The Concept: It was on the
occasion of the dedication
of the new St. Dominic’s
‘miracle Church on Jan-
uary 21, 1996, that His
Eminence Anthony Cardinal Okogie,
Archbishop of Lagos (Then His Grace
Most Rev. A.O. Okogie),charged the
parish and the Dominicans to devel-
op two outstations in the Abule Oja
/ Abuleijesha and the Onike /Iwaya
areas with a view to decongesting the
already overcrowded St. Dominic’s
Parish. The ball was then set rolling.
The Location: The first challenge
was where to find a piece of land in
the Onike / Iwaya area suitable for a
church. A Land search committee was
set up almost immediately. It took the
committee about two years of frantic
search to discover three plots of land
along Gbede Street, off Iwaya Road,
Onike. These were promptly bought in
- While the plans and modalities
for the development of this relatively
small piece of land were being worked
out, another plot of land with a storey
building on Gbeto Street bordering
on the newly acquired three plots was
up for sale. With the permission of
the Archbishop, this too was prompt-
ly paid for. This became the location
of the new catholic outstation in that
area.
The Name: The Archbishop decided
that the Church be called St. Stephen
Catholic Church. This was not with-
out reason. A Dominican Brother,
Stephen Lucas, OP who has lived and
worked in the Archdiocese of Lagos
a very long time, and has made some
immense contributions to its spiritual,
physical and human development, had
won a special place in the Archbish-
op’s heart. In recognition of Bro. Ste-
phen’s selfless and dedicated service to
the archdiocese, the new church was
named after his Patron saint, Stephen,
the first martyr in Christendom. A
temporary structure was to be erected
on the newly acquired plot that would
be the place of worship while plans
were being fine- tuned for the com-
mencement of the present building.
On August 30, 2003 the temporary
structure was erected and made ready
for use. The structure was formally
blessed and the first Mass celebrated.
On that day, St. Stephen church, the
people of God was born as a worship-
ping community.
The New St. Stephen Church: The
first phase of the new St. Stephen
Church project consisting mainly of
piling works began with the Turning
of the Sod Ceremony Very Rev. Fr.
Cletus Nwabuzo, OP at the time prior
Provincial of the Dominican Order of
the Province of St. Joseph the worker
(Nigerian and Ghana), performed this
ceremony on Saturday, 28th August
2004 (Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo).
This phase took about a year to com-
plete. The second phase, which was
tagged Bring a Stone consisting of all
structural works kicked off the follow-
ing year. Thus, on Saturday, Septem-
ber 10, 2005, His Eminence, Anthony
Cardinal Okogie, the Archbishop of
Lagos, performed the official Foun-
dation laying Ceremony at the project
site. Work was now earnestly in pro-
gress. In order to enable Parishioners,
participate actively in the project and
to carry on the task of building with-
out tears”(as the project was named)
the indefatigable Pastor Fr. Mary-Vin
Ubili, OP, kept publishing a record of
updates on the various stages of pro-
gress made on the project.
The second phase of the project had
to be done in stages. Thus after the
Foundation laying ceremony, there
was to be formal Corner Stone-Lay-
ing Ceremony. This ceremony was
performed on Saturday, July 26 2006
(Memorial of St. Martha) at the St. Ste-
phen’s Project site. This phase tagged
Block by Block, We Finish the Church,
was performed by the former pastor
Fr. Thomas K. McDermott OP. At the
end of the first and second stages, the
work done included piling, foundation
laying, ground floor surfacing, ground
beams and columns for the first floor
slab, formwork and reinforcement for
the slab, as well as provision of electri-
cal and plumbing lines. The same was
also done for the second floor. The
major Block work has also been done.
The next stage was to be the roofing.
The capping of the church build-
ing, that is, the Installation of a roof,
was the highest level of the project.
It brought to conclusion the struc-
tural works of the project. This phase
of the project was tagged Get to The
Top. Thus, on Saturday, August 4,
2007 the ceremony was performed at
St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, Onike.
The capping thanksgiving Mass was
celebrated by the Station priest, Rev
Fr. Dominic Okure, OP. The gener-
al Capping by all Parishioners of St
Dominic’s followed on Sunday, Au-
gust 5, 2007 with the structural work
now completed; we were left with the
somewhat more intricate aspect of the
project, namely, the finishing.
The final stage of the St. Stephen’s
church project, the finishing was cel-
ebrated in both St. Stephen’s and St.
Dominic’s on Sunday, May 11, 2008
at all the masses. The theme for the
celebration was let’s finish It to enable
Parishioners understand and appreci-
ate its demands: The Finishing works
were divided into sections. These
were; protective elements, Decorative
Elements, Sanctuary Elements, Fur-
nishing and Fittings, Liturgical acces-
sories and Compound Works.
St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, On-
ike, Yaba, Lagos was dedicated to the
glory of God on June 25, 2011. It was
pronounced a parish by His Grace,
Most Rev. Dr. Alfred Adewale Martins
DD, the Archbishop of the metropol-
itan see of Lagos on October 2, 2014.
PARISH PRIEST
Rev. Fr. Raymond Ikechukwu Anoliefo,
since 2014..
Population of the Faithful: mod-
est growth from about 500 to between
800/900
Office Hours: Parish Priest: Monday –
Wednesday, 9am -1pm
Secretary: Mondays – Fridays: 9am to
3pm
Parish Activities;
Sunday Masses:7am and 9am
Week Day Masses:(Starts with Rosary
recitation 5.45am/Mass at 6.15am)
Wednesdays: Know Your Faith (Starting
with Mass at 6.30pm)
Fridays: Encounter with Jesus (Eucha-
ristic Adoration) with Holy Mass from
6.30pm.
Eucharistic Adoration: Every Sunday at
6:00pm and Friday after Evening Mass at
6:30pm
Confessions: Wednesdays & Saturdays:
Immediately after 6:30am Mass
Basic Christian Community
Prayers: Tuesdays, at 6.00pm currently
running six Centers
Catechetical Instruction: Every Sunday
from 4pm – 6pm
Infant Baptism: Every 1st Saturday of
the Month at 9am, with Pre-baptismal
Instruction on the last Saturday of the
month at 7:30am
Organizations in the Church: Catho-
lic Men Organization, Catholic Women
Organization, Young Christian Workers,
Catholic Youth Organization of Nigeria,
Teens Alive (Ministry for Teenagers),
Missionary Childhood Association
Ministries: Board of Lectors, Board of
Church Wardens, Archangel Choir, St.
John Mary Vianney Choir, Knights of the
Altar, Catechist Association
Societies: Association of Sacred Heart of
Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary, So-
ciety of St. Vincent De Paul, Confraternity
of Christian Mothers, St Monica’s Society,
St Jude’s Catholic Society, Confraternity of
our Mother of Perpetual Help, Catholic
Charismatic Renewal Movement, Asso-
ciation of Precious Blood, Divine Mercy
Group, Block Rosary, Blue Army, Legion
of Mary, St. Anthony of Padua, Man of
Order and Discipline (MOD), Catholic
Biblical Instructors’ Union (CBIU), Jus-
tice Development and Peace Commission
(JDPC)
Retreats: Foundation Retreat (Begin-
ning of the Year),Lenten Retreat, Pente-
cost Retreat, Mid-year Revival, Harvest
Retreat, Advent Retreat and a host
