The Catholic Herald Centenary Lecture and Awards on October 5, 2024, at Victoria Island, Lagos was a landmark occasion attended by dignitaries from the various strata of Nigeria. The occasion was also utilised to deliberate on the importance of Nigeria attaining true nationhood, a topic that was the focus of the centenary lecture and the subsequent panel discussions. The gathering was a microcosm of the Church and the country’s political leadership, with the clergy, notably led by the Chief Host and Publisher, His Grace, Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins, Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos; and His Grace, Most Rev. Gabriel ‘leke Abegunrin, the Archbishop of Ibadan, who represented the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Most Rev. Lucius Ugorji.

A cross-section of the laity was adequately represented with the presence of Mr. Ugonna Ezeifedi, Chairman of the Lagos Archdiocesan Laity Council, papal knights and medallists, Knights and Ladies of St. Mulumba Nigeria and St. John International, Presidents of Catholic men, women and youth organisations, guests, and, of course, the centenary awardees. The Centenary Lecture of The Catholic Herald Weekly, Nigeria’s oldest and longest surviving newspaper was held under the distinguished chairmanship of Sen. George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). Hon. Christopher Tarka, Chief of Staff, Office of the SGF stood in for him. Most Rev. (Dr.) Matthew Kukah, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto was the Guest Speaker.
The event was graced by the Special Guest of Honour, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, represented by Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim, Hon. Minister of Youth Development; Guest of Honour, Most Rev. (Dr.) Lucius Ugorji, represented by Most Rev. (Dr.) Gabriel ‘Leke Abegurin, Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan and Host Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by Barr. ‘Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin, Secretary to the Lagos State Government. The Chief Host, Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins, Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos also played host to an avalanche of dignitaries.
Simply put, The Catholic Herald Centenary Lecture successfully convened a platform for top-level decision makers in government, political chieftains, religious leaders, scholars, human rights activists, lay leaders, the media and other relevant stakeholders and focused on addressing issues that have over the decades continued to adversely affect our national cohesion. Archbishop Martins, who in his address extolled The Catholic Herald as one of the footprints of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, noted that the first edition of the newspaper was published in July 1924 and printed at St. Paul’s Press in the Catholic Mission at Ebute-Metta, Lagos, with the editorial written in both English and Yoruba by Bishop Ferdinand Terrien, who was then the Vicar Apostolic of the Bight of Benin and a member of the Society of African Missions, SMA.

“We can, in all humility, proudly acknowledge the fact that the newspaper that we celebrate today played a major role in the nationalist struggles for our country’s independence by its fiery editorials and news reporting,” he stated. This noble antecedent informed the topic of the Centenary Lecture, to wit, “The Nigerian State: Transcending Challenges, Attaining Nationhood.” Disclosing the underlying reason for the rebranding of The Catholic Herald four years ago, to reinforce its evangelisation mission, the Archbishop added: “The rebranding was done to enhance the personality of the paper and its readership across the print and digital forms.” Prior to the Archbishop’s opening remarks, Very Rev. Fr. Anthony Godonu, Director of Social Communications, Archdiocese of Lagos had welcomed everyone to the Centenary Lecture and Awards Ceremony as well as disclosed the birth name, core function and frequency of production of the publication.
He said, “The Catholic Herald Newspaper you may want to know, was surnamed ‘Nigerian Catholic Herald.’ “For many years, it was the sole organ of public information and opinion for the Catholic Church throughout Nigeria. From a monthly, it appeared fortnightly and then weekly.” One Fr. Edward Peter Bermingham was very instrumental in its growth in the 1940s. He was reported to have run the newspaper from St. Paul’s, Ebute Metta and then from St. Matthew’s, Yaba, infusing new life into the newspaper. “Since then, the Newspaper has passed through many hands, including Very Rev. Fr. Denis Slattery, SMA, Very Rev. Msgr. Gabriel Osu, Very Rev. Fr. Mike Umoh, Late Mr. Tony Cardoso, Late Mr. Omoghene Iruaga Onajake, Mr. Tony Agbugba and host of others and currently, Lady Neta Nwosu. Very Rev. Fr. Godonu further noted that The Catholic Herald Newspaper has had its ups and downs.”
