CHRISTIANITY IN AGULERI
From 1887, barely two years after the missionaries landed at Onitsha, Chief Onyekomei Idigo started paying regular visits to the Catholic mission at Onitsha, imploring them to come to Aguleri. Eventually, in 1888, Fr. Lutz, with the company of escorts, travelled to Aguleri through Nsugbe and Nneyi. They were welcomed by Idigo, who had been expecting to meet them. Fr. Lutz and company did not spend the night at Aguleri, and their excuse for the late response was that they had not fully settled at Onitsha. They later returned a few days after their departure and settled down for good at Aguleri.
Apart from preaching the gospel, they gave medical aid to the sick people from various quarters of Aguleri. The mission at Aguleri provided a sanctuary for the mothers of twins, and those accused of witchcraft were prevented from facing trials. Towards the end of 1889, a school was established. They used the school, the orphanage, dispensary, the welfare home, and the Church as means of evangelization.
When overzealous adherents began to desecrate the pagan shrines, the Aguleri people became resentful and wanted to show the white man a way out. They protested and drove the mission out of Eziagulu village. With the missionaries, Idigo selected a site two kilometers north of the town on a hilltop. This was in 1890, and it was the birth of Aguleri Christian Village, later called Ugwu Ndi Uka.
On 27th May 1890, Fr. Lutz paid a formal visit to the mission in the company of some people from Onitsha. Among them was John Samuel Okolo Okosi, the reconverted Obi of Onitsha, and his guards. They were well received by Chief Idigo. When Fr. Lutz declared the purpose of his visit—to choose a house for the mission house—Chief Idigo and the community were filled with joy. On 1st June 1890, Fr. Lutz and Fr. Bubendorf went to choose a site, and on 2nd June, Brother Hermas started to build a mission house at Aguleri. This was the beginning of Christianity in Aguleri.
The baptismal instructions of Onyekomei Idigo continued in top gear throughout 1890 and 1891. His conversion, among other things, entailed dismissing all his wives except one. On the feast of St. Francis Xavier, 3rd December 1891, he was baptized by Rev. Fr. Lutz at Aguleri and was christened Joseph. Elaborate preparations were made for the baptism. Fr. Lutz extended invitations to the Onitsha Catholic community to witness the historic baptism ceremony. Father Reling and Brother Hermas brought canoe-loads of school children from Onitsha. Mother Marie Claver and Sr. Charles were the first Rev. Sisters to visit Aguleri. They came three days earlier to make the necessary preparations for the ceremony. After the baptism, the missionaries took Idigo as a useful instrument for the spread of the gospel by making him a catechist.
At the Christian village, life was very well regulated—indeed, it was semi-monastic. “There was mass each morning at 4:45 am, followed by communal prayers and meditation. The rest of the morning was spent working on the coffee plantation. An hour in the afternoon was given to learning the catechism, and the rest of the time was spent working around the mission. In the evening, when night had fallen, one would hear the voices of men addressing heaven with the beautiful prayer of the rosary.”
Towards the end of 1900, Aguleri Christian Village had 65 families living around the mission and was described as the most flourishing of the existing three Christian villages in Eastern Nigeria. Eleven years earlier, in 1898, there were 202 Christians—150 baptized and 52 catechumens.
The school informally organized at Eziagulu Aguleri mission got a permanent site and became formally organized as St. Joseph’s Secondary School Aguleri in 1894. Under the supervision of Brother Hermas, Mr. Abraham of Sierra Leone was appointed the first headmaster of the school. That school, which took off formally in 1894, is the present Premier Primary School, Otuocha. A church built in 1895 was extended two years later in 1897, evidence of rapid growth. In 1914, a more permanent church was built. This church is the present parish hall east of the St. Joseph’s Church Aguleri [the present church building], which was dedicated in April 1940.
With the help of local artisans present in the Christian village and a few from Onitsha, Fr. Lejeune constructed the present presbytery, measuring 22 by 10 meters. This “Father’s House,” by 1920, was then an architectural masterpiece. “It held the admiration of the town’s people, and many came from nearby towns to see this magnificent edifice.”
By 1930, the population in the Christian village continued a downward trend. The Royal Niger Company’s trade was flourishing at the new site in Obiagu, as well as that of John Holt and the C.F.A.O., which came later. Casual labourers living in the village moved down to Obiagu as there was less work in the Christian village. In the same year, a junior primary school—then St. Raphael’s School—was built at Obiagu, and this finally drained Ugwu Ndi Uka of the remaining elite population.
Such was the condition in 1937 when the foundation for the present church was laid. The Christians wanted it at Amaeze (i.e., Obiagu), “where the majority of the Christians lived.” But it was eventually sited at the Christian Village because the Rev. Fr. in charge, Rev. Fr. Joseph Delaney, argued that the bones of the Rev. Fathers buried in the cemetery would be eventually abandoned if the people’s wish was granted.
Four Reverend Fathers (Rita, Bubendorf, Engasse, and Muller) were buried there. The most beloved of the reverend fathers was Fr. Joseph Delaney. It was solely through his efforts that the present church was built. His love for Aguleri was reciprocated—the church and the only boy’s secondary school in the town [the present Father Joseph’s Memorial High School Aguleri] were named after him. After his death, he was buried in the church. Such was the greatest honor the early Irish missionaries strived for. Over his body stands the present Aguleri church.
