All is now set for the First Session of the 32nd Synod of the Diocese on the Niger holding at the All Saints’ Cathedral Onitsha from Thursday 9th June to Sunday 12th June, 2022., The theme is ‘Go, Make Disciples of all Nations’. The Bishop on the Niger, Right Reverend Dr Owen Nwokolo will preside over the 4-day synod.
According to the Sub-Dean, All Saints Cathedral’s, Venerable Samuel Ezewudo and the Synod Committee Chairman, Sir Chris Ukachukwu, Bishop Owen and wife, Elsie will on Thursday, June 9th, 2022, lead the synod delegates on a visit to the palace of the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe. It will be followed by opening service at All Saints’ Cathedral and blessing of the commercial city of Onitsha by Bishop Owen. On Friday 10th June, 2022, by 10am, there will be the Bishop’s Charge and launching of the Charge. While on Sunday, 12th June, 2022, there will be synod thanksgiving service beginning from 10am, followed by pooling of funds for the proposed On-the-Niger University, Umunya.
The Cathedral Community is assuring all Synod delegates and non-delegates of good hospitality, prayers, blessings and spiritual flows as they come to make history with the Church of God. The history of the All Saints’ Cathedral, Onitsha is synonymous with the Niger Mission Expedition and planting of Christianity in Igboland and adjacent territories. During this period, the missionaries were led by Samuel Ajayi Crowther, who started preaching the gospel in Igboland on 27th July, 1857. This was the period the first Igbo Christian mission station (Christ Church, Onitsha) was born. Christ Church was the mother church of what became known as the Diocese on the Niger.
At the Synod of the Diocese on the Niger in 1939 at Christ Church Onitsha, Venerable Victor Nworah Umunna moved a motion calling for a modern and befitting Cathedral in Onitsha. Bishop Alphonsus Onyeabor, Assistant Bishop on the Niger (and the first Igbo man to become an Anglican bishop) seconded this motion and also made a donation of 250 pounds towards the project.
Following the string of Episcopal successions on the Niger, Bishop Cecil John Patterson who succeeded the retired Right Reverend B Lasbery in 1949 commenced the building of All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha and finished nearly half of it by 1967. The Foundation stone of the great Cathedral was laid on Wednesday 9th November, 1949 by His Excellency, Sir John Stewart Macpherson, Governor General of Nigeria. Bishop Patterson in his sermon at the service said that the Cathedral of All Saints would stand as a sure and steadfast witness to the things of God in Onitsha and that it would proclaim God with the cross shinning hundred feet above its massive tower.
The completed Cathedral was on November 1, 1992, dedicated by the Archbishop of Nigeria, His Grace, the Most Reverend Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye, assisted by Right Reverend Dr J. A. Onyemelukwe and other bishops of the Church of Nigeria. Right Reverend Ken Sandy Okeke took over from Archbishop Onyemelukwe, who retired from the See of the Niger on 30th May, 2000. He inherited a completed and consecrated Cathedral and committed himself to mission, evangelism and church planting.
Following the retirement of Bishop Okeke in 2011, Venerable Owen Nwokolo from All Saints Cathedral Onitsha was consecrated Bishop on the Niger on 9th January, 2011 by the Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, the then Archbishop and Primate of All Nigeria.
Bishop Owen played a major role in the completion of the C.J. Patterson International Auditorium and some of the renovation works in the Cathedral, with street lights and beautification of the Cathedral compound, among other next level initiatives.
The story of the Cathedral would not be complete without mentioning some of the administrative heads who guided its flow of work. They include: Very Reverend Dr David Okeke, Venerable Sam Chukuka, Very Reverend Dr Emma Ekpunobi, Venerable Owen Nwokolo, Venerable Obiora Uzochukwu, and Venerable Samuel Ezewudo, hosting the Cathedral’s second Synod in 2022 and digitizing all its operations.
Anambra stakeholders should give massive support to Bishop Nwokolo who has been navigating all parts of his diocese with the gospel of salvation, impacting millions of lives and changing the narratives of his people. Niger Synod, therefore, exposes our evangelical potentials to new levels, especially evolving measures that would help keep the body of Christ together for the great commission.
Written by OSELLOKA OFFOH
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