastical Province.
Ad multos annos!