Rev. Fr. Tansi came to the mission in 1949. He lived there in the Christian village before, but the necessary social and economic infrastructures for the continuation of the semi-monastic life were absent, and he directed his attention to the boarding house. There, he transposed his asceticism. There were morning prayers before the Holy Mass. Catechism was the first lesson on the school timetable. Angelus was observed with special reverence, and night prayers—before lights out—were said in the church. Occasionally, there were talks on Christian living given by Fr. Tansi himself. No boarder dared miss any of these rituals.
One religious service that pulled crowds once more to the mission was the Communion of Reparation, introduced in Aguleri in 1895 by Fr. Lichtenberger. This service, commonly called the ‘First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart,’ consisted of the monthly reception of Holy Communion, followed by the saying of reparatory prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Those from distant outstations came to the vigil, and the Christian village came alive once more. Fr. Tansi made this almost a monthly pilgrimage in the parish.
On the 19th September 1986, the remains of Blessed Iwene Tansi were brought back to Nigeria, and mistakenly, Aguleri people thought the remains were to be reinterred at Aguleri. They prepared to receive the remains, but the Archdiocese had other plans to keep the remains at the Priests’ Cemetery at Holy Trinity Cathedral compound in Onitsha. This plan did not go down well with Aguleri people. This created two groups—those for Aguleri Church and those for Onitsha Archdiocese. At the height of this problem, Rev. Fr. Okpala, the parish priest of St. Joseph’s Aguleri, weathered the storm for five years and succeeded in reconciling the opposing views and factions.
In 1995, there was an inter-town war that disrupted parish life. Movements were restricted from leaving the town. This lasted till 2000. This was a trying time for the Church, as attempts were made to burn down St. Joseph’s Church, but the fire set to burn it could not ignite. This was the time of Fr. Peter Nwanekezi as the parish priest.
In 2010, the parish finished the present secretariat, which at the time of construction was intended to be the Bishop’s house in Aguleri. The idea of building the “Bishop’s house” was entirely that of Aguleri people, as there was no announcement from Onitsha that any Bishop was coming.
In the same year (2010), the family of Chief Mike Ejoh constructed a chapel of adoration in memory of their mother, Madam Theresa Ejoh. The chapel was blessed by the Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. Val Okeke, in 2010.
In 2012, the major reconstruction of the Fathers’ house began. This was a total reconstruction, which changed much of the building’s original structure. In the same year, flooding occurred in the church compound, and the church fence was constructed.
In 2010, the construction of the parish Podium began. It can house the parish when celebrating one mass on Sundays during Harvest and Bazaar.
In 2014, the Parish constructed another Podium at Fr. Joseph Memorial High School Aguleri. The Podium would serve Aguleri Region for the Chrism Mass. The construction of this Podium ended our Chrism Mass at Otuocha Stadium, as we had our Chrism Mass on the Podium in 2014.
At this juncture, we have noted that St. Joseph’s Parish of the 1890s and early 1990s—which included many towns and villages—is not the St. Joseph of today. We shall put on record that at its highest watermark in the mid-1950s, the parish of St. Joseph, Aguleri, comprised about 60 mission stations, including: – Ndi Uka,- Ameze , – Ugwunadegbe ,- Ivite ,- Igboezunu – Enugu Otu – Isiokwe Igboezunu Otu – Okpiyagba – Eziagulu Otu – St. Augustine’s Umuoba Anam – Our Lady’s Umuleri – Obinetiti – Mgbago – Ogbu – Umudiana – Nneyi – Nkwo – Ikem – Ala Onugwa – Igbedo – Igbokenyi – Ode – Nzam – Inoma – Mmiata – Iyora – Abegbu Umueze Anam – Umuem – Umudora – Oroma Etiti – Umukwu – Onono -Nsugbe – Achalla – Eziora – Oba Igbariam – Ugbene – Umerum – Amagu – Akiyi – Adaba – Ukpata – Uvuru – Akpakume – Nikume – Nkpologu – Adani – Omasi – Umueje – Ifite-Ogwari – Igbakwu – Omor – Umumbo
From 1960 to date, new parishes began to emerge from what was Aguleri parish. The following parishes had been created from Aguleri parish:
1. Igbariam (Nkwo and Ikem Nando, Igbariam Farm Settlement)
2. Nteje (Achalla Agu)
3. Nsugbe
4. Umuoba-Anam (Umueze Anam)
5. Oroma-Etiti (Umuem, Umudora, Umukwu, Onono)
6. Umuleri (Obinetiti, Mgbago, Ogbu, Umudiana, Nneyi)
7. Nzam (Inoma, Ala na Onugwa, Odekpe, Igbedo, Ode, Igbokenyi)
8. Mmiata (Abegbu, Iyora)
9. Aguleri Otu (Eziagulu Otu, Okpiyagba, Isiokwe Mgboezunu Otu, Enugu Otu, Okpalia, Ngenejo, and Okpeze)
10. Adani (Ogungu, Omasi Uno, Omasi Agu)
11. Ifite Ogwari (Igbakwu, Umueje)
12. Omor (Umumbo, Umerum, Anaku)
13. Umulokpa (Ogbosu, Eziora, Amagu, Akiyi, Adaba, Ukpata, Uvuru, Nikume)
14. Ebenebe (Ugbene, Ugbenu, Oba)
15. Ugwunadagbe, Ivite, Enugu Otu, and Ezi Agulu (all in Aguleri town)
16. The only remaining outstations today are St. Raphael’s and St. Vincent Umundeze, all in Aguleri.
Administrator: Rev. Fr. Clement AGHADIUNO.
Parish Vicar 1: Rev. Fr. George UDENABO
Parish Vicar 2: Rev. Fr. Anthony DINYELU
In Residence: Rev. Fr. Peter OMETA
in residence: Rev. Fr. Michael OKAGBUE
