University of Nigeria Research Publications

NWOSU, Ugwuanya L.

Aut

hor

PG/MA/Ph.D/85/3069

Title

Roman Catholic Historiography in Igboland,

1935 - 1985

Facu

lty

Social Sciences

Dep

artm

ent

Religion

Dat

e

November, 1986

Sign

atur

e

ROMAN CATHOLIC HISTORIOQRAPHY IN IGBOLAND, 9935-1985

A PRfMEGT REPORT SUBMITTED IN PhRTIAL FLKFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT

$OR THE AWARD OF SHE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN RELIGION

. ,,4$ '"

DEPLlRTPlENT OF R E L I G I O N U N I V E R S I T Y OF N I G E R I A

NSUKKA

NOVEMBER 1986

APPROVAL PAGE ?. ii.

T h i s P ro j ec t Report has been approved for t he

De~mrtment of Re l ig ion of t he Univers i ty of Niger ia

11 suklca,

. - 1.-

SUPXRVISOR INTERNAL EXAMINER . .

I

I _ _ . .

EXTERNAL ,EXAMINER

DEDICATION

T h i s work i s d e d i c a t e d t o a l l h i s t o r i a n s

- dead and a l i v e - genu ine ly i n t e r e s t e d i n

o b j e c t i v e and s c i e n t i f i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv.'

The s u c c e s s f u l completion of t h i s p r o j e c t was due

t o t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n of s e v e r a l people t o whom I owe

n good d c a l of g r a t i t u k e . F i r s t , f must e x p r e s s my

L~.imcnse g r a t i t u d e t o my Superv i so r P r o f e s s o r Ogbu

U. Xnlu who made me p ick g r e a t i n t e r e s t i n h i s to r iography .

By h i s s u g g e s t i n g t h i s theme, he had f u r t h e r succeeded

iu i n c r e a s i n g my i n t e r e s t i n h i s t o r i o g r a p i c a l s t u d i e s .

X5.s s c h o l a r l y s u p e r v i s i o n and h i s u n r e s t r i c t e d supp ly

of t h e r e l e v a n t l i t e r a t u r e from h i s r i c h l i b r a r y , have

c o n t r i b u t e d i n a b i g enough way t o t h e s u c c e s s f u l

execution of t h i s p r o j e c t .

I wish a l s o t o r e g i s t e r my indeb tedness t o my room

riin'cc., D r . i ~ u g u s t i n e Nwoye whose s u g g e s t i o n s gave shape t o

iny treatment of c e r t a i n i s s u e s r a i s e d by C a t h o l i c

h i s t o r i a n s i n Igboland. I a l s o thank t h e C a t h o l i c

l l iz r tor ians whose works provided t h e raw m a t e r i a l s f o r

t h i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h i c a l essay.

. My thank6 a l s o go t o Mr. U.0. Ukpai who p a i n s t a k i n g l y

tgpecl t h i s work from my u s u a l l y not very good

hnndwritinfl. I must a l s o thank M r . Moses Ezegbe of

Umunhia, M r . P e t e r Chukwuemeka of i ~ b n t e t e , M r . Okornfor

Nwosu of Emeabiam and o t h e r s t o o numerous t o mention

f o r t h e i r i n v a l u a b l e i n f o r m a t i o n ?n regulatlune regarding

b u r i a l p l a c e s i n t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e sommunities.

i k . Jnmos Nwachukwu of :ilvan Ikoku Col lege of Educa t ion

0werr-i. a l s o d c s c r - J ~ P rnj t h a n k s f o r h i s encouragement.

p r l ~ I c;mfi i s tent e x p r e s s i o n of conf idenct. i n my a b i l i t y .

t o complete t h i s p r o j e c t i n r e c o r d time encouraged me.

Fina 'Lly, 1 shou ld thank ICY chi!.dren who, d e s p i t e

NWCSU, L. Ugwuanya

D e p r t r n e n t of R e l i g i o n , U n i v e r s i t y of N i g e r i a , la sukka .

Title Pagz

Approval Page

D e d i c a t i o n

Acknowledgement

Tab le of C o n t e n t s Q O o

L i s% of i ibbrevat , lons a . o

L b s t r a c t * O D

CHAPTER ONE: .- INTROCC'CTION . . -----.-< -..- Area of Study m o o

Loca t ing t h e P r o t l e n ~ 0 0 .,

g o o vi

a a 0 vii

. . .. viii

CH.'J?TER TWO: - DZVEL(JPMENT OF CHURCH HISTORIOGR;LPHY - - I

I N NIC-ERIL 0 0 0 0 Li 3 9

C o l o n i a l H i s t o r i o g r a p h y . . o o r n o 9

Church H i s t q r i o g r a 2 h y 0 0 0 a " o -l 1

i , f r i c a n N a t i o n a l i s t . H i s t o r i o g r a p h y o D 0 1 6

C.hnrch H i s t o r i o g r a p h y :-n N i g e r i a a O O 7 6

C&.PTEP THREE: - DEVELOPMENT DF LITER:ITURE IN CATHOLIC -- -- HISTORIOSRAPHY m o m 23

IL Delayed Programtne and The F i r s t Phase: 1935-1967 0 . 0 0 0 0

E r a of ~ I n c i - e a s i n g z?warencss i n H i s t o r i c d -Knowledge, 1967-1950 e o e m o o

The Centenary Decade: The F?' .rst Half ( 1980-1985) O o F o d e

H i s t o r y from Cat110l.i~ Viewpoint

In P r n i s e o f t h e M i a s l o n a r i e o

Success Where F a i l u r e Reigned

I n Pa raphrase : Conc lus ion

CXfiPTER FIVE : - GENER,'iL CHARLCTERISTICS OF CATHOLIC HISTORIOGRAPHY P I I 73

The P l a c e of Wr i t t en Documents on. 75 H i s t o r i c a l M a t e r i a l s i n Our Land O * O 82

C u l t u r e Encounter a 0 a C I O O 84

Handling o f O r a l T r a d i t i o n 0 0 0 8 8 Miss ionary His to r iography? a . a 3 1

The F i n g e r o f God 0 4 0 ... 94

C r d H i s cor iography 0 O w I00

Bib l iography o O O . o o 114

CMS

NCP

RCM

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

- Church Missionary Society

- Nigerian Certificate i n Education

- Roman Catholic Mission

ABSTRACT viii,

The ongoing t a s k o f Church h i s t o r i o g r a p h y i n

.ifrica h a s h i t h e r t o been concer ' d mainly w i t h t h e

l ~ i s t o r i o g r a p h y of The Church i n Afr ica . None of t h e

essays h a s e v e r focussed o t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y of any

i??- r t iculnr church denomi a t i o n i n any s p e c i f i c c u l t u r e

area. The aim o f t J B p r o j e c t w a s t h e r e f o r e t o f i l l

t h i s gap by u n d e r t a k i n g a s t u d y of t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y of

t l-c Roman C a t h o l i c Church i n Igbo land e a s t of t h e Niger.

The work is d i v i d e d i n t o f i v e c h a p t e r s . Chap te r one

d c l i r i i t e d t h e a r e a of s t u d y , i d e n t i f i e d t h e problem t o

bc i n v e s t i g a t e d and s t a t e d how t h e work w a s t o be c a r r i e d

ou t . Chapter two t r a c e d t h e development of l i t e r a t u r e

i n I l i g e r i a n Church h i s t o r y from what has been d e s c r i b e d

as miss ionary h i s t o r i o g r a p h y - w i t h c o l o n i a l h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

a t t h c background - t h a t began t o emerge a t t h e opening

of t h e second h a l f of t h e p r e s e n t cen tu ry t o t h e c l o s e

of t h e s e v e n t i e s . L i k e n a t i o n a l i s t h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

uyon which i t based, it w a s d e f e n s i v e i n n a t u r e and

concerned w i t h p r o j e c t i n g t h e Af r i can image.

The bulk o f t h e work is t o be found i n c h a p t e r s

t h r e c t o f i v e . Chapter t h r e e t r a c e d t h e development

of l i t e r a t u r e on C a t h o l i c Church h i s t o r y from i t s e a r l i e s t

beg inn ing t o 1985. I n t h i s su rvey , a t t e m p t s were made t o

i n c l u d e a l l p u b l i s h e d works on t h e h i s t o r y of t h e

pe r iod from 3970-1985 witnessed the emergence of t h e

g r e a t e s t number of books on C a t h o l i c h i s t o r y , the

C r c a t c s t number i n any one s i n g l e y e a r appear ing i n

1985, t h e y e a r of t h e C a t h o l i c cen tenary c e l e b r a t i o n .

Chapter f o u r examined the aims and o b j e c t i v e of

C a t ' o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y . A c l o s e s tudy 01 t h e works

showed that t h e common a ims i n c l u d e a d e s i r e t o t e l l '

t h c s t o r y of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n Igbclund from t h e

C a t h o l i c p ~ i n t of view; an a t t empt t o t e l l , i n g r e a t e r

d e t a i l s , t h e s t o r y of Roman CaChol ic ism i n Igboland, a

s t o r y t h a t had h i t h e r t o appeared t o have been ve ry

s c a n t i l y t o l d i n miss ionary h i s t o r i e s i n Niger ia ;

and t o p r a i s e t h e e f f o r t s and z e a l of t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s

V ~ L , under d i v i n e guidance , came t o E a s t e r n N i g e r i a

' t o l e n d t h e people of t h e l o v e r Niger i n t o t h e caravan

af the people o f God,' It was also oSserved that one

of t h e a ims of t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y was t o a s s e r t t h a t

d c s p i t e i t s l a t e coming t o E a s t e r n N i g e r i a and d e s p i t e t h e

oj3posit ion from 'pagan i smt , p r o t o s t a n t i s m and s l a v e r y

Eonan C~thol . ic$sm succeeded where o t h e r miss ionary b o d i e s

t h s t came much e a r l i e r f a i l e d .

4 .- . .

x.

t h e g e n e r a l

c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s Of t h s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , Through an i n d e p t h

stwclg of t h e major works pub l i shc r l on C a t h o l i c h i s t o r y

i n Igbol-and, t h e ma jo r c h a r a c t e r j s t i c s were found t o

i n c l u d e a s c r i p t i o n of h i s t o r i c a l c a u s a t i o n t o

;>rovicience; a proglas.mrfle o f eu logy fo:r t h n w h i t e

u i s s i o n n r y ; a n d , a n u n c r i t i c a l worsh ip nf w r i t t e n

~ ' ~ o c u ~ c n t s - ti tendency t ha r had l e d ! m o ~ ? . g o t h e r thing^,

Co a c o n f l i c t p i c t u r e p a i n t e d o f t h o r e l a t i o n s h i p

b e t \ - e e n +he Holy Ghost F a t h e r s and t h e Royal N ige r

Corn;>,~np and a worsh ip o f Bishop Shanahan as t h e most

(loininant f i g u r e i n t h s e n t e r p r i s e . The use o f eye w i t n e s s

a c c o u n t s a n d an a t t e m p t t o h i g h l i g h t t h e r o l e p l a y e d by

t h c i n d i g e n o u s a g e n t s a l s o c h a r ~ c t e r i z e t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y .

It was a l s o d i s c o v e r e d t h 2 t t h e r e w a s a c o n s i s t e n t

e f f o r t by t h e h i b t o r i o g r a p h y t o s t r e s s , c o t o n l y t h e

nnnnc r i n which t h e Roran C a t h o l i c C h u x h o u t r a n t h e

C.;I.S. i n t h e r a c e f o r c o n v e r t s - a r a c e i n which t h c

lRtter emerged as t h e DurAderdogl and was t h u s l e f t

' ve ry a m b i t t e r e d l - b u t a l s o t o s t r e s s t h a t t h e C a t h o l i c

Church succeeded f o r t h e most pc7rt because it w a s

' b e t t e r 1 b o t h i n nata1.e and i n ~ r g a r ~ i z a t i o n , and t h e

p c o p l e t h e r e f o r e I p r e f e r r e d q i t t o t h e CMS, Thus t h e

f l i s t o r i o g r a p h y which may we l l be d e s c r i b e d a s p r e s t l y

of t h e Roman C a t h o l i c i n h i s c h u r c h , b u t a l s o a t making

h i n f e e l s u p e r i o r b e f o r e h i s CMS c o u n t e r p a r t . I ndeed

it may n o t be t o o much t o say t h a t t h s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

a i n e d at a n i d e o l o g i c a l warc fa re aga ins t . P r o t e s t a n t i s m ,

2.:1c1. most e s p e c i a l l y a g a i n s t t h e CMS,

It was d i s c o v e r e d t h a t i d e o l o ~ i c a l o r i e n t s t i o n

and the o v e r r i d i n g a n x i e t y t o t e l l t h i s I b e s t - s e l l e r

s u c c e s s s t o r y ' l e d , f o r t h e most p a r t , t o a l o p s i d e d n e s s

i n h i s t o r i c a l judgement , t o a n unba lacced s l e c t i o n of

h i s t o r i c a l e v i d e n c e , t o a n u n p r e p a r e d n e s s t o a p p l y t h e

mlcs of ev idence L.u, s e l e c t i n g h i s t o r i e d data, t o an

rent u n w i l l i n g n e s s t o e w g e i n s c i e n t i f i c and

o b j e c t i ve h i s t o r i o g r a p h y and t o a subsequen t f r i g h t e n i n g

c l l s . t o r t i on of h i s t o r i c a l . f a c t s . L l though a g e n e r a l

p i c t u r e h a s been p a i n t e d o f t h i s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , i t was

d i s c o v e r e d t h a t one o r two C a t h o l i c h i : > ~ o r i a n s do n o t

s h n r e i n t h e common aims, and t h e g e n e r a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

of f k e h i ~ t o r i o g r a p k ~ rdentified i n t k i a s t u d y may n o t

i n f a c t s t r i c t l y a p ~ 1 . y t o them,

Map of Iqboland

CHAPTER ONE -- INTRODUCTION --

THE AREA 0.6' STUDY: .-a- C---

Igbo land l i e s a l o n g t h e c p a s t of West A f r i c a , on

t h e s h o r e s of t h e Bif ;hts of Benin and B i a f r a . It i s c u t

l o g i t u d i n a l l y i n t o two unequal p a r t s by t h e R ive r Nige r ,

t h e g r e a t e r p a r t l y i n g e a s t of t h e R ive r , It is rough ly

e n c l o s e d i n l a t i t u d e s 4..,5' and 7@ n o r t h of tl .e e q u a t o r

0 alld i n 1 ,ong i tudes 8-5 end 6-5' e a s t o f Greenwich.

. . ~ n p o l i t i c a l . te rms, i t l i e s i n t h e r e g i o n d e s i g n a t e d

B r i t i s h P r o t e c t o r a t e 3f Southern h ige i - ia I n January

1, 1900e It i s i n c l u d e d i n what on May 1, 1906 became t h e

Colony and P r o t e c t o r ~ t e of Southern Nige r i a1 which w a s , i n

J a n u a l y 1914 amalgamated wi th t h e P r o t e c t o r a t e of Nor thern

I N i g e r i a t o form cne e n t i t y . The Sou the rn r e g i o n of t h e

u n i t e d P r o t e c t o r a t e s was i n May 1939 d i v i d e d i n t o two: - The Westhern and t h e E a s t e r n Provinces." I n May 1967, t h r e e

S t a t e s namely E a s t C e n t r a l , Cross R i v e r and R i v e r s

S t a k e s were c r e a t e d o u t of t h e E a s t e r n P r o v i n c e s

( q a r i o u s l y c a l l e d E a s t e r n Region o r E a s t e r n ~ i g e r i a )

by t h e Gowon a d m i n i s t r a t i o n .

2.

