- He has hardly put any foot wrong, says Msgr. Aniagwu
The Catholic Bishops of Nigeria have congratulated His Grace, Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins, Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos as he marks his 25th Episcopal and 40th Priestly Ordination anniversaries with his classmates, Very Rev. Msgr. Edmond Akpala, Very Rev. Msgr. Jerome Oduntan, Very Rev. Fr. Michael Akintolu, Very Rev. Fr. Alphonsus Ania and Very Rev. Fr. Paschal Atomori. In his address at the Anniversary Mass held recently at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos, Most Rev. (Dr.) Lucius Ugorji, President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) said the dual celebration is a period of thanking God for His Graces, Archbishop Martins and classmates.
He said, “Your Grace, Most Rev. Alfred Martins, we, your brothers, the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria are gathered round you today in the spirit of Episcopal fraternity and communion, to felicitate and thank God with you, for graciously calling you to the holy priesthood 40 years ago, and to the episcopate 25 years ago. “We praise and thank God for offering you the grace all these years to face your apostolic concern as a humble, gentle, committed and compassionate priest with a heart that beats for the poor and less privileged. “Through your dedicated and exemplary life and ministry, you have impacted and mentored many lives in Abeokuta Diocese, Archdiocese of Lagos, and across the country, as a seminary formator, a Bishop and a Metropolitan Archbishop. “
Archbishop Ugorji added, “This auspicious occasion offers me the much desired opportunity to commend you for your outstanding, selfless service to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria over the years as the Chairman to CBCN Committee and Ecumenism, Assistant Secretary to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, briefly as Secretary of the conference, as well as the Pro- Chancellor of and Chairman of Council of Catholic Institute of West Africa, CIWA, and now as Chairman of the Department of Church and Society, and Board Chairman of the Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria, CCFN. “As you celebrate today, surrounded by your colleagues, the Class of 8, the Class of Charity, the flock, your relations, friends and well-wishers, I congratulate you and wish you many more years of joy, peace, good health and fulfillment in the Lord’s vineyard.
The CBCN President prayed for Archbishop Martins. “May your silver through divine affirming turn gold. May God preserve you in his love.” In same vein, Rt. Rev. Msgr. John Aniagwu went into memory lane on the emergence of the Class of 8, which he described as a “bumper harvest”. He traced the early history of ordinations in Lagos Archdiocese. “The first three men of Yoruba extraction to become Catholic Priests were ordained way back in 1929, almost a century ago. Their names were Stephen Adewuyi, Julius Oni and Lawrence Layode. They had undergone their seminary formation at the Grand Seminaire St. Gall in neighbouring Dahomey, present-day Republic of Benin. “
When the Archdiocese of Lagos was created in 1950, Frs., later Monsignori, Adewuyi, Oni and Layode were incardinated here and lived out the rest of their priestly lives and service here. “After the ordination of those first three priests, no floodgate of ordinations opened for the Archdiocese of Lagos. On the contrary, priestly ordinations came in trickles, one, two, at most three in any given year, sometimes at intervals as long as ten years. One notable exception was in 1966, when the Archdiocese witnessed the ordination of four priests in one year, namely, Festus Ogunshakin, Anthony Olubunmi Okogie, Christopher Edema Boyo, and Felix Alaba Job, in that order. “Along came the year 1983. Eight young men were to be ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Lagos. Eight priests at a time! It was unheard of. It was historic. By the standards of the Archdiocese at that time, it was a bumper harvest. Understandably, everyone was overjoyed, most of all the Archbishop of Lagos at the time, Most Rev.Anthony Olubunmi Okogie. “
The Archbishop was so delighted that, at the ordination Mass, he christened the group of ordinands the “Class of Eight”. The name caught on, and the group has worn it proudly ever since. Their names were Christopher Ajala, Michael Akintolu, Edmond Akpala, Alphonsus Ania, Paschal Atomori, Alfred Martins, Jerome Oduntan, and Peter Oke. “Today, the Class of Eight is marking the fortieth anniversary of their priestly ordination. And they have invited us to join them in thanking God for reaching this significant milestone in their lives and ministry as priests. In the words of the Gospel Acclamation at this Mass, they are saying to all of us, “Come and hear, all who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me. Alleluia!”
