As eminent cleric, the Anglican Bishop of Awka and Archbishop of Niger Province, the Most Reverend Alexander Chibuzo Ibezim, PhD, turns 60, it will be worthwhile to reflect on his life of humble service to God and humanity, both as a clergyman and social activist.
Born on 5th August, 1962 at Saint Mark’s Teachers’ Training College, Nibo-Nise, Archbishop Ibezim hails from Mbaukwu, Awka South local government area in the present day Anambra State.
He passed with flying colours at Agulu Grammar School, Agulu, before proceeding to the Enugu campus of the University of Nigeria where he bagged a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Lagos Anglican Diocesan Seminary where he earned Diploma in Theology and the University of Lagos, where he earned a Postgraduate Diploma in Education and Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling Education. He later bagged a Master’s in Divinity from the Graduate School of Trinity Theological Seminary in collaboration with the Liverpool University, London, before capping it with a PhD in Biblical Studies and a Doctor of Ministry from Graduate School of Trinity International University, USA.
In 1993, Reverend Ibezim was made a Deacon and in 1994, was ordained a priest by the then Primate of Church of Nigeria, Most Reverend Dr. Joseph Adetiloye. Thereafter, he served as one of the Chaplains to the Primate from 1994 to 1999 when he was preferred a Canon by the Primate. In 2005, the Provincial Archbishop of Lagos, the Most Reverend Dr. Ephraim Ademowo, preferred Dr Ibezim an Archdeacon.
Reverend Ibezim was elected Bishop of Awka on Friday July 30, consecrated on September 12, and enthroned on November 22 all in the year 2010 by the Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, then Primate of all Nigeria. At the Episcopal Synod held in Abuja on July 2nd, 2019, Bishop Ibezim was elected Archbishop of Niger Province was subsequently presented on Tuesday, September 24, 2019 at St Peter’s Cathedral, Asaba, Delta State.
As a young priest in January, 1995, he was posted to serve as the Vicar of St. Michael’s Anglican Church, Coker, Orile, Lagos Diocese, where he remained until December 1999. His missionary posture manifested in the church where he grew an eight hundred adult persons congregation he met on ground to over eight thousand persons.
Instructively, Reverend Ibezim’s subsequent educational sojourn to the United States was also not bereft of missionary contributions as evident in his establishment of the St. Faith’s Igbo Church in Atlanta, Georgia, to deepen the spiritual and communal experience of Igbo Anglicans in the USA. Upon his return from the United States, he was absorbed into Enugu Diocese by the Most Reverend Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma where he initiated the Missionary Outreach Network for the empowerment of local churches through which outreach materials were distributed to over 20 communities.
These missionary postures did not end with his episcopacy in Awka Diocese. He has over the years established and inaugurated several committees aimed at enhancing the development of the Diocese. Under Archbishop Ibezim, more Archdeaconries and parishes were created in Awka Diocese to complement the existing ones.
The Diocese under his guidance also initiated and completed several projects. These include establishment of Millennium Microfinance Bank, rehabilitation and equipping of Faith Hospital and Orphanage Awka, construction of the International Retreat and Resource Centre, Awka, Queens Convent, Awka and the Diocesan Shopping Complex among many innumerable others.
Archbishop Ibezim through his Widowhood Alleviation Programme has empowered over 3, 000 widows in the Diocese. He equally mobilized his Diocese to provide relief materials to the victims of the flood disaster of 2012. Similarly, the Bishop Ibezim Rural Development Fund has been deployed towards assisting the development of his community, Mbaukwu.
In recognition of his numerous positive contribution to the growth of the Church and society at large, Archbishop Ibezim has received many awards and recognitions from various reputed bodies within and outside the Church notably Paul Harris Fellowship Award by the Rotary Club of Awka (2013), Lifetime Achievement Award and the Grand Commander Medal Award by the Anambra State Government in 2017 and 2022.
Archbishop Ibezim is happily married to Mrs. Martha Chioma Ibezim, JP, “Mama Province” and the marriage is blessed with five children.
As this icon clocks 60, the teeming members of his flock, colleagues in the ministry, relatives, friends, and other well-wishers are joining him to thank God for a fruitful life that has been enriching for him and impactful to many.
A weeklong of activities has started since Monday, 1st August 2022 and will climax on Sunday, 7th August 2022. The activities will include the foundation stone laying of new projects, the dedication of completed ones including the ultra modern Archbishop’s Palace and Diocesan Archive and end with a thanksgiving service at the Cathedral Church of St Faith, Awka on Sunday. They will be held under the spiritual guidance of His Grace, the Most Reverend Dr. Henry Ndukuba, Archbishop Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria.
Happy Diamond Jubilee Most Reverend Ibezim!
Written by DR EMEKA ODOGWU
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