Ia this s tudy , t i t t e n t i o n w i l l be c o n c e n t r a t e d on

Igboland t h a t l i e s e a s t of t h e Migzr o r i n t h e Eastern

Region of t h e Southern N i g e r i a P r o t e c t o r a t e . I n

e c c l e c i a s t i c a l t e rms , we s h a l l l i m i t t h i s s tudy t o I ~ b o l a n d

t h a t l i e s i n what has been d e s c r i b e d as t h e Lower

Niger by t h e Holy Ghost l r l i ss ionar ies o f t h e V i c a r i a t e s

o f t h e two g u i n e a s , t h e a r e a which, i n 1889, was r a i s e d

t o t h e s t a t u s of a 1 '~oi; 'acture wi th F a t h e r Joseph Lutz

a s t h e f i r s t Apos to l i c P r e f e c t . T h i s a r e a of I boland

i s enc losed i n what i s today t h e E c c l ~ s i a s t i c a l Province o f

o n i t s h a , ' made up o f twelve Dioceses. Although t h e whole

of t h e jGw3cis-ic?~l.ic '.-. Province i s n o t e n t i r e l y Igba ,

t h e g r e a t e r p a r t of t h e n o r t h e r n a r e a of what i s now

R i v e m S t a t e , and a c o n s i d e r a b l e p o r t i o n of t h e Mestern and

nor thwes te rn Cross R ive r S t e l i e i n t h i s p a r t of

Igboland.

LOCATING THE PROBLEM:

C a t h o l i c M i ~ s i o n a r y e n t e r p r i s e began i n t h i s

t e r r i t o r y i n December 1885 under t h e French Holy Ghost

F a t h e r s headed by F a t h e r Lutz . U n t i l t h e s p a t e of

p u b l i c a t i o n s t h a t began t o appear i n t h e 7970's,

r e l a t i v e l y very l i t t l e had been w r i t t e n abou t the

a c t i v i t i e s of t h e Church i n t h e a r e a . And s i n c e t h e

In t h i s s t u d y , attention w i l l be c o n c e n t r a t e d on

Igboland t h a t l i e s e a s t of t h e Niger o r i n t h e g a s t e r n

Region of t h e Southern Niger ia P r o t e c t o r a t e . I n

e c c l e s i a s t i c a l t e rms , we s h a l l l i m i t t h i s s tudy t o Igboland

t h a t l i e s i n what has been d e s c r i b e d as t h e Lower

Niger by the Holy Ghost N i s s i o n a r i e s of t h e V i c a r i a t e s

o f i h e two g u i n e a s , t h e a r e a which, i n 1889, was r a i s e d

t o t h e s t a t u s of a Ir'roi.'.?cf;ure wi th F a t h e r Joseph Lutz

as t h e f i r s t Apos to l i c P r e f e c t , T h i s area of I boland

i s enc losed i n what is today t h e E c c l n s i a s t i c a l Province of

~ n i t s h a , ~ made up of twelve Dioceses. Although t h e whole

of the j,:,?.mla ~ k ~ 1 - i c .'.'. Province i s n o t e n t i r e l y I g b ~ ,

t h e g r e a t e r p a r t of t h e n o r t h e r n a r e a of what i s now

R i v e s S t a t e , and a c o n s i d e r a b l e p o r t i o n of t h e Western and

nor thwes te rn Cross River S t e l i e i n t h i s p a r t of

Igboland.

LOCATING THE PROBLEM :

C a t h o l i c Miss ionary e n t e r p r i s e began i n t h i s

t e r r i t o r y i n December 1885 under t h e French Holy Ghost

F a t h e f s headed by F a t h e r Lu tz* U n t i l t h e s p a t e o f

p u b l i c a t i o n s t h a t began t o appear i n t h e 1 9 7 0 t s ,

r e l a t i v e l y very l i t t l e had been w r i t t e n about the

a c t i v i t i e s of t h e Church i n t h e area . And s i n c e t h e

3 Y

appea rance of t h e s e p c b l i c a t i o n s t h e r e h a s been very

l i t t l e a t t e m p t t o make a n a p p r a i s a l of t h e h i s toP iogrnphyb

Xn f a c t , what hac GO f a r appea red as a h i s t o r i o g r a p h i o a l

essay has been Ikenga k i g b o ' s 'Towards a H i s t o r y of

R0ma.r~ Cathcl5.c C h r i s t i a n i t y i n N i g e r i a , ' a p a p e r

d e l i v e r e d a t a r e c e n t Conference h e l d i n N a i r o b i , Kenya. 4

It may be h b ~ e ~ v e d , however, t h a t a h i s t o r i o g r a p h i c a l

agenda would i n c l u d e more t h a n what Ozigbo h a s done.

Add i t iona l l . y , Ozigb-) is i n t e r e s t e d i n C a t L o l i c

h i s t o r i o g r a r h y ;..;I N i g e r i a a E a whole,

A f r i c a n Church h i s t o r i a n s h - ~ e a l l a l o n g been

concerned main ly with c h u r c h h i s t o r i o g r a p h y i n t h e i r

r e s p e c t i v e c o u n t r i e s o r i3 Afy ica as a whole and n o t

i n t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y of any p a r t i c u l a r church* For

example A j v y i and Ayande ,5 ~ a l u , ~ s t r a y e r 7 and o t h e r s

have been concerned with church h i s t o r i o g r a a h y i n

A f r i c a e They have n o t l i m i t e d t h e m s e l v e s t o t h e

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y of any p a r t i c u l a r church i n any p a r t i c u l a r

r e g i o n ,

. I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e l a c k of l i t e s a t u r e on C a t h o l i c

h i s to r iog raph ,y , i t is observed t h a t none of t h e

p u b l i c a t i o n s on t h e h i e t o r y of t h e C a t h o l i c Church

i n t h e a r e a h a s , a t L e a ~ t t o t h e r e s e a r c h e r ' s

-- The Lower Niger Prefecture --- -----

knowladge, been revictszd. A s tudy of such rev iews of

t h e works would, i n t h e a,bsence 0 . E l i t e r a t u r e on

t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y and i n l i e u of r e a d i n g t h e

s e p a r a t e works, t h e h i s t o r i a n @n i n s i g h t i n t o

t h e aims and o t y l e s of w r i t i n g of t h e v a r i o u ~ a u t h o r s ,

t h e i r g e n e ~ a 1 , i d e o l o g i c u l s t a n c e anu t h e common m o t i f s

i n t h e works - a11 of which c o n s t i t u t e t h e main themes

T h e a i m of t h i s p r o j e c t is t o : f i l l t h i s gap.

The s tudy i s in t endcd t o under t ake a c r i t i c a l a n a l y s i s

of t h e h i s t o r i o p a p h y of t h e Cath3li.c Church i n

Igboland e a s t of t h e Niger from t h e e a r l i e s t t ime t o

t h e c e l e b r a t i o n of t h e c e n t e n a r y of t h e Church i n

December 1985. S i n c e b o t h pub1 i s h e d and unpubl ished d a t a

m a t e r i a l s form t h e b a s i c L f o r a h i s t o r i o g r h p h i c a l

s t u d y , a t t e m p t w i l l be made, w i t h i n t h e l i m i t s

of t h e r e s e a r c h e r ' s a b i l i t y , t o l o c a t e .:nose m a t e r i d s .

METBODOLUGY:

The approach adop ted i n t h i s s tudy i s q u a l i t a t i - r e

and a n a l y t i c a l , h thorough s tudy of t h e major works

was done i n o r d e r f o r t h e r e s e a r c h e r t o i d e n t i f y t h e

aims and o b j e c t i v e s of t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , t h e s ty les

of w r i t i n g of t h e v a r i o u ~ a u t h o r s , t h e i r general

i d e o l o g i c a l ~ t a n c e , and t h e common m o t i f s i n the tvorlcs.

Although t h e r e s e a r c h e is no t ar, attemp.'., t o r e c d n a t r u c t

t h e h t ~ t o r g of t h e CdLholic Church i n E a s t e r n N i g e r i a ,

a n e x e r c i s e t h a t would demand a c q u a i n t a n c e wi th t h e

exist ; i . rg l i t e r a t u r e and t h e pr imary s o u r c e s ppon which

t h e y b a s e , t h e use of o r a l t r a d i t i o n , t h e u s e of aye

w i t n e s s a c c o u n t s and o t h e r forms of u n w r i t t e n e v i d e n c e ,

y e t , bec:au~;e t h e h i s t o r y o f h i s t o r i c a l w r i t i n g canno t

b u t ofte way dr a l ~ u i . h e r j nvo lve a d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e

i s s u e s r a i s e d , ( e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e t h a t r e l a t e t o t r a d i t i o n ,

t h e common p r o p e r t y o f a c u l t u r a l u n i t ) t h e r e s e a r c h e r

c o n s i d e r e d it n e c e s s a r y t o ccnduc t some i n v e s t i g a t i o n s

i n t o IgSo o r a l t r a d i t i o n r e g a r d i n g c e r t a i n i s s u e s

r a i s e d i n t h e work

I t h a s a l r e a d y been p o i n t e d ou t t h a t l i t e r a t u r e

s on C a t h c l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y i s a t p r e s p r t v i r t u a l l y

non-existe: . t . But t i l i e work h z ~ b e n e f i t e d irrmcnsoly

from w r i f i n g s on C h u ~ c h a n d S e c u l a r h i s t o r i o g r a p h i e s .

Two of A f i g b o l s p a p e r s "Fact o r Myth i n N i g e r i a n

~ i s t o r i ~ g r a ~ f l y q e . n d , 'h Reassessment o f t h e h i s t o r i o p a p h y

of t h e c o l o n i a l period", ' Kalu ' e W o i n g Church H i s t o r y

i n A f r i c a ~ o d ~ t y ~ ~ ' " O and Robin Law's "Ear ly Yoruba

1: His to r iog rapny t t a r e among t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h i ' c a l

e s s a y s upon which the framework o f t h i s p r o j e c t is

c a s t .

T h i ~ work i s G i v i d e d i n t o f i v e c h a p t e r s , The

f i r s t ch .aptnr i s ,the I n t r o d u c t i o n fo l lowed by a

review of t h e Devalopment of Church hiutori.ogra.phy i n

Niger5.z. i.n Chspter ,two, The development of l i t e r a t u r e

i n Cathol5.c h i s t o r y i n S o u t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a i s t aken

up i n c h a p t e r t h r e e - I n t h i s e x e r c i s e , a t t a m p t s were

made t o p u t t h e wo.rks i.n t h e i r chronologica l . o rde r ,

T h i . ~ i d e n t i f i c a t i o n parade invol-red n o t on ly books,

b ~ t ,d:is I.'cTwt;papesi; mi('. j o u ~ n r ~ . l s ~ a 1 : 2 i c l ~ s pub]-islied

i n J o u r c a l s , S p i : e c h . e ~ , znd unpub l i shed works aster'

alrci ,JoL coral, DrLSer i, 1 cr a...i;ii!ils j Gila cm. - . . f y 1 . 3 .. 1 -., t a k e s a l o o k

a t t h e main g o a l s of t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y whi l e c h a p t e r

f. ' I V ~ e x t e n s i v e l y a n a l y s e s t h e g;eneral c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

of t h o hi::tclriography, I n t h e s e l a s t tw.3 c h a p t e r s ,

examples were drawn froin t h e main works, t h a t is on

works c o v e r i n g t h e h i s t o r y of ~ n . t holi .cism i n S o u t h e a s t e r n

y. .; (,. .1, , . . - .c.,.. 3.h. :,;. ; w!li.,!--9, :xlt?;owgh r;tkempt:-. $w n,? made to

jJ. lu;~c~s.t . :r . from d n e oy- two d.i.;;ceoa:l.: I . i . . : , tor ie i8 . ,... .

T!lis: work niay appea r unsr;.coury t o t h e C a t h o l i c

h i s t o r i a n s , a good nulnber of whom a r e p r i e s t s , But

i t is n o t , as Ozigbo would say of h i s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y ,

i n t e n d e d t o s c a t t e r f i r e works and knockouts* P i t c h i n g

h i 6 t e n t among laymen and in complete obedience t o t h e

7.

canons o f ' s c i e n t i . f i c t h i s t o r i o g r a p h y p the r e s e a r c h e r

h a s merely t r i e d t o be as o b j e c t i v e and as a n a l y t i c a l

as p o s s i b l e , a1 though P r o f e s s o r Ka.lu would i n s i s t t h a t

" t h e c l a i m s t o o b j e c t i v i t y can no' l o q g e r be nade foday1f 12

s i n c e s c i e n t i f i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y i t s e l f i s n o t va lue-

f r e e , Yet as f a r a s Church h i s t o r y i s concerned , if

t he ol..d c m f ! 'ctn i n . ch.ris.tendom v:l:h t h e i r c h a . r a . c t e r i s t i c a l l y

non-African origicnc; sh.ould n o t be perpetual :ed in A f r i c a ,

and, i f .the t a l k a b i ~ u t ecumenism is n o t t o c o n t i n u e t o

remain a me2:e l i p - s e r v i c e , t h e n Chui'ch h i s t o r i a n s i n

A f r i c a shou ld , i n a l l c a s e s , t r y t o ba as o b j e c t i v e a n d

as a n a l y t i c a l as p o s s i b l e , and a v o i d t h e tendency t o h i d e

t h e dead woods i n e a c h c h r i s t i a n church and t h e

t emp . t a t ion t o p o r t r a y a co : l f l i c t p i c t u r e i l i t h e i r

h i st o r iog raphy ,

References 18 8

1. A, Burns, His to ry of N i g e r i a (London* 1978) ---.. ---- p. 21K

2. I b i d 1 . p - 2 19

3. Igboland Weot of t h e Niger (Usual ly c a l l e d I k a o r Western Igbo) i s / a n o t h e r E c c l e s i a s t i c a l Lin Province. That area o f - ~ ~ b o l a n d is n o t i n c l u d e d i n t h i s s tudy,

4. I.R.A. Ozigbo tlTowards a His to-7 of Roman C a t h o l i c C h r i s t i a n i t y i n Niger ia ' (Unpublished Conference Paper d o l i v e r o d at

5 - P..E. Afigbo, W a c t o r Myth i n Niger ian His to r iography E i g e r i a n W i ~ g a ~ ~ k n ~ , Nos. 122-123 (1977) 21-98.

6, --------a

' A Reassessment of t h e His to r iography -f t h e ckdon ia l P e r i q d i n West A f r i c a ' ir Ajay m d Espie ( e d s ) A Thousand Years

Y % _ W C

of Af r ican H i s t o r - (~badar? , - - - - - m i

Ibadan U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1966) 439-540

7 0 O.U. Kalu, 'Doing Church H i s t o q i n A f r i c a Today1 i n Lukas Vischer ( e d ) Church H i s t o r y in.=

I._--

Eccumenical -- Perspect iveev Papers and Report & of an I n t e r n a t i o n a l Ec cumenical Consul t a t i o n h e l d i n B a d e (October 12-17, 1981) 77-91.

- , v . . --.- P u b l i s h e r s , 1985) I n t r o d u c t i o n .

10, O.U, Kalu "Doing Church His to ry i n A f r i c a Today" P o 78,

CHAPTER TWO

DEVELOPMENT O F CHURCH HISTORIOGRAPHY I N NIGERIA 9.