“Your Eminences, Your Graces, Your Lordships, Monsignori, Reverend Fathers, Major Superiors and members of various religious institutes here represented, State functionaries here present, Royal Fathers, Papal Knights and Medalists, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, please join me to warmly congratulate our celebrants on this occasion. Your Grace, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, and your classmates, hearty congratulations. May God preserve you all to witness your Golden Jubilee of priestly ordination and beyond.”
Rt. Rev. Msgr. Aniagwu regretted the passing of two of the Class of 8. “Ten years ago, when the Class of Eight celebrated their thirtieth anniversary, all eight members of the class were here. Sadly, today, on their fortieth anniversary, two are no longer with us; namely, Monsignori Christopher Ajala and Peter Oke. Monsignor Oke left us on the July 17, 2023, so close to his fortieth anniversary. May God rest their souls in perfect peace! May light perpetual shine upon them!” According to the Vicar General, one of many remarkable things about the Class of Eight is that they began their first year in the major seminary together, Ss. Peter and Paul Major Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan. “Seven years later, all eight of them arrived together at their priestly ordination.
That was quite a feat, a very rare occurrence in seminary formation: eight students from the same diocese beginning Year One, and making it to the end of Year Seven, without the loss of anyone, with no one falling by the wayside, no casualty! The eight young men successfully navigated the regimes of three Rectors: the legendary, no nonsense Fr., later Monsignor, Patrick Ugboko, the affable Fr., now Cardinal John Onaiyekan, and Fr., now Monsignor John Aniagwu. Best of all, they survived the rigorous scrutiny of their dreaded Ordinary, Archbishop, now Cardinal Anthony Okogie. “For the past forty years, members of the Class of Eight have exercised their ministry in different parts of the world: here in the Archdiocese of Lagos, in the Archdiocese of lbadan, Diocese of Abeokuta, Diocese of Osogbo, in Scotland and in the USA. And they have done so very well.
To God be the glory! God willing, those of them who are still with us will continue to serve God, the Church and humanity in the best possible ways for many years to come and for the rest of their lives. “I believe that the Class of Eight can be justifiably proud that their class produced the founding Bishop of the Diocese of Abeokuta in January 1998, and the fourth Archbishop of Lagos in August 2012, in the person of the Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins. Therefore, today’s celebration is a doubie-header. Not only are we celebrating the fortieth anniversary of priestly ordination of the Class of Eight, but also the Silver Jubilee of Episcopal ordination of our Archbishop.”
Msgr. Aniagwu noted that the actual Silver Jubilee was on January 24, 2023, but Archbishop Martins did not want to burden people with two big celebrations in one year. He recollected that the Archbishop preferred to combine the two anniversaries in one celebration with his classmates at this time. The Vicar General congratulated Most Rev. Martins on his 25 years of episcopacy. “Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, brothers and sisters in Christ, please join me to congratulate our Archbishop with a round of applause…. Your Grace, hearty congratulations. Many happy returns of your Episcopal anniversary! “There is a saying that “the morning shows the day.”
That saying is exactly true of Archbishop Martins. As a seminarian, he was not only exceptionally brilliant and a model seminarian, in the truest sense of those words. But he also showed unmistakable leadership qualities. “As a formator, Fr. Martins was a dependable team player. He filled every role that was assigned to him admirably well, before leaving for further studies in Scotland. No one was surprised when he was summoned back from his doctoral studies in 1997 to be the pioneer Bishop of the proposed Diocese of Abeokuta. Certainly, none of us who served with him at the seminary was surprised. He was just 38. As Bishop of Abeokuta, our celebrant did not disappoint.
Together with the priests and people, he laid a rock-solid foundation for the new diocese. When the time came to appoint a new Archbishop for the Archdiocese of Lagos, in succession to the long-serving Anthony Cardinal Okogie, the Holy See did not have to look too far. A suitable and worthy candidate was just across the border, in Abeokuta Diocese. Everyone welcomed the appointment of Bishop Martins as Archbishop of Lagos “For the past eleven years, Archbishop Martins has steered the ship of this Archdiocese with gentle, sure and steady hands. l emphasise those words: gentle, sure and steady hands. I cannot begin to chronicle all that he has done in Lagos. The catalogue would be too long. Suffice it to say that he has hardly put any foot wrong.”