Senator George Akume represented by Hon. Tarka, noted that The Catholic Herald survived the hundred years because the founding fathers established it on the foundations of faith, truth and strong convictions. These virtues, according to him, bequeathed to the newspaper the quality to thrive in the face of technological advancement, changing demographics, the emergence of social media and a host of other developments that adversely affected the print media. Senator Akume also underscored the role of the publication in the history of Nigeria, saying: “The Catholic Herald and its closest contemporary, the Daily Times both primarily hold a place in Nigeria’s historical records that can point us in the direction of the recovery of our values and also the recognition of the sterling qualities and contributions of our forefathers.”
While assuring that the road to a greater nation is already being paved by Mr. President’s policy programmes and plans under the Renewed Hope Agenda, Senator Akume underscored the importance of dialogue between government and society. In her own remarks, the Minister of Youth and Development, Dr. Jamila Ibrahim Biu, also hailed The Catholic Herald’s 100 years as a milestone and “a testament to the enduring influence of the Church in shaping not only religious lives but also the social, economic and political dimensions of our society.” She, in particular, acknowledged the critical role of the Church in building the moral foundation of Nigeria on respect, peace and national cohesion. “I would like to take us down memory lane, and a testament to that openness that the Catholic Church has shown to other sects.
We remember Alhaji Jubril Martins, who, being a Muslim, was a secretary to a bishop and thus played a very critical role in The Catholic Herald. So, the Catholic Church, regardless of his faith, opened its doors for him to serve. After him, there was another notable Muslim Nigerian who also played a role in the Catholic Church, Imam Agasto, who we are all very familiar with. These are examples that we all need to remind ourselves that there isn’t much that divides us in our faith,” she reflected. The question of nationhood was properly dissected, panned and treated by Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of the Diocese of Sokoto, in his lecture titled “Nigeria: Journey to Nationhood; Transcending Challenges; Attaining True Nationhood.”

Bishop Kukah is eminently qualified to speak about the nationhood process of Nigeria, having been a participant in such efforts in the past as the secretary to the 2005 National Political Reform Conference. The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto who delivered his lecture virtually from Rome, treated the topic in three phases, starting from the anatomy of the journey to nationhood, followed by a pondering on why nationhood becomes the Holy Grail that the country is perpetually seeking and concluding with the basic requirements for attaining the objectives of nationhood. Describing nationhood as a journey of life and of generations, the guest lecturer avowed that such journeys “demand discipline, patience and far more sacrifice than we are prepared to admit. Nigerians, he noted, are easily given to “feeling sorry for themselves, blaming everyone around them, castigating their country and its leaders,” whereas “our concerns should be a proper reading of where we have come from, where we are going, and how we can get there.”
In the words of Bishop Kukah: “Nigerians love to abuse, vilify and criticise their country by rehashing famous but tired and unhelpful excuses about themselves and their histories.” Diagnosing that the country’s slow progress was largely because many of those who have led this journey have tended to lack vision or have a limited sense of direction, he articulated: “We have, therefore, been faced with problems of lack of knowledge of distance, misuse of resources, and disrupted leadership with different visions.” He drew analogies from the Book of Exodus to show that “most journeys to nationhood are stories full of blood, sweat and tears” and have “no shortcuts.” On why Nigeria’s quest is particularly difficult (which he subtitled ‘What happened (to us) on the way to heaven?’), he explained: “In the absence of such drivers of democracy like an enlightened intellectual and economic elite, infrastructure, matured institutions of state, and a bureaucracy, ours was still largely a work in progress in its very early stages,” hence the need for dedication with the experiments so far.”
Drawing parallels from the Bible and cogent examples from America and Singapore, Fr Kukah gave his prescription: “To achieve a nation of our dreams, leaders have to have the clarity of vision and create the required conditions for citizens to achieve their dreams. It is therefore, these collective dreams that make a great nation, a nation of our collective dreams.” The panacea, he proposed, required the entrenchment of a robust set of institutions, including a justice system that is independent, free and grounded in the rule of law; an effective and efficient bureaucracy; a robust civil society and the Catholic Church, and a body of Christ, where one is another’s keepers. In his concluding remarks, he expounded the necessity of using “our moral force” to roll back greed and corruption. “The Church must offer the world a moral vision for the building of a just and fair society based on our values of brotherhood and sisterhood as God’s children,” he admonished.