COLONIAL HISTORIOGRAPHY :

Much of t h e h i s t o r y of A f r i c a i n t h e p r e - c o l o n i a l

and t h e c o l o n i a l d a y s was w r i t t e n by European c o l o n i a l

o f f i c i a l s , t r a d e r s , commissioned e t h n o g r a p h e r s and

a ~ t h i a p a l o g i s t s , snd m i s s i o n a r i e s * T h e a i m of that

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y was t o j u s t i f y European c o l o n i z a t i o n

o f A f r i c a , Based on r a c e , i t was i n t e n d e d t o keep

t h e A f r i c a n s under c o l o n i a l s e r v i t u d e . ,The A f r i c a n s

were p o r t r a y e d as a peop le i n c a p a b l e of i n i t i a t i n g any

change. They were un inven t ive . Hather t h a n engage i n

any s o r t of c o n s t r u c t i v e t h i n k i n g , t h e y s p e n t all t h e

day i n d r i n k i n g and i n merrv makingo G e n e r a l l y r e g a r d e d

as ' c h i l d r e ? ' and as ' u n c i v i l i z e d 1 , t h e y needed t h e

goodwi l l of a superi .~.? . r a c e t o t e a c h them and t o

c i v i l i z e them. 4ccosd ing t o ' h i s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , t o

c i v i l i z e A f r i c a w a s a n e c e s s a r y busde:~ t h a t l a y on

the , $ i~su ldere of ;.k uhibe meno

T h i s common ~ r e j u d i c e i s w e l l expressed i n the

words o f Winwood Reade who, w r i t i n g a b o u t t h e

middle o f t h e r i n e t e e n t h cen tu ry said:

The negroes p n r t r d y a c e r t < l i ? s k i l l i n mechanics w i t l ~ o u t t h e genilr,: o f i n v e n t i o n ; a g r e a t f luency of languagt? , w-it.hout ene rgy i n i d e a s ; a c o r r e c t ?ar. for music , w i t l ~ o u t t h e c a p a c i t y f o r cnmposi$ion - i n tc word, a di .splay o f i m z e i n a i i ~e f a c u l t i e s w i t h a n u t , t e r b a l B r e n e s s oi s r e a t ~ v e power - t he re is your n e g r o e at t h e v e r y bes t . , We arc r e a l l y t h e i r mastel.s. l

I n t l l ~ ,;a,n*? book, I k a d describes A f r i c d n s as rd;runkurds, I

gambLc: s oild ' v i c i o u s a n d v o l u p t o u s : The A f r i c a n s

'p3 a c e no r e s t r a i n t s ocl t h e i r a p p e t i v e s 9 , They a r e

l f r i v o l o u s a n d e f f e m i n a t e ' . Thc Af r i ca tkwho ' a r e d.1

of them t h i e v e s s spend ' a l l t h e i r n i g h t s s i n q i n g and

d a n c i n g ' . They have lno s e n s e o f hu.mourl. Accord ing

t o Read l t h e g r e a t n a t i o n a l ? * i c e o f t h e A f r i c a n i s t h e i r

i ndo lence . 12

Adolplze L o u i s Cureab, a F r e ~ i c h who ? r a v e l l e d

e z t e n s i v c l y i n t h e forme? F r e n c h Cango f o r more than

pre-occupation g r e a t . I ~ l t h p u r s u i t of m a t e r i a l p o s s e s s i o n s

S r

l e a v e s him no t i m e f ~r g a i e t y . A s Sar' as m o r a l i t y i s

concerned , ' t h e r e i s none i n t h e @lackman ' s cou-ntry.' a

The p ~ i s o n o f v . - p t a t i c n i n whi& t h e A f r i c a n l i v e s 3

wraps h i s mind i n u t t e r da rkness .

Thua accordi ng t o t k l a hi E t c - j n s r a ~ h 7 , tho

i n d o l e n t , u r ~ i n v e n t i v e Af r ican , without c r e a t i v e powers and

unable t o i n i t i a t e any change, could n o t have dovoloped

any gr-eat c i v i l i z a t i . o n i n t h e p a s t o His p a s t WAS n o t

only b a r r e n o r d e - ~ o i d of any c i v i l i / ~ a t i c n , but a l s o q u i t e

dark,' and da rkness cannot be a s u b j e ~ t 04 h i s t o r y .

Thus 4 f r i c a n h i s t o r y which, i n t h i s h ic ' ic r iography

began wi th the coming o f Europeans t o A f r i c a , was by

and l n r g e p resen ted as t h e h i s t o r y of European a c t i v i t i e s

i n A f r i c a * Develoisments subsequent t o t h e coming o f t h e

Europeans were a t t r i b u t e d no t t b Af r i can i n i t i a t i v e i n

any way, bu t t o t h e presence of t h e white l o r d s .

CHURCR HISTORIOGRAPHY: --I_----

Church h i s t o r i o g r a p h y i n c o l o n i a l N i g e r i a f c l lowed

t h o ca l : ,n ia l h i s t o ~ i o g r u p h i c a 3 , pg!: t e n q u i t e c lose ly .

Like c o l o n i a l h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , ene of i ts major

o h j r c t i v e a was t o ju6t . i f y the r n i s s i a m . ~ ~ bnctlrp;ion i n t o

Af r ica : t h e 'Benighted Afican ' supposedly under t h e

perpetual. b l u t c h e s of t h e ' d e v i l t needed t o be ' l i b e r a t e d '

and ' saved ' by t h e a c t i v e p reseuce of t h e gospe l of

C h r i s t . T h i s t a s k of l i b e r a t i n g t h e ' ben igh ted ' Af r ican

by sending him t h e g a s p e l of t h 2 ' Son of man' was one

t h a t a l l C h r i s t i a n %~. iwpe s h o u l d ,support. A s one of t h e

s o n g s of t h e missionaries p u t it:

Can we whose s o u l s a r e l i g h L e d With wisdom from on h i g h , Can we t o men ben igh te The l a n p of l i f e deny, c L:ike z o l o n i a l h i okor iography , c h w c h h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

r e g a r d e d A f r i c a n s a s c h i l d r e n b o t h h c a p a b l e of l e a r n i n g

anc! i n s a p a b l e o f bea:.ing r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s , T h i s was what

P r o f e s s o r Kalu de:;cribed as P e t e r Pan Syndrome. 5

P e t e r Pan was a c h i l d who neve r l e a r n t a t h i n g and who

was, a c a r e s u l t , n e v e r l e f t a l m e by h i s p a r e n t s ,

A s as 1904, a member o f t h e CMS Home Commit t e e

who v i s i t e d Uganda had t h i s r e p o r t on m i s s i o n a r y

A good d e a l w a s s a i d on the one hand on t h e i r ( t h a t is t n e Ugandans1) u n f i t n e s s on t h e whole f o r b e a r i n g r e s p o n s i b i l i t ; ; t hey were s t i l l !care c h i l d r e n ' as one l ~ n f i i a g mj CS~:,~;E:.-V remaylced.6

A f r i c a n and h t seem3d t o have abso rbed t h e message, he

was n o t c o n s i d e r e d c a p a b l e of e r g a n i z i n g h imse l f i n

o rdep t h a t t h i s message might b o t h be c o n s o l i d a t e d

and ex tended . Be t . h e r e f o r e needed t h e c o n t i n u e d

p r e s e n c e of t h e European m i s s i o n a r y l o r d whose e x i f .

w a s c o n s i d e r e d di i ;adto.ntageous,

Addj:l;:ionally, <I:e :%in of the. h i s t o r i o g r a p h y w a s

t o show how God he lped t h e n i s s ion? l . i . e s accompl ish t h e

d i f f i c u l t .task of s v a n g e l i z i n g t h e ' pagan t A f r i c a n s

who w?.re s u p e c t e d t r , be h ~ & t i l ~ t o t h e miss iona ry

e n t e r p r i s e . T h i s would encourage t h o s e a t t h e home

bate %;) c o n t i n u e ti, dona te gene rous ly t o t h e miss iona ry

s o c i e t i e s 11.1 o r d e r t h a t t h i s nob le c o u r s e might

c o n t i n u e t o be piissued u n t i l t h e whcle world w a s

evange l i zed . Thus t h i s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y which h a s

a p t l y been dubbed 'mis s iona ry h i s t o r i o g r a p h y was

p ropagand i s t i n ua t .u re , d e s i g n e d t c r a i s e morale. It

had a heavy ben t towards romanticism. E x t ~ e m e l y

i .nte:rosted i n t h s a c t i v i t y ot t h e whi t e m i s s i o n a r y - what he d i d 9~ d i d n o t do - t h e h i s t o r i o g r s p h y p lnyed

down ,the r o l e of t h e ind igenous peop le i n t h e m i s s i o n a r y

cn.l;auprie@n Wi.lC?* r ~ ~ a i ; ~ ~ & ? e & w$@ $&,%.$ >&il:$ ~ ; x D . 2Tb 3.'kje ,-.

. " :ri ., . ... .-. . . , 1 . i 9 . : i . X ~ ; : i . a 2 . . changt?, :.he

p e o l ~ l e ' .r; 1.e span se t o i; lie m l s s i or1ax.y g:t*c?pzgaficia, .%he

r a t e a r ~ d p;i?:,t,r:rn (,f ~:~.:r~~n.:.j.on and. so or? were a11

e x p l a i n e d i n te rms of t h e a c t i v i t y o f t h e whi t e

miss ionary . The thene of r e l i g i o u s e n c o u n t e r which

h a s become c e n t r a l i n A f r i c a n Church historiogra;7hy i n

8 r e c e n t t imes , :fo.dnd no p l a c e i n miss ionaqr h i s t o r i o g r a p h y .

I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e s e v e r a l l e t t e r s which t h e

m i s s i o n a r i e s i n t h e f i e l d wrote t r ~ t h e i r s u p e r i o r n at

home, t h e y a l s o wrote a r t i c l e s r e f l e c t i n g t h e i r

e x p e r i e n c e s i n t h e f i e l d , and t h e s e a r t i c l e s werc

p u b l i s h e d i n t h e j o u r n a l s ~ f t h e i r home s o c b e t i e o .

These 1.et Lers znd a r t i - c l e s formed t h e b a s i c raw

m a t e r i a l s f o r t h e l i t e r y g e n r e t h a t began t o

a p p e a r a t t h e second decade of t h e p r e s e n t c e n t u r y o

Tlie e a r 1 i e . r e f f o r t at: documenting m i s s i o n h i s t o r y

i n S m t h e a e t e r n N i g e r i a was made by F r e d Dodds i n h i s

T a l e s of t h e AfTiczn Wilds ( l g l l ) . H i s n e x t volume, -----.-=-=~- -- I b o O ~ e n i n g ; appea red i n 1923, F r e d Doddsb T a l e s of t h e - --..a - A f r i c a n W i d l ~ w a s fo l lowed i n the same y e a r by %,Do --- Walker ' s C a l l o f t h c Park Con t inen t . H i s o t h e r volume,

-----,m ----. - Romance of t h e Black Hivor r e l a t e t o t h e same p o p u l a r -.- -..-- .-. -a- - i r n a g i ~ l a t i o n abou t C-1.c n a t u r e of A f r i c a .- Dark Con t inen t ,

Black River s . His t i t l e s w o u ~ d make t h e books s e l l

l i k e h o t cake i n t h e E u r c p e m Hook S t a l l s . Eva S t u a r t

s e e s t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s f r o 1 t h e p o i n t o f v iew of t h e i r

b n i n g Aflame foL* God. --- -.--- -.-. - I n an r . thc r v o l m e , she d e s c r i b e s

u e - t f o r S o u l s i.n t h e K w a Iboe Country. t he ' i r -LA- .-d~a-."-.--c-,.." - - . - - - - - -

7 c 2.

In, 1944, t h e Method i s t m i s s i o n a r y H.G. B r e w o r

d e s c r i b e d h i s I n v a s i o n f o r God amid great aufforings - ciif f i c u l t i e s and d e p r i v a t i o n s ai ld . o c c a s i o n a l b loodaheod

on h i s ma,.zh from Okigwe t o t h e rior hernmos a r t o f t h e 4 I? IJ;~JO c o u n t r y . That would sound q u i t e h e r o i c and he would,

lmc!;. home, r e c e i v e a h e r o e ' s welcome as God 's i n s t r u m e n t

i l l t h e war a g a i n s t 'paganism' . The y e a r 19119 saw t h e

> u b l i c a t i o n , i n Dubl in , o f Fr . J o s e p h J o r d a n ' s

6110 Shanahan of Sou the rn Ni~r,eria i n which t h e a u t h o r ?-G .-.- LA--"-.-- -- e x t o l l e d the m i s s i o n a r y e x p l o i t s o f h i s g r e a t m i s s i o n a r y

l o r d , E,W. Smi th e n s h r i n e d t h e l a b o u r s of t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s

i n Thc B l e s s e d M i s s i o n a r i e s (1950) , --. .--- --- -. - D e s i r o u s t o be coun ted among t h e v a l i a n t s o l d i e r s

of t h e c r o s s and as God's s p e c i a l emisa ry , J a c o b R i c h a r d s

as r e c e n t l y as 1957, d e s c r i b e d h i s e x p e r i e n c e s cs he

~rurkec! amongst ' c a i i i b a l s ' who, i n s t e a d of e a t i n g h i s

f l e s h , t u r n e d out t o become f r i e n d s . That sounds l i k e

.,- b~7.c - Jcx& Saga: t h e devour ing whale, r a t h e r t h a n

s ~ ~ d 1 . o ~ Jonah f o r e v e r , vomited him a l i v e a t €he s h o r e s

of Nincvah i n oi-der that ;he 'word of God' might b e

delivered t o t h e p e o p l e of Nineveh. R i c h a r d s '

Cann iba l s Yere 2 F r i e n d s would g i v e him a p l a c e o f . . - honour i n b o t h s e c u l a r and e c c l e s i a s t i c a l c i r c l e s in

AFRICAN NATIONALIST EIST3RICXRAPIIY: ---------- -^ -

r e s p o n s e t c! co.loni.al h i s t o r i o g r a p h y anc! t o m i s s i o n a r y

h i ~ t c ~ 5 o g r 3 p h y which. d - r i v e d its 3:'orin l'rom c o l o n i a l

concepi;ion of A f r i c u n h i s t o r i c a l image c r e a t e d by

Eurcpeans and t o ~ t s s e r t t h e A f r i c a n p e r s o n a l . i t y , It

was d e f e n s i v e i n riatiwe,

A1 though t h e n a t i o n a l i s t h i s t o r i o g r a p h y came i n t o

f u l l h l o s ~ o r n i n t he 1960bs, c r e d i t fat t h e t rumpe t c a l l be

f o r t h i s ncw l i t e r a r y g e n r e may/given -. t o Case ly Hnyford

who by 19 11, had i n ? - i s t e d t h a t :

'The Chr is t ian? . t : f of Europe ?nd America, w i t h ~ t s oppi -ess ive k e i r a r c h y , it;s c - s e p r c j u d A c e s and 1 j1l1 ~ a t i c ~ ~ l ~ , i t s p e s ~ n r i . ~ r ~ g burdens and e x u c t i w s , i t s i n j w i o u s ~ e d d l i n g i n t h e h a r m l e s s cus toms of a1 i e ; i p c o p l e s , i s n o t t h e c h r i s t i a n i t y o f C h r < i s t , 3

was ~ 2 , The aim of t h e n a t i o n a l i s t h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

was t o combact t h i s h i s t o r i a g r a p h i c a l canon by

a f f i r m i n g t h e Afr ica11 and t h e A f r i c a n c o n t i n e n t . 10

CHURCH HISTORIOGRAPHY IN N I G E R I A : - r . r . - ( - - . a -

$!&a% a& jlCiiB3@Zorr;xdp it~%&0~1,-@rt;2'ii~by %%#$ h

t h e mould o f col o n i a l h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , Church hj. s t o r i o g r a p h y

i n N i g e r i a fo l lowed t h e n a t i n n a l j . 6 ~ h i s t o r i o g r a p h i c a l

Cramework, Thc rn:j$i> o b j e c t i v e s i a t o r e w r i t e t h e s t o r y ,

17 0

from N i g e r i a n p o i n t o f view, s t r e s s i n g t h e r o l e pl-ayod

by t h e pecp1.e and t h e i r indigenou:; c u l t u r e i n p l a n t i n g

c h r i s t i a n i t y i n t h e coun t ry . T h i s s h i f t o f emphas i s

from Lhe x i s s i o n a r y a p n t s and t h e i r s t r u c t u r e s t o t h e

i n d i g e n o u s a g e n t s and t h e t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t u r e h a s

produced new themeb: t h e r o l e of t r d d i t i o n a l r u l e r s ,and

n a t i v e a g e n t s ( ~ a t e c h i s t s , t e a c h e r s , p a s t o r s c t c ) ; t h c

r o l e o f t h e i n d i g e n o u s r e l i g i o n i n t h e s t o r y ; t h e

p e o p l e ' s t r a d i t i o n a l wor ld view and i ts i n f l u c n c e on t h e

r n i s s i o n ~ ~ r g t a s k ; t h e p l a c e of n a t i v e i n s t i t u t i o n s

such as Okonko, t h e Age Grade system i n t h e s h a p $ ~ g

of t h e s t o r y e emphas is on t h e theme of e n c o u n t e r between

c h r i s t i a n i t y and T r a d i t i o n a l R e l i g i o n , o r between Western

c u l t u r e and N i g e r i a n c u l t u r e s and s o on.

Taking t h e l e a d i n t h i s new l i t e r a r y g e n r e i s

Kenneth Dike, i I i ~ p5 o n e e r i n g w - > r k TAe Trade and 2 0 l i t i i c s

on t h e Nige r D e l t a was p u b l i s h e d i n 1?56. I n a d d i t i o n

t o i ts s t r e s s on t h e A f r i c a n , t h e work b l a z e d n new t r a i l

i n A f r i c a n h i s t o r i o g r a p h y : h i s t o r i c a l r e c o n s t r u c t i o n

from o r a l t r a d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l s . Be fo re D i k e ' s

The Trade and P o l i t i c s g e n e r a l l y r e g a r d e d as a - p i o n e e r i n g work, E.M.T. E p e l l o had, i n t h e p r e v i o u s y e a r ,

g i v e n an a c c o u n t o f t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t and growth of

t h e The Church i n t h e Nige r Delta (1955)- In 1964,

t h e Oxford U n i v e r s i t y Press p u b l i s h e d Idowu'e Radio

t a l k s series under t h e ' t i t l e .Towards an Lodigenoui

Church. I n t h e same y e a r , Clarendon p u b l i s h e d JoB.

W e b s t e r l s The A f r i c a n Church Among t h e Yoruba 1882-7922. ----a .--el. - ---.. -L -

The f o l l o w i n g y e a r , J Ade A j a y i G s C h r i s t i a n Miss iona .-- .- i n N i ~ r i a x The Making of a New E l i : ~ 1847-1891 --- -. .------ -- -- - ,A L. - was p u b l i s h e d . In VLhis w e n r e s e a r c h e d work which

emphasizes t h e s u b - i i t l - e , t h e autb.or c r i t i c a l l y e x a m i n e s

t h e soc ia l . , p o l i t i c a l and economic consequences of t h e

new e l i t e c r e ~ t e d by m i s s i o n a r y educa t ion .

E,A. A y a n d e l e q s Miss iona ry Impact on Modsr; .---- N i g e r i a was p u b l i s h e d t h e f o l l o w i n g y e a r , 1966, One of

t h e major o b j e c t i v e s of Ayandeles h i s t o r i o g r a p h y was

t o p r e s e n t t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s as co-workers w i t h t h e

c o l o n i a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , t o e x t o l t h e hero ism o f t h o s e

N i g e r i a n s who r e c o g n i z e d t h e p o l i t i c a l dimension o f t h e

miss ionaxy e n t e r p r i s e and t h u s o f f e r e d r e s i s t a n c e ,

a n d t o show h i s a d m i r a t i o n f o r t h o s e N i g e r i a n s who

l e f t t h e m i s s i o n f oun.dad zhurches and j o ined A f r i c a n

Churches. H i s was a n a t t e m p t a t an i n d e p t h s t u d y o f t h e

r e a c t i o n of N i g e r i a q s t o m i s s i o n a q i n f l u e n c e .

Ayanle lc G h.:,st;r?riogra$hy i s a $ w i d 2.llusts~.'kion of

t h e ' r e v i s i o n i c m ~ 'defensivism' and ' co r roc t ion i s rn~ , c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f n n t i o n a l i s k h i s t o r i o g r a p h y .

I n 1971, Frank Cnss p u b l i s h e d F,K. Ekechi's

Miss iona ry E n t e r p r i s e and R i v a l ? - n I g b o l a n d 157-19 14 -.- ..-.,-- a . .

A l though E k e c h i l c work h a s been c r i t i a e d on t h e g rounds

of e x p l a i n i n g a l l a s p e c t s of th3 e v n n g c l i z n t i o n

programme o f , t h e va - ious m i s s i o n a r y s o c i e t i e s i n t e r m s

of r i v a l r y and c o m p e t i t i o n , i t s s t r e s s on t h e r o l e of

t h e i n d i g e n o u s a g e n t s i n t h e e v a n g e l i z a t i o n of I g b o l a n d

h a s become a h i s t o r i o g r a p h i c a l paradigm, f o r mnny church

h i s t o r i a n s i n A f r i c a . F o r example, A.J . T e - u , i n

a d d i t i o n t o t r y i n g t o conv ince h i s r e a d e r s ( a s i n

A y a n d e l e l s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y ) t h a t P r o t e s t a n t m i s s i o n a r i e s

i n E a s t A f r i c a worked h m d - i n - g l o v ~ s w i t h B r i t i s h c o l o n i a l

a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , a s s e r t s t h a t ' t h e h i s t o r y of t h o Shurch

i n E a s t A f r i c a from .1874 t o 1904 i s t h e s t o r y of...

whose e f f o r t s a n d i n i t ; a t i v e s ' t h e work o f the! m i s s i o n

would have f a i l e d . 11

The t e l l i n g of t h e s t o r y of t h e Church i n a

b iog raphy of a m i s s i o n a r y o r layman seemed t o have

found a c o m f o r t a b l e accommodation i n N i g e r i a n Church

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y s i n c e t h e p u b l i c a t i o n of J o r d a n ' s

Bisl*p Shanahnn - of S o u t h e r n N i g e r i a i n 1949. - Ayandele ' s Holy ITbhttson: P i o u e e r of A f r i c a n - - - - N a t i o n a l i s m w a s p u b l i s h e d i n 1970, I n 1974% NOK

--------a

P u b l i s h e r s i n New York b rough t one S. Cookey15

King Jaja of t h e Dliger D e l t a 1821-1892, The f o l l o w i n g y e a r --* -A-

E.P, Crampton t o l d .the s t o r y of t h e p l a n t i n g and t h e

growth o f C l i r i s t i a n i t ~ i n Nor the rn N+ria. I n 1978, - 1- 11 . ,-,._I_ - --- t h i s book, w i t h Modupe Oduyoyels The P l a n t i n @ - C h r i s t i a n i t y i n Yorcbaland and a n u ~ b e r of a r t i c l o s on ---- ---- ----- t h e m i s s i o n a r y e n t e r p r i s e i n v a r i o u s p a r t b o f N i g e r i a were

brought t o g e t h e r by O.U. Kalu i n a volume e n t i t l e d

C h r i s t i a n i t y i n West A f r i c a : The N i g e r i a n S t o ~ y , -- ----- ---*

and p u b l i s h e d by t h e D a y s t a r P r e s s i n Ibadan.

P r o f e s s o r K a l u l s o t h e r vclume, Divided People of -- God i n which he t e l l s t h e s t o r y of t h e s a d f a i l u r e o f t h e - Church Union Movement i n N i g a r i a appea red i n the same

y e a r , 1978. I n t h e same y e a r , G.O.M. T a s i e l s accoun t of

C h r i s t i a n Miss iona ry -- E n t e r p r i s e i n t h e Nige r D e k t ~ ,

1864-1918 - w a s pub l i shed . Altbougk Knlu8 s The B i o t o r x --a-

o f C h r i s t i a n i t y i n W e ~ t A f r i c a (1980) i s n o t , as t h e - .- t i t l e shows, devo ted t o ~ i ~ e r i a n Church h i s t o r y , i t has

a good number of a r t i c l e s c o v e r i n g v a r i o u s themes i n

t h e Church t i i s t o r y of N i g e r i a .

T h i s chapter h a s a t t e m p t e d t o t r a c e t h e dcvolopment

o f l i t e r a t u r e i n Church h i s t o ~ y in Nigeria from about

t h e second decade o f t h i s c e n t u r y t o t h e p r e s e n t ,

21.

Although we d i d n o t i n c l u d e i n t h i s review a number

of j o u r n a l s t h a t have come i n t o e x i s t e n c e w i t h i n t h e

p e r i o d , we recogn ize t h e i r f u n c t i o n i n p r o v i d i n g avenue

f o r individuals h i s t o r i a n s t o c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e growing

l i t e r a t u r e of t h e h i s t o r y of t h e Church i n Niger i a ,

It i s a l s o recogn ized t h a t a good n ~ m b e r of i r t i c l e s

on v a r i o u s themes i n t h e h i s t o r y of t h e church i n

N i g c r i a have appeared i n t h e s e and i n f o r e i g n journal-s.

The main concern c , f t h e c h a p t e r h a s been wi th major

works t h a t t r e a t t h e h i s t o r y of t h e Church i u N i g c r i a

as a whole, c r wi th t h o s e d e a l i n g wi th t h e estnblj .shment

of t h e Church o r a p a r t i c u l a r Church i n a s p e c i f i c -- -,, ' a r e a o

T h i s c h a p t e r h a s shown t h a t t h e s h i f t of emphasis

from t h e a g e n t s of change and t h e i r s t r u c t u r e s t o the

r e c e p i e n t s o f change 2.nd t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t u r e

has produced new themes in Niger ian Church h i s t o r ~ r ,

Refe rence

Winwood Reade: Savage R f r i c a ( ~ e w York: - Harper and % o t h e r s , 18&) p, 33.

Adoxphe L o u i s Cureau, Savage Man i . ~ C e n t s 1 A f r i c a ondo don, TU F i s h e r , 19171 pp. 21-73 p z i m *

A s quoted by O,Uo Kalu ( e d ) The H i s t o r y of - _= - C h r i s t i a n i t y i n West A f r i c a (London, Longman,

---%- TB,>, p. 2 (Genera l I n t r o d ~ c t i o n )

O.U. Kalu ' P e t e r Pan Syndrome: Churcl. Rid and Sel f -hood i n Af r i c a ' --- M i s s i o l o a 3/1 ( 1975) 15-29 p a s s i o n

A s quo ted by J . U . T a y l o r The Growth of t h e Church --..- i n B u ~ n d a (London, SCM P r e s s , 1 3 5 T K F -7

0.U. Kalu , "Doing Church H i s t o r y i n A f r i c a Today", p. 80.

See , f o r example, Rober t S t r a y e r 'Mis s ion H i s t o r y : New P e r s p e c t i v e s on a n Encounter" The A f r i c a n S t l r d i e ~ Review Vol. ~ 1 x 1 1 T i p r i 2 , 1976) -r*rrr,-u, U s r n n u U s r n n u J - u * . r . ~ . * .-.A

py, 7.. 15 paar,;SriI

The Makin of V i s s i o n CommunitSes i n E a s t A f r i c a . -- -* London Heinemann, 37w" pp. 52-33 See a l s o pp. 1-2 of t h e I n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e Book.

J . E. Case ly Hayf o r d , E t h i o p i a ~nboun! ( 19 11) pp. 189-190.

10- See , f o r example, E. Ayandele 7 1 T r n d i t i o n a l R u l e r s and M i ~ s i o n a r i e s i n P re -Co lon ia l West Af r i&aVV Tar i l --- A.J. Temu B r i t i s h Longman 1 9 m

sh - 3/'-+I (1969) pp. 25-28. P r o t e s t a n t ~ i s s i o n s ( ~ o n d o n

-DL--- --.- - P. 37.

11. A.J . Ternu, B r i t i s h - P r o t e s t a n t - - Missioid, -- pa 68

CHAPTER THREE: I ---- - .-

DEVELOX'FUNT OF LIZTRATURE I N CATHOLIC H I S T O E ? ----- ---- - T193.i-1985)

I n the p r e c e e d i n g c h a p t e r , we t r i e d t o l o o k at

t h e development of l i t e r a t u r e i n N i g e r i a n Church h i s t o r y .

I n t h i s c h a p t e r , we d i s c u s s t h e d e v e l o p e n t of

l i t e r a t u r e on t h e h i s t o r y of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n

S o u t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a .

A DELAYJD PROGRAMNE AND THE FIRST PHASE, 1935-1967: ------I-- - - - ---. ---

It i s c u r i o ~ ~ t o observe t h a t d s s p i t e t h e f a c t

t h a t t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s l e f t a l a r g e amount of r e c o r d s of

t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s i n Igbo land a s i n any o t h e r area i n

A f r i c a from t h e ve ry beg inn ing of t h e miss iona ry

e n t e r p r i s e , t h e w r i t i n g of t h e h i s t o r y of t h e Church i n

th.5~;. pc,rt of N.i.dsri,3 b:gan o a : ~ q u i t e r e c s s t i y . Thdc

l a t e beg inn ing may pe rhaps be e x p l a i n e d by tho f a c t t h a t

t h e church h a s a l l a l o n g c l o s e d i t s r e c o r d s t o r e s e a r c h e s

and is j u s t beg inn ing t o open them.

The d a t e 1335 i s s i g n i f i c a n t i n C a t h o l i c

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y because , k e e p i n g a s i d e t h e numerous

l e t t e r s and r e p o r t s which t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s wrote

home, one of t h e e a r l i e s t a t t e g p t s t o n a r r a t e t h e s t o r y

of t h e C a t h o l i c Miss ionary e n t e r p r i s e i n Tgboland was

made i n t h a t yea r by Bishop T a y l o r , then the Vicar at the

A p o s t o l i c of Asaba. 1x1 ? 9 3 5 L ~ o l d e r Jubi1.ee C c l c b r n t i o n

o f t h e adven t o f t h e Roman Catho1l.c Church i n O n i t s h a

, 115 n a r r a t e d how F a t h e r s L u t z and Horne d e c i d e d

t o s e t t l e a t O n i t s h a a f t e r w a i t i n g i n v=tSn f o r R i,;?':, to

t a k e them t o t h e i r d e s t i n a t i o n at Igbede. Between 1936

and 1938, b i shop Shtinahan p u b l i s h e d a s e r i e b of a r t i c l e s

under t h e g e n e r a l head ing "Those E a r l y Ye~rs"' i n

The Holy Ghozt M i ~ s l o n a r u n n h j - ~ I n t h e s e articles, -_".-*.=-.---- 1-.- ^- - he e x t o l l e d t h e I r i ~ h c o n t r i b u t i o ~ ~ and d i s m i s s e d t h e

Lutz e r a as a f a i l u r e .

The i d e a s of Shanahan c o n t a i n e d i n t h e s e a r t i c l e s

f e a t u r e d p rominen t ly i n F a t h e r John J o r d a n ' s

Bishop Shanahan of Son the rn N i g e r i a p u b l i s h e d i n 19@, ------ -- - .. t h e f i r s t c o n s c i o u s e f f o r t made t o w r i t e t h e h i s t o r y

o f t h e c a t h o l i c church i n Soutk leas tern N i g e r i a .