The panel session that followed, moderated by Mr Liborous Oshoma, further dissected and distilled the subject matter of nationhood by x-raying the various parts of the sum as it concerned contemporary Nigeria. The panellists include, eminent lawyers Femi Falana and Prof. Mike Ozekhome, marketing guru and doyen of corporate governance Prof. Chris Ogbechie, former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority and Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, and Very Rev. Fr. Raymond Anoliefo. Falana’s thesis on “Deficit of National Cohesion in Nigeria Occasioned by Ethno-Religious Pluralism” spotlighted how the avarice of political and religious leaders impoverishes the common man. “Our country is in trouble not because of poverty; our country is rich; very rich. But the poverty of ideas of our leaders has reduced our country to a country of beggars, going around chasing loans,” he postulated.
Prof. Ozekhome, who focused on corruption, describing it as “a shadow that has followed Nigeria since its earliest days (and) has eroded the promise of prosperity and progress,” showed in a well-researched piece titled “Evaluation of Nigeria’s Political Leadership Since 1960 and the Rhythm of Corruption” how the grip of corruption had tightened on the country’s jugular. His carefully articulated chronicles, through the military era to the present democratic dispensation, ended in salient recommendations: Strengthening and reforming institutions to combat corruption; fostering political and electoral reforms; investing in civic education and youth engagement; promoting economic diversification and job creation; and strengthening accountability and whistle blower protection. “For Nigeria to break free from the grip of corruption,” Prof. Ozekhome stated, “its institutions must be fortified. Strong institutions, not strong men, should be the pillars of governance.”
Hadiza Bala Usman, who spoke on policy reforms and coordination of the present government noted the ongoing effort to strengthen bureaucracy and the public service in general. She cited the example of the President mandating all ministers and other important cogs in the country’s bureaucracy, including permanent secretaries, to sign performance bonds for service delivery across all ministries. “Holding ministers accountable for the first time in Nigeria, we have all the deliverables of every ministry in a public space so you can see what it is that the ministers are trying to do for us. And within that, we can contribute to that. That is an inclusive government; a government that recognises the value and contributions of the citizens and the citizens assessing what the government has done,” she stated. Highlighting the need for political stability to ensure the attainment of democratic development, she underscored the need for citizen’s support to enable government to do its duty.
In his discourse on “Addressing Inequality and Social Economic Disparity to Achieving Socially Cohesive and United Nigeria,” Prof. Chris Ogbechie stressed that the greatest threat to our national cohesion is the disparity in the social and economic status of citizens, which he traced to past wrong policy choices, one of which was the takeover of the educational institution by government some 50 years ago. “If we can fix education, we can start addressing the issue of socioeconomic disparity,” he affirmed, suggesting that a declaration of a state of emergency in the sector will be in order. “We cannot talk of economic growth if we cannot develop education,” he further explained. “If you really want to pursue and solve the problem of education, government should provide lands and partner with faith-based organisations like the Catholic Church, abolish all forms of taxes on educational institutions and tariffs on educational books and equipment and provide grants to education institutions based on the performance of those institutions.”
His suggestion for a far-reaching solution hinged on bridging the inequality in society by encouraging young people to embrace agriculture, technology and entrepreneurship. “Our education should stress not just employability but at the same time getting them to be entrepreneurs. If we cannot engage the young people in education, agriculture and entrepreneurship, we will continue to have these inequalities,” he concluded. Fr. Raymond Anoliefo, whose presentation dwelt on the way forward to nationhood, pointed out the contradiction in the country’s constitution. As he observed, “If our constitution talks about citizenship, and in the same breath, you talk about indigeneship, I think in that space, there’s a bit of a contradiction.” What the Nigerian society needs, according to him, is a reorientation to salvage eroded value systems. “We have a system in this country that is abhorrent to meritocracy and accountability. The average Nigerian abhors accountability. Nobody wants to give an account. Accountability is not part and parcel of what we do. So, what you see since the return of democracy is loyalism. People are appointed to political offices not on any merit, not because we have tested them,” he expounded.
As a panacea to this national malaise, he emphasised a strong family system and values. In expressing his views, Archbishop Gabriel Abegunrin summed up what he believed was the cause of the rot in our society. “Everywhere, there’s indiscipline; even sometimes, in the church. People do what they like. They talked about our law; (some say) maybe we need a new one or not. The fact is that our laws are not working because many people offend and they go free of charge or they go away smiling,” the Archbishop noted. His admonition for a better Nigeria and nationhood was food for thought and a call to action for all and sundry: “The problem is each of us is not ready to play our part; if each of us is playing our part, Nigeria will be better today. We should all play our partas mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, bishops, priests and reverend sisters. When we play our part, Nigeria will move forward.”