Ptxfhur JJSwdern as~rfwod &a ihhgssria $8 99s m a 'Ecf d s%r

B r a z i l i n 1936. H i s book c e n t r e s a round t h e m i s s i o n a r y

a c t i v i t y of J o s e p h Shanahan whom he p r e s e n t s as t h e

fo remos t f i g u r e amongst F r e n c h and I r i s h M i s s i o n a r i e s

i n Tgboland. The book, which h a s a hoavy b e n t t owc,rds

romant ic i sm, h a s become a major sou rce f o r t h e

r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of t h e h i s t o r y of t h o C n t h ~ l i c Church i n

Southt . , . ts ter l~ N i g e r i a ,

The appea rance of The Leader i n t h e early 1950tsii - .- - p u b l i s h e d by t h e Assumpta P r e s s i n Owerri - c r e a t e d

h i s t o r y c o n s c i o u s n e s s i n t h e C a t h o l i c s . L ike i t s

c o u n t e r p a r t s - t h e j o u r n a l s of t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s ' home

s o c i e t i e s i n Europe - (SSP Miss ionary Annals ---- ' Genera l Bi211 e t i n CSE J o u r n a l Comindnity J o u r h a l - -,,,, -.---,) - - - " - - - ' --- - --' The Eoly Ghost Miss ionary ~ n n a l . 6 : ~ . J o u r n a l s o f Sou the rn -- -*- ----- -------- N i g e r i a and s o on, i t p rov ided a forum Por b o t h

European m i s s i o n a r i e s and t h e indj-genous peop le 40

document t h e i r memories and hea r say a c c o u n t s of t h e

miss iona ry e n t e r p r i s e . A good number of a r t i c l e s t h a t

have appeared i n The Leader have been used i n t h e f u l l

r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of t h e h i s t o r y of C a t h o l i c i s m i n South-

e a s t e r n Nige r i a . 3

The Leader , t h e s t u d e n t s of t h ~ , 3igz.rd Meaor ia l B e m i r ~ ~ r y , - Enugh l aunched a j o u r n a l , F a i t h and F a t h e r l a n d , t h e

The j o u r n a l provide? i n i t i a l o p p o r t u n i t y f o r C G ~ t h o l i c s

t o r e c o r d t h e h i s t o r y of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n

Igboland. The j o u r n a l e x i s t s today under t h e name

'4 ~ ' t c .Cb;t'ch., L u ~ b . ' ~ dttwspaptsra, j.s-;i*a~~l;. arc: rn;ng-izinGs

4mF---'-%.wr*rrr-

do i n f p c t p r o v i d e t h e needed s t i m u l i f o r w r i t i n g .

The appearance o f a l o c a l j o u r n a l based at Oevbulu

and f i r s t p r i n t e d by Etukokwu P r e s s i n 1960 prov ided

a n o p p o r t u n i t y f o r W. Doolim of Ozubulu t o g i v e a n

aCcouQt of the b i r t h and t h e growth of the C a t h o l i c

Church i n t h a t townO5 I n t h c same p u b l i c a t i o n , A.U.

Unigwe g i v e s an account of t h e e ~ t a t l i s h n ~ e l ~ t and t h e

6 growth o f " t h e E z i o r a C n t h o l i c Missiontf These l o c a l

h i s t o r i a n s used mainly o r a l t r a d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l s .

I n *!962, S i s t e r Margaret Mary Nolan brought together

a number of a r t i c l e s on t h e foundatiori and h i s t o r i c a l

dovelopmznt of t h e Medical Missionary of Mary founded

i n Calabar i n 1937, a s o c i e t y which worked i n Abalral?.ki

anu Atikpo a r e a s of Igboland. These a r t i c l e s were

e d i t e d by h e r under t h e t i t l e The Medical M i s s i o n a z - - m _ _ I I -

of May: The F i r s t 25 Years o f M M M , ~ J ~ W ~ ~ , and 5 --

pub l i shed i n Dublin. Two y e a r t l a t e r , an I r i s h F a t h e r ,

J * M a l l e t t , who worked i n t h e Nsukkn D i v i s i o n i n

S o u t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a , gave a n account of h i s experiences.

I n I f Any Man Dare, he p r a i s e s his e f f o r t s as he works.

s ingle-handedly f o r s i x y e a r s from 1933 t o 1939 i n a

I;$~r.i.,l;ioi7 with ar; a ~ t i > ! a k s d popt'lai:ion of gc?00,GOQ*

27

The C a t h o l i c Church hae, eepocial . ly from t h e cra

of F a t h e r Alexander Leon Lejeuric, ('1900 t o 7P05) shown

av id i n t e r e s t - i n resTonse t o Igto psychology - i n

cchool. e d u c a t i o n as a n e v a n g e l i c a l s t r a t e g y . The

s c h o o l a p ~ ! s t o l a t e was p e r f e c t e d a t t h e t ime o f

Shanahan and h a s e v t r s i n c e coi l t inued t o be t a k e n s e r i o u s .

The Church h a s a number o f S e m i n a r i e s , N O - ~ i t i a t c s and

Convents d o t t e d a l l ove r Imo and Anambra States i n

Igboland, These a r e f u l l , w e l l s t a f f e d secondary schoolr3

t h a t o f f e r c a n d i d a t e s f o r t h e School C e r t i f i c a t e m d

Genera l C e r t i f i t a t e of Idducation examinat ions . The

S e n i o r Seminary a t Enugu - Rigard Memorial. Seminary

wi th a campus a t I k c t Ekpene i n C m s s R ive r S t a t e , o f f d r s

f i r s t degree c o u r s e s i n Phi losophy alid Theology,

S e n i o r Seminar i ans ~ h o wish t o be o rda ined i n t o t h e

p r i e s t h o o d c o n t i n u e f o r a f u r t h e r four -yea r Bachelor

o f Theology degree a f t e r t h e f i r s t fou r -yea r

Bache lo r of Phi losophy,

.T3 196:1~ E -A, A t . ' t l m p~'bdu=.ad a Work onhi.t3.cd.

P a r t n e r s h i p i n Educa t ion betwesn t h e Church and S t a t e ---

i n E a s t e r n N i g e r i a , He h a s s i n c e t h e n p u b l i s h e d n number .- - -- of o t h e r books

and t h e schoo l

and pamphle ts on Chl i s t i a n e d u c a t i o n

q u e s t i o n , 7 a d o p t i n g a h i s t o r i c a l

28.

p e r s p e c t i v e i n some of t h e workc, I n P a r t n e r s h i p i n .... - U. -. ..& .

Fduca t ion and t h e l a t e r p u b l i c a t i . r ~ n s on e d u c a t i o n ? -----I

Bishop Ax.inze a s s e r t 6 t h e nece6s i t g f o r denominat ional

s c h o o l s ai:d t h e r i g h t of p a r e n t s t o clioose what t y p e

of sch0oi.s . (denominat ional 0,- S t a t e ) t h e i r wards would

a t t e n d , He i n b i s t s tha t denominat ional s c h o o l s wcrc

n o t a n a c h r o n i s t i c . B e l i e v i n g t h a t denomj.nationa1

s c h o o l s were b e s t f o r C a t h o l i c s he encourages C a t h o l i c s

t o f i g h t f o r a r e t u r n of t h e i r schools .

The fo l lowing y e a r (1966) he pub l i shed

8 On the I n s t r u c t i o n on C a t h o l i c s on T i t l e -Tak ing , - --- -- -- li ' Adigwe s unpubl ished d o c t o r a l t h e s i s "The Beginning

of t h e C a t h o l i c Church among t h e Igbo of South-

E a s t e r n M i g s r i a , 1885 t o Ig30v p r e ~ e n t e d t o t h e

major secondary source m a t e r i a l i n t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n

of t h e h i s t o r y of Ca tho l i c i sm i n S o u t h e a s t e r n Niger i a ,

E r a o f I n c r e a s i n g Awareness ---- i n H i s t o r i c a l Knowledge 1967-80

The p e r i o d from 1967 when Arinze become Bishop

of t h e Archdiocese of O n i t s h a 20 January 1970 wi tnessed

a h u l l i n any s e r i o ~ t s l i t e r a r y engagement throughout t h e

g r e a t e r p a r t of E a ~ t e r n Niger i a . These wore t h e w a r

y e a r s .

29 .a

The p e r i o d from t h e end of t h e N i g e r i a - B i a f r a w a r

i n J a n u a r y 1970 t o 1985, e s p e c i a l l y t h e p e r i o d from

t h e midd3.e of t h e I97Oss w i t n e s s e d a t remendous upsurg

of grawing i n t e r e s t i n 3 i . c t o r i c a l w r i t i n g . Pe rhaps t h e

development i n t h e p r i n t i n g i n d u s t r y m y e x p l a i n t h i s .

Taking t h e l e a d i r t h e s p a t e of p u b l i c a z i c n s t h a t

appeared i n tb5 .s p e r i o d is Mbais The C a t h u l i c Church i n .-------_la --.,..-

Owerri Diocese pub1 i.shed i n Owerri, Although a l i t t l e ,,.,,,,,,~~

t hc ten-page pamphlet ,Lbock i s i m p o r t a n t f o r i t s p i o n e e r i n g

e f f o r t , Its i u ~ p o ~ t a n c e $8. a t t e s t e d by i ts accommodntion

i n t h e works o f l a t e r h i s t0 r i a r . s . Tho f o l l o w i n g year,

Tabnns i P r e s s p u t F a t h e r Okoyels Bishop J o s e ~ h Shar-ahan -I_-/-'. --.-.I-

i n t o primt.. Two y e a r s l a t e r , Alrican S t u d i e s B~v,icC-w,

e v a l u a t e s t h e s t r a t e g i e s of t h e Holy Ghost m i s s i o n n r i e a

i n S o u t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a d u r i n g t h e f i r s t t h i r t y - f i v e

years o f t h e m i s s i o n a r y e n t e r p r i s e . 9

Of t h e t w o volumes p u b l i s h e d by F a t h e r A.K.

Obiefuna in 1974, ona was concerned w i t h The R e l i e u s - Witness c f Coneecra ted Men and womenqo whi l e t h e o t h e r - e x t o l l e d - b r c h b i s h o ~ e e r e y ' s ---. -- Miss iona ry E f f o r t s f o r t he

-----I-- - -..- -&a

B i m r d Memorial ~ o m i n a r ~ . " 9z igbo is of t h e o p i n i o n - - - -..-.-

t h a t Obiefuna probably seemed t o have over: q s s e d t h e

A r s h b i s h o p l s f i n a n c i a l i nves tmen t i n t h a t Seminary

e s p e c i a l l q when compared t o t h e l a r g e sum s p e n t a n n u a l l y

12 on passage f o r expat r ia te m i s s i o n a r i e s I n t h e same

y e a r , C.A. ibuta examined The H i s t o g , T r i a l s and TriunpA ' -l_- - *-* -

of t h e C a t h o l i c Ka i~h .P .hod . Rbont t h e l as t q u a r t e r of _.I --------- - .I -- --I

t h e same y e a r , 8 s e l e c t committee of Umuagu C h r i s t i a n s

wrote 'A H i s t o r y of t h e Growth o f t h e Cath0:l. i~ Church

i n Umusgu., Nnetri which was r e a d a t t h e founda t ion

l a y i n g ceremony of t h e i r Church. T h i s was p u b l i ~ h e d i n

t h e B u l l e t i n of the Foundat ion Laying of S t . J o h n ' s of I---- ---- -

t h e Cross C a t h o l i c CM;rch, Umuagu ,Nnewi T h i s p a t t e r n -7 _ <.-- - I

of r e c o u n t i n g t h e ' s h o r t h i s t o r y ' of t h e Church i n a

community e i t n e r a t t h e f o u n d a t i o n l a y i n g ceremony o r

at t h e ., d e d i c a t i o n of a church l a t e r became a p a t t e r n

f o r churches i n t h e a r e a , 13

T r i n i t a s t h o B u l l e t i n of t h e Archdiocese of ,,--A

O n i t s h a appea red i n t h e same y e a r , 1974. o his j o u r h a l Xiko

i t s c o u n t e r p a r t - The Leader a t O v e r r i i n c r e a s e d - . -

o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r C a t h o l i c s t o Jocument t h e h i s t o r y of

t h c i r church.14 The h i s t o r y of t h e f o u n d a t i o n and i-he

growth of Bigard Memorial Seminary waa t o l d i n the

'Golden J u b i l e e - '1924-~'\9?4 ' jyl!,l.ished by the

Seminary i n 1974 t o mark t h e j u b i l e e c e l e b r a t i o n of

t h a t g r e a t i n s t i t u t i o n ,

,The laate a t which works 011 t h e h i s t o r y of t h e

Church appea red a t t h e opening of t h e s e v e n t i e s seemed

t o have slowed dcwn towards t h e clofie of t h a t decade ,

on ly t o r e s u r f a c e a t t h e beg inn ing of t h e 1 9 8 0 ~ s .

However, a few works appeared b e f o r e t h e c l o s e of t h a t

decade. . I n 1978, P.N. I d i g o t s Our Memoirs of - -- -a- Reverend F a t h e r M i c l ~ a e l B r a i n T a n s i was pub l i shed . .--- - .---- --- ----- I d i g o a d o r e s T a n s i , p r a i s e s h i s g r e a t mis s iona ry

ach'ie\remcnts, and exiI.0 a s e s h l ~ humour and h o l i n e s s . 15

I n 1979, Phe J o u r n a l crf Hcli&on i n A f r i c a - ----- ..

c a r r i e d P r o f e s s o r Okwuts a r t i c l e on t h e r e c r u i t m e n t of

t h e hlaynooth M i s s i o n a r i e s by Bishop Shanahan at a firno

t h a t t h e Bishog needed m i s s i o d a r i e s bad ly t o meet the

personne l need i n t h e f a c c of t h e e v e r i n c r e a s i n g number

of a d h e r e n t s . l6 I n t h a t a r t i c l e , Okwu a p p e a r s w o r r i e d

a t S h a n a h a n t s d e c i s i o n t o r e c r u i t , f o r e v a n g e l i z a t i o n

of Igbo land , a group o f young p r i e s t s wi thou t

v a r i o u s m i s ~ i o n n r y b o d i e s i n p r e - c o l o n i a l Igboland.

The Centenary Decadc: The F i r s t Half (1980-85) - - - - - - - I Y - c I I - -W_ --I--

The b e g i n n i n g o f t h e 1g8ort; 2 i t n e s s e d a "race

t o Nil;kys i n t h e p t ? b l i s a . t i o n of works on t h e h i s t o r y

of t h e Churcho The a n t i c i p a t i o n of t h e p u b l i c a t i o n of

a n o f f i c i a l h i s t o r y of t h e Church t o mark t h e c e n t e n a r y

c e l e b r a t i o n may p e r h a p s e x p l a i n t h i s r u s h t o t;be:press.

It may well be t h a t t h e s e w r i t e r s e i t h e r wanted t o be

c o n s i d e r e d f o r appofntmen t as members o f t h e P r o v i n c i a l

Centenary His to : ry Commit t e e o r t h e i r v iews , e x p r e s s e d

i n t h e i r v a r i o u s works t o be r e f l . e c t e d i n t h e o f f i c i a l

h i s t o r y o f t h e C a t h o l i c Church. It is a l s o p o s s i b l e t h a t

t h e f e a r o3 n e g l e c t o f , o r s c a n t y r e f e r e n c e t o some

a r e a s by t h e commission may be one of t h e f a c t o r s t h a t

induced t h e ulnge t o write- H i s t o r i c a l s c h o l a r s h i p d e c r e e s

t h a t n c o L l e c t i o n o f r e l e v a n t ma te r i a&nder tnken b e f o r e

t h e , e x e r c i s e o f h i s t o r ? c a l r e c o n s t r u c t i o n b e g i n s , and

t h e r e f o r e euch works p u b l i s h e d b e f o r e $he w r i t i n g of the

o f f i c i a l h i s t o r y s h o u l d form p a r t o f t h e m a t e r i a l

a v a i l a b l e . These a r e p o s s i b l e r e a s o n s f o r t h e

a v a l a n c h e o f l i t e r a t u r e t h a t appea red - p u b l i s h e d and

unpub l i shed - - wi t h i n t h i s p a r i o d ,

330

I n May 1980, Aesurnpta Press nt Oworri p i n t e d

Adure Njoku ' s The adven t o f t h e C a t h o l i c C h u r c h i n --.y-------

N i g e r i a : I ts Growth i n Owerr i Diocetje. The 5 n t e r e s t i n g -----.-".-- --.-------- -.-- -Nu. .-.-

t h i n g a b o u t t h e book, - origino1:cg a p r o j e c t p r e s e n t e d

t o t h e Department o f I i i s t o r j , Al.van Ikuku Co l l ege of

Educa t ion , Owerr-i a s p a r t of t h e r eou i remen t f o r t h e

NCE, - i s t h a t i t was w r i t t e n e s s e n t i a 1 . l ~ fro10 o r a l

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y . E i g h t o u t of Bishop b r i n z e i s twenty-

one books and pamphletu, p u b l i s h e d between 1965 and 1904,

appea ra6 w i t h i n . t h i s p e r i o d ( 1980-1985). I 8 The year

1 9 8 ~ a l ~ o saw t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f F a t h e r A. O b i e f u n a l s

t h i r d book; The ChurLh and C u l t u r e : A Study i n ,iwkn --- .* >- - I n t h e same y e a r , A,M. Mkpuefune t e l l s t h e s t o r y of

Roman C a t h o l i c i s m i n N t e j e i n -- t h e --- Making of Modern --- - Nte&

p u b l i s h e d i n Jos. Although a c r i s i s of f a i t h had l e d ,

i n 1924, t o t h e a i s s i o n a r i e s abandoning t h e f l v u r i s h i n g

s t a t i o n s t a r t e d i n 1891, Ilkpuefune f e e l s t h a t t h e i n i t i a l

impact c r e a t e d by t h e c h r i s t i a n m i s s i o n a r y p r e s e n c e h a s

been one of t h e f a c t o r s r e s p o n s s i b l e f o r t h e economic

and ~dc- ia l deveioprnent i n Nte j e o Ti* t h e sane year

McMillan p u b l i s h e d E l i z a b e t h I s i c t e i q s E n t i r e l y F o r -- God:

The Life o f Michael Twene Tansio '".LL-II---.L-.-II- *.**4 u v - *.C " ".. -.U---* r

I n - Mary C h a r l e s Walker (19&3), C.M. Cookc t e l l s a -.*

t h e s t o r y of S i s t e r Mary C h a r l e s Walker ( l o c a l l y c a l l e d

S i s t e r Magdalen) of t h e I r i s h S i s t e r s of C h a r i t y who

founded the f i r s t indLgenoc.s r e l i g i o u s c o n g r e g a t i o n f o r

woolen i n N i g e r i a i.n t h e Cal.aba2 r e g i o n , Although

main1.y concerned l~;.i.tl~ t h e missiana1.y a c t i v i t y of Mary

Char l e s Walker i n Ca lnbar , a c h a p t e r i s devoted t o t h e

sto:ay of Ca laba r Miscion, founded a s a rrew b a s i s i n

1903 fol1.owing t h o b reak ing away of t h e C a t h o l i c Church

from t h e c o n f i n e s of On i t sha : w i t h i ts l e g a c y of

f a i l u r e . 1 19

Between 1480 a.nd 1383, f o u r C a t h o l i c p r i e s t s

WIG-cc? t h e i r d i s s e r t a t i o n s - 2 t h r e e m a s t e r s ' and onc

d o c t o r a l on themes on t h e His tory of t h e C a t h o l i c

Church i n Igboland. It i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o n o t e t h a t

t h r e e ou t of t h e s e p r i e s t s wela eventual1:r a p p o i n t e d

members of t h e Oni t sha Ecclesiastical Drovinc2 C e n t m a r y

H i s t o r y omm mission^' amd one of them, F a t h e r C o d . Obi

f i n a l l y became t h e e d i t o r o f t h e work produced by t h e

Commission. P r o f e s s o r K a l u l s -- The H i s t o r y of C h r i s t i a n 2

i n West A f r i c a , which eppea red t h e same y e a r c a r r i o d -- --I

an a r t i c l e on s T l ~ c Methods and I d e o l o g i e s of t h e 1301~

.q 3 .' ( : i ~ : , ~ t ; ?.,; l ~ e t . ~ J EF~:-, $'7$'~1 Bi.gtr.ia; ,v,az*e lY.t'>:; ' irrr 1,: :ep,

by P.B, C la rke ,

A s t h e c e n t e n a r y c e l e b r a t i o n drew n e a r e r , t h e

volume of pub1 i c a i i ons on Catho1i.c h i ~ t o r y i n c r c a s c d .

I n 1962, Makozi and A f o l a b i attemj3tcd t o e d i t The I l i s t z -- of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n Nigeria;" The a t t e m p t , which --- - -_I--.,.- -- may w e l l be d e s c r i b e d as a mi ld goose chase , touched

t h e rnaiker on ly on t h e s u r f a c e . I n c h a p t e r t h r e e of

t h e book, F a t h e r V . h . Nwosu t a k e s un t h e s t o r y of

'The Growth of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n O n i t s h a E c c l e s i a s t i c a l

P r o v i n c e 1 , a p i e c e of w r i t i n g t h a t Ayandele would c a l l

p a t r i c i a n h i s t o r i o g r a p h y . 122 I n t h e same y e a r , D d l t a

P u b l i c a t i o n s based a t Enugu p u t o n t D. Onyeama's

Chief Onveamn. D. Onyeama c h a r a c t e r i z e s Chief Onyearim -- .'- -,-we

of Eke a s a p a t r o n of Ca tho l i c i sm, Under h i s r u l e r s h i p

t h e C a t h o l i c Church snSoyed a miss iona ry monopoly i n

Agbaja, Ezeagu and Nkanu a r e a s , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e 34

towns t h a t c o n s t i t u t e d Agbaja . Bishop Arinze sees t h e

r e sponse t o t h e monas t i c l i f e and t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t of

I n t h i s book, Bishop Arinze t e l l s t h e s t o r y of t h e m o ~ a s t i c

movement i n Igbo land , f o c u s i n g on t h e establishment and

growth of Umuoji monastery and t h e j u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r

i n v e ~ t i n g much money i n t h e monas t ic i n s t i t u t i o n

g e n e r a l l y and i n Umuoj i Monastery p a r t i c u l a r l y .

I n October 1983, Ozigbo J s a r t - i ~ l e e n t i t l e d

'Cat 'nql ic P i o n e e r i n g i n southeaster^: N i g e r i a during t h e

19th dttnt:lryt appeared i n t h e f l rc i ; volume of t h e

J a c r n a l of J A j b e r a l S t u d i e s p u b l i ~ h e d a t Nsukkn. The _U1--- - ---_I_-- -̂ P

f ~ : ~ - l o w i n g y e a r V,T . Okoye kook a kard .Look at t h e

Be'ih-lng. House, one of t h e two g i g a n t i c ( p r e s t i g i o u s ? )

b ~ C d i n g u o f t h e C a t h o l i c Church a t O n i t s h a , I n

t e l l s t h e s t o r y oP t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n c f t h i s e d i f i c e

w h ~ i h a l t h o u g h y e t uncompleted, had ta!cen we l l o v e r

h a l f a m i l l i o n Naira by t h e t ime t h e book went t o t h e

ylves,;.

One of t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h i c a l problems f a c i n g

church h i s t o r i a n s i n A f r i c a , from t h e emergence o f

mis s iona ry h i s t o r i o g r a p h y til: t h e p r e s e n t is t h e

t e m p t a t i o n t o t e l l t h e s t o r y of t h e church i n i s o l a t i o n

of t h e o t h e r e v e n t s i n s o c i e t y , f o c u s i n g e x t e n s i v e l y

on t h e a c t i v i t i e s of t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s . I n Thi Bis&ox

of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n E a s t e r n N i g e r i a (1983), a w e l l , -- - . --- r e s e a r c h e d work, F. C. Nnabuifc p r e s e n t s t h e h 5 - ~ t o ~ - y

of t h e C a t h o l i c Church d u r i n g dhat he d e s c r i b e d as

'The Foundat ion F e r i o d , 1885-130sk, The f i tory i s t o l d

from t h e p o i n t of view of t h e hi r l o r y of S o u t h e a s t e r n

Niger ja w i t h i n t h c o c twenty year r.:, M. E z e a b a s i l i ' s

mimeograph on t h e r B r i e f H i s t o r y of Nsugbo C a t h o l i c

Miss ion , 1890-191G' is i m p o r t a n t bedause o f i t s

exp?s t , re of t h e c o n f l i c t between t h e g o s p e l 2nd t h e

t r a d i t i o n a l c u l Lure,

More t h a n s i x p u b l i c a t i o n s appea red : t thc. woke

of t h e c e n t e n a r y c e l e b r a t i o n , one of which was produced

by tne P r o v i n c i a l Centenary H i s t o r x C ~ m m i s s i o n as t h e

' o f f i c i a l h i s t o ? y l of t h e Church. The c e n t r a l q u e s t i o n s

f a c i n g t h e church i n L f r i c a a t t h e c l o s e of t h e t w e n t i e t h

c e n t u r y a r e t h e i n d i g e n i s c t t i o n q u e s t i o n - t h e q u e s t i o n

of t h e r e l e v a n c e o f t h e ind!.e;enovr; ; c u l t u r e a n d r e l i g i o n

i n t h e p r a c t i c e of t h c C h r i s t i a n f a i t h , t h o q u e s t i o n

of t o what e x t e n t t h e A f r i c a n C h r i s t i a n h a s ldasewveredl

God more i n t h e C h r i s t i a t r e l i g i o n t h a n i n h i s i n d i g e n o u s

r e l i g i o n , and, t h e q u e s t i o n of ecumenism. The books

p~;.bSi.shed w i t h i n t h i s t ime t r i e d t o f o c u s on t h o s e i s s u e s .

I n a r e f l e c t i v e t i t l e , The Igbo Church and Quest f o r God - ( 1985) , Clnrlcwvdcr~ Oko'Lo c o l l e c t e d f i v e a r t i c l e s r o v o l v i n g ---- a round t h e issues of i n d i g e n i z a t i o n and A f r i c a n conver s ion .

The t e l l i n g of t h e s t o r y of t h e C a t h o l i c Church

i n each Diocese s t a r t e d by.Adure N;ioku i n 1983~ fiooincd

t o have becone i n C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y .

I n 1985, E n e a s a t o and o t h e r s wrote The Advenk and Growth - -.- - - -*- I n t h e same

y e a r , L o C . Nwankw~ r e f l e c t e d on The A r r i v a l ilf t h e F i r s t .---I-----_---

,- .- r i e s i n I 3 o l ~ n d : T h e i r h?.vent and Achievement Mi&2E ---- 3 -------..iI4-DI *Y .I I-..

i n Okigwc Diocese . I n The C a t h o l i c Church Zn Oni t shnr -- -mu------.- --_I - -__^-w

V,B, Nwosu e d i t e d t h e s t o r y of t h e Chu-ch i n t h e

Archdiocese of Oui tbha under twelve s e p a r a t e themes

c o n t r i b u t e d by seven a u t h o r s . The year 1985, t h e C a t h o l i c

c e n t e n a r y y e a r and t h e y e a r t h a t w i tnes6ed a buin.pcr

h a r v e s t fin t n e w r i t i n g of t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e C a t h d i c

church i n I g b o l a n d a lsc . wi tnessed , t h e p u b l i c a t i o n of

Metu and E j i z u ' s Hundred Y e a r s of C ~ t h o l i c i s m i n X a s t e r n -- . - - - .---wU_

N i ~ r i a , , 1885-1985: The Knewi S t o r y , p u b l i s h e d i n Nimo - by t h e Ase le I n s t i t u t e .

.Bishop A.G. Nwedo, t h e first N i g e r i a n C a t h o l i c

Bishop t o man a Diooese w r o t e t h e Centenary Celebration

7985. The o f f i c i a l Roman Catholic History in Southeastern

N i g e r i a , produced by t h e P r q v i n c i a l Centenary H i s t o g

Commission,, marked t h e h i g h l i g h i of t h e c e n t e n a r y

celeb ratio^. P r e s e n t e d i n t e n c i ~ a p t e r ~ and e d i t e d

by Rev. F a t h e r C e l e s t i n e A , Obi, A Hundred Year s of .*-Me -.- -- --U

t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n E a s t s r n N i g e r i a I-, ----- ---- -....--, ,,., ,'-O,

t r i e d t o t r a c e t h e h i s t o r y of t h e Church from i t s

b e g i n n i n g i n December 1885 t o December 1985, Also t o

g r a c e t h e ce i i tenary c e l e b r a t i o n was t h e "- N i ~ L a n -- Theolcc- ica l J o u r n a l f i r s t p u b l i s h e d i n Decs r~be r 1985 - ? L - - , , ,"

by t h e C a t h o l i c l ' hco log ica l A s s o c i a t i o n of Nigeria*

The l a t e s t a r r i v a l seems t o be D r , Oz igbo ' s

h i g h l r p r o v ~ c a t i v e , c r i t i c a l , r a d i c a l , p e n e t r a t i n g ,

e v a l u a t i v c a n 3 ~ b j e c t i v e Igbo Ca tho l i c i sm: The O n i t s h a -___I--. --a. U

Connect ion 1367-1984~ ~ l t h o u g h i t came o u t i n 1986, i t _L_l--n--U_ I

is p o s s i b l a t h a t t he Sook was i n t m d e d t o a p p e a r at t h e

c e n t e n a r y c e l e b r a t i o n : it h a s 1985 as it^ d a t e of

p u b l i c a t i o n . It i s a l s o p o s s i b l e t h a t i t may have

been de layed by sorne t eck .n i ca1 h i t c h . Cent red a r s u n d

t h e p e r s o n and t h e a rchbic ihopic of Bishop Ar inze ,

Igbo C a t h o l i c i s m seems t o have s c a t t e r e d ' f i r e w o r k s and - . ---- knockou t s ' c o n t r a r y , p e r h a p s t a t h e a u t h o r s d e c l a r e d

i n t e n t i o n ? D r . I kenga Ozigbo, a C a t h o l i c p r i e s t , fieems

n o t t o be a t d a g g e r s d ~ . w " w t h C a t h o l i c l e a d e r s h i p , -

a l t h o u g h he i d e n t i f i e s t h i s as thexwc.c problem o f t h e

weakness of Igbo C a t ho l i c i s rn - b u t ho i s ex t r eme ly

i m p a t i e n t w i t h t h e s low pace of i n d i g e n i z a t i o n , w i t h

t h e con t inued impcbrtation o f f o r e i g n r e l i g i o r i s f o r m

which i t s e l f h a s c o n t i n u e d t o make t h e i n d i g e n i s a t i o n

s t r u g g l e a i:i!.d goose c h a s e ; w i t h t h e c o n t i n u e d

pe r ~ e t u a c i o n of d i v i s i v e f o r c e s wh i r h ha-;e c o n t i n u c d t o

s u b j u g a t e e f f o r t s a t ecumenism, and , w i t h tile l e a d e r s '

l i p s e r v i c e t o t h e ecumenism q u e s t i o n , The a u t h o r ' s

r e c e n t p a p e r , r e a d a t t h e j u s t ccnc luded N a i r o b i Conferonce 24

t a c k l c s t h e i s s u e of how tLe H i s t a r y o f t h e C a t h o l i c Church

i n N i g e r i a ~ h o u l d be w r i t t e n .

T h i s c h a p t e r h a s mere ly su rveyed the deve?-opment

o f l i t e r a t u r e i n t h e h i s t o r y of t h e C a t h o l i c Church

from i t s b e g i n n i n g i n ?885 t o t h e p r e s e n t . It i s

p o s s i b l e however, t h a ~ one o r two work6 may have c scaped

t h e a u t h o r ' s cearch . I n t h i s c h a p t e r , l i t t l e a t t e m p t was

made t o l o o k i n t o t h e aiins and o b j e c t i v e s , and the

major c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y . These

Rre t h e themes o f t h e n e x t two chap te re .

R e f e r e n c e s

I , T h i s s p e e c h was p u b l i s h e d i n Nay t h e f o l l o w i n g Year i n B u l l e t i n de l a Cornmuaaute Vol. 307

-...-*-.-.-*D-Ul-.- ---U--

2 , U n f o r t u n a t e l y , i t was n o t ~ v s s i b l e f o r me t o g e t d t t h e a c t u a l y e a r when h i s Newspaper was f i r s t p u b l i s h e d . The p r o c e n t e d i t o r , Rev. Pr. Kevi.11 ~lkagl:ii t o l d me t h a t hc h imse l f d i d n o t know. 411 he know was t h a t t h e newspaper, f o r m e r l y c a l l e d Tht. 'Jcn Lral* a m i t o f C h r i s t i a n , ,.,, ,- L L- Y Y . . ,,2,.L u. .-- Doctr i -qe w a s i n e x i c k e n c e , by t h a t fo rmcr ncme, . -- ----. b e f o r e Zhc f o u n d a t i o n l h y j n s of the Maria Ase11rnp.t~ C a t h e d r a l i n 19-54,

4. The s t a f f c o u n t e r p a r t of t h i s j o u r n a l , t h e Eucerna i s d e s i g n e d mainly as a forum f o r a .--- ..- " di03 og3.L e n c o u n t e r b e t v t e n C h r i s t i a n i t y and A f r i c a n i ' r a d i t i o n a l R e l i g i o n ,

5 0 W. Dool in "The B i r t h and Developnent o f t h e C a t h o l i c Miss ion i:i 0 z u l v . l ~ " Ozcb~?Zu Mn&?1&1n2 ( O n i t s h a , Etukokwa P r e s s , 1365)---*

6 A.U, Unigwe, "The E z i o r a C a t h o i i s Miss iont3 I b i d . -

The se books and. pamph le i s E d u c a t i o n ( o n i t s h a , --- - . -* - Tnvestmeii t ( O n i t s h a , - - "-- Righ t @;1"1tsha 1974)

.---a

E d u c a t i o n a t P r e s e n t ---,-I_----.- ---

1972) ; The G r e a t e s t 1974) ; The ~h~i.l;a.-~? ; The Impact of C h r i s t i a n ('on i t s ha F m - - - - -

8. I n 1973 a f t e r he had become Bishop, Aririze reissued t h e work u n d e r t h e ~ i t l e I n s t r u c t i o n on C a t h o 1 j . c ~ and T i t l e - T a k i n g which c o n t a i n e d a m o d i f i c a t i o n of Archhishop IIeerey ' 6

C o n c i l i a t o r y Dacree of arch 1961 bn Ozo

F.K. Ekechi I'l'he Holy Ghost P ' a tne r s i n E a s t e r n Nigeria, ,1885-7920. : t % s e r v a t i n n s i n Miss ion S t r a t e g y " . A f r i c a n -- S t u d i e s Review X V / I

-I- -,I "--- Y- - 7%73) pp. 2 1 7 3 0 .

See f 9 r example, ' A S h o r t H i s t o r y of tLe C a t h o l i c Church i r r Nnewj.chil i n Du:Ll.etin of t h c

See , f o r example, M. Okoye 'Hoiq Brotherhood f i r s t ~ t a r t e d i n Southern NiiT;eriat T i - i n i t a a

--UP

( ( 1 s t - ~ e c . 1975)

Ikenga Ozigbo h a s been s k e p t i c a l about t h e a d v i s a b i l i t y of enLhroning F a t h e r T a n s i a6 t h e S t a r and examplar of Igbo hol . incss, s e e Ozigbo, &bo C a t h o l j . c i ~ m p. 56 ---.

AOS, Okm. 'The Beginning of t h e Maynooth Movement and t h e Rise of St. P a t r i c k Miss ionary S c c i e t y , 1920-1930: J o u r n a l of Relirpion j.n Afr ica . X/I (1979) .-, ,d,L .<.- -.,,,,, pp, 221%

This h a s indeed t u r n e d o u t t o be t h e t r u t h , Some of t h e m a t e r i a l s i n t h e works pub l i shed between 1330 and 1983 have found comfor taSle accommodation i n t h e Church 's o f f i c i a l h i s t o r y .

These books and pamphlets , some of which a r e l e n t e n p a ~ k o r a l s , d e a l wi th t h e themes of C h r i s t i a n involvement i n ? o l i t i c s ; Ch r i s t i cm u n i t y ; Church and S t a t a i n Education e t c . See t h e Bibliography f o r more d e t a i l s about t h e books,

C.Mo Cooke E'1ap~ Char les Walker i ~ u b l i r , Four C ~ u r t s P r e s s , 1980) p. 5.1

Obi, P I ~ b o Response t o t he Hoiy Ghost Missionary Presence i n Oni tsha aud Its Enviroas , ~685-1930 ' (Unpub l i~hed M . J . Thes i s , S . 0 , ~ . 3 , Cnive r s i t y of London, 1 9 8 0 ) ~ 1.R.h. Ozigbo ' A Ch r i e t i an Misslon i n t h e Xra of Colonial ism: A Study o f t h e Ca tho l ic M i s s i o ~ a r y E n t e r p r i s e i n Sou tneas te rn N ip r i a , 1885-~939) !Unpublished PhoD D i s s e r t a t i o n , Birmingham Un ive r s i t y , 1980)

v.nn Nwosu, 'The L a i t y and E s p e c i a l l y Ca tho l i c Women i n t h e Debates concerning t h e Role of t n e Ca tho l i c Church i n Educat ion i n E s s t e r n Niger ia , 1945-1970 '. (Unpublished M . l r . d i f s e r t % t i o c , S.O.!i,S, Univers i ty of London, 1482)

C. Eke, 'The Developinent of Seminar ies i n Eas t e rn Niger ia , 1924-5974' (Unpublished Ii.A. D i s s e r t a t i o n , S.0,A.S; Univers i ty of London, 1983 1.

They a r e Rev. F r (Dr) C e l e s t i n e A. Obi, Chairman of t h e Cornmimion ( A Social ~ n t h r o p o l o g i s t ) ; Rev. Fr. Vincent A. Nwosu ( the O f f i c i a l H i s t o r i a n of the Archdiocese of Onitsha and a School P r i n c i p a l ) ; and Rev. Fr. Casimir me h Pareoral wwbt am8 8armQrt lewd Toaekot ta ltirrtor~ ).

E.A. Ayandele, 'How T r u l l y Niger ian is our Niger ian H i s to ry1 : ~ f r i c a Notes 5/2 ( 1968-69 1 19-35, L a t e r gub l i shed i n N i . e r i an H i s t o r i c a l S t u d i e s (London, F r d t Bass - -- 19 7 9 3

23. Fedo k r i n z e , - Answering Godc fi Call -..- (London, 1983)

24, 1 , R . A - Ozigbo, 'Towards a H i s t o r y of C a t h o l i c C h r i s t i a n i t y i n Nigeria, '

CHAPTER FOUR:

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF ChTHOLIC HLST9RIOGRAPHY -----.--- ---- -- - 45.

Evesy h i s t o r i o g r a p h y has some aims and o b j e c t i v e s

t h a t i t L t e n d s t o a r h i e v e , whether o r n o t such aims

and o b j e c t i v e s a r e s t a t e d . The aim of c o l o n i a l

h i s t o r i ography , f dr example was t o j u s t i f y Europcan

c o l o n i z a t i o n of k%frica. Accordicg t o t h i ~ h i s t o r i o g r a p h y ,

t h e A f r i c a n s were c h i l d r e n ; they were ' u r i c l v i l i z e d t , u n p r o g r e s s i v e , u i l invent ive and incapab le of t a k i n g

i n i t i a t i v e , They t h e r e f o r e needed t h e benevolent

i n t e r v e n t i o n of a more s u p e r i o r r a c e t o ' c i v i l i z e t them.

The aim of Church h i s t ~ r i o g r n p h y Jr what

F r o f c s s o r Kalq. has a p t l y d e s c r i b e d a s 'Miss ionary

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y ' i n c o l o n i a l A f r i c a was, Ln sonsonance

wi th c o l o n i a l h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , t o j u s t i f y European

e c c l e s i a s t i c a l c o l o n i z a t i o n ' of A f r i z a , t o e x t o l t h e

heroism of t h e p i o n e e r whi te m i s s i o n a r i e s who worked

among t h e ' c a n i b a l i s t i c ' , 'pagan' i n h a b i t a n t s of t h e

' c i t a d e l of s a t a n t 2 and t o r a i s e t h e morale of bo th

members o f t h e miss ionary b o d i e s and t h e whole o f t h e

@woptan pwb$Bc . k t ~ ~ 3 d e ~ %a ensape 1 ~gt i . l$$a%~X

of t h e miss ionary e n t e r p r i s e . fif r i c a ~ , t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

seemed t o i i i e i s t , needed t o be t a u g h t abou t t h e t r u e God

who, up t n the ti:;?~ t!ze miss ionnr i . e s a r r i v e d , wa.8 unknown

t o t h o people . A f r i c a n s needed the ' l i g h t c o f t h e g o s p e l t o

d r i v e away t h e ' darknessq o f s u p r r s t i . t i o n .

Both the A f r i c a n n a t i o n a l i s t h i s t o r i o g r a p h y and

t h e Church h i s t o r i o g r a p h y t h a t emerged a b o u t t h e middle

and t o p r e s e n t t h e t r ue s t o r y o f t h e A f r i c r n pas t , t o l d

by t h e 1 , f r i c a n h i m s e l f , The aim wac t o a s s e r t t h e

,'~:rlcnn p e r s o n a l i t y , t o p u n c t u r e t h e c g s t e m a t i z e d l i e s 3

t o l d a g a i n s t A f r i c a , l i e s which h e r e based on r a c i a l

4 t h a o r i e s - Quaison-Sokey i n h i s l i 2 r i c a Unbound (1963) --.--- - i m i t a t i v e l y e n t i t l e d a f t e r Caseby Hay ford!: d

.-., h i s

i r t h i o p i a . Unbound -- s t a t e d t h a t t h e a i m o f / h i s t o r i o g r a p h y . *..-., --. --.- - tlns ' t o c o r r e c t t h e image of A f r i c a t h a t p r e v a i l s i n

the minds of t h o s e non-Af r i cans who s t i l l conce ive of

5 A f r i c a as d a r k con t inen : i n h a b i t e d s o l e l y by s a t a g e s q . 11; s h o u l d be s t a t e d t h a t i d e o l o g i c d p e r s p e c t i v e e x e r t

a tamendous i n f l u e n c e on h i s t o , t i o g r a p h i c d g o a l e which

t!-~cniselvcs i n t u r n d e t e r m i n e both t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h e r ' s

T h i s c h a p t e r f o c u s e s on t h e aims and objsc$i.vrle

of C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y . I n t r y i n g t o i d e n t i f y t h e s e

aims and o b j e c t i v e s , - whether z l c s r l y s t a t e d o r

b u r i e d i n t h e main body o f t h e walks a - r e f e r e n c e s will

be m d e mainly t o the major works, t h a t i s , t o t h e

worka t h a t t r e a t t h e h i s t o r y of C a t h o l i c i s m i n I g b o l a n d

a s a whole a l t h o u g h a t t e m p t s w i l l be made t o r e f e r t o

works c o v e r i n g t h e d i o c e s e s and n i s ~ i o n s t a t i o n s .

Thin appronqh, which w i l l a l s o be t a k e n i n t h e n e x t

c l l ap tc r is c o n s i d e r e d n e c e s s a r y because an e f f o r t t o

r e f e r t c s o many Looks may r e n d e r t h e work u n e c e s s a r i l y

cunbc rsorne and i t i s n o t t h e i n t e n t i o n of t h e a u t h o r

t o make i t so.

XISTCRY FROM CATHOL J C VIEW PCINT: , . _..---I-." _.----I-------- - Although s t o r i e s a b o u t m i s s i o n a r i e s and t h e i r

j.r, N i g e r i a as t o l d by t h e N i g e r i a n s themse lves

s t a r t e d a b o u t t h e middle of t h e p r e s e n t c e n t u r y , i t

a;)pcars t h e r e has all a l o n g been a ~ o n s i s x e n t imbalance

i a t h e a t t e n t i o n g i v e n t o t h e v a r i o u s n i s s i o n a r y b n d i e s ,

e q e c i a l l g t h e e a r l i e s t rn iss ionary b o d i e s t o a r r i v e

i n K i g e r i a , The major works on C h r i s t i a n M i s s i o n s i n

jTi.gcri a r e a d ~ l y c;me t o mind. 4;ja:;ri ' s --.. C b r i s t _ ._..____- iazl Mi.~si ->-_- .ns

i n N i g e r i a : The Making o f a New E l i t e , 1841-.1891 ... . .. i - - . - - --- - t o ~ . c h e d on t h e C a t h o l i c td i s s iona ry e l n t e r p r i s e ot t h e

p e r i p h e r y . G r e a t e r & t e n t i o n was p a i d t o t h e C.M.S.

T h i s i s u n d e r s t a n d a b l e s i n c e h i n work covered on ly t h e

f i r s t s i x y e a r s of Roman Ca tho l i c i sm i n E a s t e r n

Nipr ia.

Ayandele, who l i k e Ajayi wrote on t h e h i s t o r y o f

t h e C h r i s t i a s Miss ions a s a whole was n o t s o much

i a t e r e s t e d i n the s t o r i e s abou t m i s s i o n a r i e s ns i n t h e

' i ~ ~ p a c t ' of t h e miss iona ry e n t e r p i s e on innocen t

N i g e r i a n cul - tures . I n h i s Miss ionary I m p c t on Modern .--. -.--- ' i s - ~ ? r i a a t t e n t i o n was g iven more t o t h e P r o t e s t a n t ! :lsL .-A- - Churches t h a n t o t h e C a t h o l i c . Ekechi i n h i s Miss iona ry - Z n t c r p r i s e and Riva:cry i n Igbo land 185749 14 seemed t o . .. - bnvc p a i d a t t e n t i o n t o t h e Roman C a t h o i i c Mission i n

E n s t e r n N i g e r i a t h a n d i d bo th kyandele and Ajayi .

T h i s a g a i n is u n d e r s t a n d a b l e s i n c e h : ~ s r e s e a r c h h o r i s o n

i s Igboland. Even i n t h i s , when t h e t reaxment g i v e n

t o i h e C a t h o l i c and t h e P r o t e s t a n t Churches is compared,

the c o n c l u s i o n i s q u i c k l y drawn t h a t a t t e n t i o n was a g a i n

g i v e n more t o t h e C.M.S. than t o t h e C a t h o l i c

n i h s i o n a r y e n t e r p r i s e .

IYwo f a c t o r s may e x p l a i n t h i s t r a d i t i o n t h a t h a s

p e r s i s t e d up t i l l r e c e n t l y . The C.M.S. m i s s i o n a r i e d

cane t o Southeaf i tc rn N i g e r i a much e a r l i e r t h a n t h e RCM

2nd t h e works c i t e d ~ b o v e cover p e r i o d s a l i t t l e a f t e r

t h e a r r i v a l of t h e C a t h o l i c s , Tilo period ~ u v c r o d

by 6 j a y i 1 s $ h r i s t i a n _E . I i s s ion~ cxtcnc: on ly up t o 1897

c o v e r i n g l e s s than a decade of Cath0lj .c p resence i n

IgboLand, Both Agandele's and E k e c h i l s works cover

l e s s t h a n t h r e e decade6 of Ca tho l i c i sm i n t h s a r e a .

Ad?. i t ional ly , - and more importanLIJ, - t h e c a t h o l i c 6

had a l l a l o n g c l ~ ~ e d t h e i r a r c h i v e s t o r s s e a r c h e s and

are ju-qt beginning t o open them.

To c o r r e c t Chio u a j n t e n t i o n a l i n s u f f i c i e n t a t t e n t i o n

z ivcn t o Roman Catho l i c i sm i n Igboland i n Niger i an

Church h i s to i4ogrnphy - and which seems t o have c r e a t e d

n cl is turb5ng imbalance - is one of t h e major a ims of

C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y i n Igboland, Nbrr ied abou t this

jmbnlance b c t h i n a t t e l l t i o n gerera:.l> and i n t h e d e p t h s

of t h e t r e a t m e n t of s p e c i f i c problems and i s s u e s r a i s e d ,

nnd a b o u t t h e ' g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s drawn from r e g r e t a b l y

preconceived p o i n t s of d e y a r t u r e t - probably as a i e s u l t ,

WF: may date t o s&?, of Pack of ad&se& C& f he wltrlrant

t :ntcri 'a l - Nnabuife i n t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n t o h i s

o f t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n E a s t e r n N i ~ i a s a i d t h a t t h e 1 - 1 c-_.-ll-.-- ---I-.-- - -

afrn of h i s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y was t o c c r r e c t t h i s i m b a l m c e

and t o f i l l ' t h e gap c r e a t e d by p r e v i o u s miss ionary

stuc' . ies a t t h e expense o f , t h e C a t h o l i c Church. ' 6

I n t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n t o The C a t h o l i c Church An -- -- Y-

Onitsha People P l a c e s and Eveiitn, a work produced by ..A - * L .,-. , - t he eight-man Oni t sha Archdioceean H i s t o r y Committee,

!.lev. F r . V.A. N w o ~ t h e e d i t o r of t h e work and Chair~nan

of t h e Committee s a i d :

Although C h r i s t i a n Missionary E n t e r p r i s e i n N i g e r i a have engaged q u i t e a number of eminent s c h o l a r s s i n c e t h e p u b l i c a t i o n of P r o f e s s o r J o F a R o A j a y i ' s C h r i s t i a n Miss ions i n Niger ia i n 1965 -.------- - such accoun ts have g e n e r a l l y weighed h . a v i l y i n favour of t h e .Frotestant: Miss ions d e s p i t e t h e phenonenal growth and s u c c e s s of C a t h o l i c C h r i s t i a n i t y , e s p e c i a l l y i n I g b o ~ a n d . There is t h e r e f o r e u rgen t need today f o r an account of t h e work o f t h e C a t h o l i c Church t o make a complete p i c t u r c of C h r i s t i a n Miss ions i n N i g e r i a , e s p e c i a l l y i n Igboland.7

Hev. Fr . C,A, Obi, t h e Chairman of t h e Oni tsha

3 c c l e s i a s t i c e l P r o v i n c i a l Centenary His to ry Commission

nild e d i t o r of Hundred Years of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n +-

Z a s t e r n N i g e r i a 1885-1985 ( 198 j) - t h e O f f i c i a l h i s t o r y . F - - ->---.-- -.- ...-- 0.2 t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n t h e E c c l e s i a s t i c a l Province

as produced by t h e Committee, s a i d i n t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n :

A l o t has been w r i t % e n mbout C h r i ~ t i m Mfs~ioas i n N i g e r i a , b u t t h e s e w r i t i n g s i n v a r i a b l y r e p r e s e n t e d t h e i n t e r e s t a of t h e i r non-Catholic and m - c a t h o l i c wr i t e r s . . , There fo re t h i s book provides f o r t h i s d e f i c i e n c y .

of h i s t o r y , and t h e eager quest t o write a 3111 h i s t o q

o f t h e C a t h o l i c Church a r e among the major a i m

n n Z o b j e c t i ~ e s of C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y .

The jt.a:sue, however, seems n o t t o be s o much a

cles:i.re t o p:roduce a ' d e C a i l e d h i s t o r y i as t h e c e n t r a l

coxccrn t o w r i t e t h e h i s t o r y of t h e C a t h o l i c Church

i n 2 s e p a r a t e c o v e r and t o i n t e r p r e t e h i s t o r y from t h e

C a t h o l i c p o i n t of view, f o r no one s i n g l e church h a s

as y e t come any way n e a r what t h e C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i a n s

have produced w i t h i n t h e l a s t f i f t e e n y e a r s . F o r

example, t h e CMS Church i n E a s t e r n N i g e r i a , a l t h o u g h i t

had by 7957 produced some g r a d u a t e s i n h i s t o r y , a r t s ,

e d u c a t i o n and t h e f ioc ia l s c i 2 n c e s d i d n o t i s s u e a s i n g l e

h i s t o r y book a t h e r Centenary C e l e b r a t i o n t h a t y e a r ,

What h a s as y e t a p p e a r e d a s a h i s t o r y of t h e Church, i n

n s e p a r a t e c o v e r , h a s been D r . L:.O. D i k e ' s O r i g i n s of

~ i g e r i o n I - , a pape r r e a d a t t h e

Centenary C e l e b r a t i o n of t h e Miss ion a t C h r i s t Church

8 G n i t s h a on November '3, 1957, and which had remained

a p r i v a t e document of t h e a u t h o r and t h e Church u n t i l

z f t e r f i v e y e a r s : t h e c e l e b r a t i o n s .

Another impor tan t aim of tb5.s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

i u t o pr9,iec t h e e f f o r t s , and t o defend t h e a c t i o n s

of t h e pxaneer m i s s i o n a r i e s who, o u t of g e n e r o s i t y

I c f t t h e zcmfor t s of t h e i r homes t h n u s a ~ i d s of m i l e s

;.:,cqle of t h e lower Niger i n t o t h e caravan of t h e people

o f Sod., j 9 and who, i n t h a t adven tu re , 'werv undaunted

by meagre r e sponse , g r e a t s u f f e r i n g and dea ths . ' 10

2nd a c t i o n s of the n l i s s ionar i e s - i n t h e i r e n c o u n t e r s

wi th t h e indigenous peop le , t h e B r i t i s h C o l o n i a l

governmcn't and t r a d e r s - t h a t would p o r t r a y them i n

a bad l i g h t were e i t h e r c a r e f u l l y av3ided o r tiP;il.fullg

example, t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s were i n no gay t o blame i n

a l l t h e i r c o n f l i c t s wi th t h e Royal Niger Company.

? h e i r a c t i o n i n s i d i n g t h e n a t i v e s i n t h e 1888 Or&tsha-

!I?oyal Niger: Company c o n l l i c t s , c o n t r a r y t o t h e

u n d e r t a k i n g s i g n e d by L u t z i n 5886 r e s t r a i n i n g him

from s i g n i n g t r e a t i e s , engaging i n t r a d e and i n

p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n l o c a l p o l i t i c s , w a s defended and

p r a i s e d .

The i l l . - t r ua tmen t t h a t Fathe? Lu+,z netsd o a t

t o one o f t he redeemed slave g i r l s i n t h e Onl tsha

n i s s i n n house nea r the Nkis i River was seen +hrougk the

s:)cctacle of ' co r r ec t i on . Although t h e g i r l was ,

oa f i v e d i f f e r e n t occas ions chained up and badly bea ten ,

t h a t extreme reached by a m i n i s t e r of God was nnot

considered s e r i o u s , but was seen a s ' c o r r e c t i o n ' on

a wayward s l a v e g i r l whose bad behaviour ' w s s a l r e a d y

b r i ng ing a bad name t o t h e missiong1'. The money pa id t o

Lu tz when, ( i n t h e d e s i r e t o g e t r i d of h e r ) t h e young

l a d y was appa ren t l y r e s o l d , was i n t e r p r e t e d t o mean

' b r i d e wea l th* which t h e m i s s i o n e g rece ived i n h i s

12 r i ~ h t a s t h e ' guard ian ' when t h e g i r l was 'mar r ied ' . Thc f i n e imposed on F a t h e r Lutz on h i s conv i c t i on by t h e

~ U U F G at k.baba C I A c l i a r p s OP ccue l ty and slavrs-de?'&iag

m r c condemned by t h e h i s to r iography .

One r e c a l l s t h a t s u c : ~ a s i t u a t i o n i n t h e s l a v e

cc t t l e n e n t i n Freretown on t h e ??oabana doast i n East

Afr i ca -occa s ioned t h e appointment by t he B r i t i s h

government of a Commission of I nqu i ry i n 1881. The

Commission which confirmed t h e a l l e g e d harsh t rea tment

of Af r i c ans by S t r e e t e r l e d t o h i s removal. Although

onc rnay no t q u a r r e l wi th t h e i d e a of showering p r a i s e s

on t h e e a r l y m i s s i o n a r i e s s e e i n g that t h e y workod u n d e r

w r y d i f f i c u l t c o n d i t i o n s , y e t ~ u c h u p r a i s e - s i n g i n g

rrogramme becomes n a i v e and overwhelmingly d i s t u r b i n g

when i t f a i l s t o r e c o g n i z e o b v i o u s e r r o r s and s h o r t -

comings of t h q m i s s i o n a r i e s . Fo r exampoe, an a t t i t u d e

thxt l e d t o a n o u t r i g h t condemnation o f a l l a s p e c t s of

n :>eop leFs c u l t u r e i n which a l l wh i t e m i s s i o n a r i e s were

i n v o l v e d and which l e d t o a d i s l o c a t i o n of t h e t r a d i t i o n a l

s o c i e t y w i t h o u t o f f e r i n g s a t i s f y i n g s u b s t i t u t e s canno t

a c c mmodated j u s t i f i a b l y be 9 . i n a p r a i s e - s i g n i n g - 17rograrnme. The c r y f o r i n d i g e n i z a t i o n today may p e r h a p s

bc s e e n ac a way of s a y i n g t h a t t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s f a l l e d

by n o t u t i l i z i n g a s p e c t s of t h e p e o p l e ' s way of l i f e

t o make c h r i d t i a n i t y more meaningful Lo them, and

' i hc re fo re accomm0d%F8$n-iase f o r s u c h n f a i l u r e s . e C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y a s s e r t s t h a t F a t h e r

Shanahan ' n e v e r ~ p 0 k e i n nondemnation of paganism

o r a n y t h i n g ' p o g o n 1 l 4 b u t i t f a i l s t o g i v e an accoun t

of any r e l i g i o u s change w i t h i n Shanahan ' s regime

w : r y i ap R E a w:;u?-t; o f + h i s kc1 P r : ~ ? c t ) 9f $he yeOp7.@ 3

religious b e l i e f s a n d p r a c t i c e s . Except where i t is

i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e Okonko S o c i e t y was used as a t o o l

f o r o r g a n i z i n g t h e c l e a r i n g o f Church compounds and i n

t h o found ing of c h u r c h e s i n Umuahia ~ i o c e e e ' ~ and where

55 - t h e r c is a p a s s i n g remark abou t Shananm - s roc o g n i t i o n

of ' t h e n a t i v e fond~.c1?3 f o r s o c i a l . l i f e and o rgan ized

n c c t i n g s q 2 upon which he o r g a n i z e d t h e v a r i o u s fo rms of

:,.rSoup l a i t y apos to ln i ; e s , we a r e t o l d nex t t o n o t h i n g

abou t r e a l r e l i g i o u s changes r e s u l t i n g from t h i s non-

coildenlnation of -the p e o p l e ' s r e l i g i o n and c u l t u r e . It

a n g e a r s t h e r e f o r e t h a t t h i s a c t i o n of t o l e r a n c e o f Igbo

R e l i g i o . 1 a s c r i b e d t o Shanahan f a l l s w i t h i n t h e scheme

of ' p r a i s e - s i n g i n g ' and ' d e f e n c e s of t h e a c t i o n of t h e

n i c s i 3 n a r i e s i n t h e i r d e a l i n g s w i t h t h o ind igenous

p o i d e , and would make him appea r ddmi rab le t o t h e peop le ,

c q z c i n l l y t o t h e e l i t e who a r e most ly d i s t u r b e d abou t

the d i s l o c a t i o n of t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t u r e .

It must be p o i n t e d o u t t h a t Oz igbo ' s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

b e l o n g s t o a comple te ly d L f f e r e n t l i t e r a r y genre .

:3rozrarnme of p r a i s e - s i n g i c g w a s drawn, and d o e s n o t

t h e r e f o r e seem t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e p r a i s e - s i n g i n g

e x e r c i s e . L ike Ternugs B r i t i s h P r o t e s t a n t v- Miss ions

hi.8 _IjLo Ca tho l i c i sn : doe^ n o t have fipace enol~gh t o

accommodate p r a i s e - s i n g i n g , e-?en f o r t h e ind igenous

Lcndership . Shanahan i s n o t p o r t ~ a y e d i n t h e same l i g h t

as J o r d a n p a i n t s h i s miss iona ry i o r d , F a t h e r T a n s i , t h e

56

I ~ b o Monk who d i e d i n England i n 1964 and who h a s

been e n t h r o n e d by C a t h o l i c histor5op;raphy as ' t h e

s tar and exampler of Igbo h o l i n e s s 1 d o e s n o t b a l a n c e

i n O z i g b o B 8 sca1.e o f Igbo holia.cr;eq6 Bisho? Ar inae

ui)on whose Archb i shop ic O z i g b o ' s book centre^, h a s n o t

done much t o f r e e t h e I g b o Church irom ' e p i r j t u a l

i n p c r i a l i s m ' and d o e s no t t h e r e f o r e d e s e r v e much p r a i s e ,

SUCCESS WHEm FAILURE REIGNED: . . L.. .------- - -----*------ Another v e r y i m p o r t a n t a i m of t h i s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

- p ~ r h ~ . . p s t h e most i m p o r t a n t - i s t o a s s e r t t h a t

d c s p i t e i t s l a t e a r r i v a l and d e s 9 i t e a l l o p p o s i t i o n s ,

thc C a t h o l i c Church n o t only succeeded where e a r l i e r

i . i i s s i o n a r i e s s o c i e t i e s , n o t a b l y t h e CMS, f a i l e d , bu t

a l s o q u i c k l y out7paced a l l t h e o t h e l s b o t h i n

s t r u c t u r a l development and i n t h e growth of number of

a d h e r e n t s . The s t o r y of t h i s greater mbcess ~f

'tho Gatholic: church d e s p ~ t e i t s l a t e coming would

s t r e n g t h e n t h o f a i t h f u l and make him b e l i e v e t h a t

t h e r e i s something a o c r e t l y d i f f e r e n t between t h e

c n r l ~ i and t h e l a t e a r r i v a l s . ,?he c o n t r a s t between

C a t h o l i c l a t e a r r i v a l of ' o v e r t h S r t y y e a r s ' and

i t s r a p i d s u c c e s s i n s o s h o r t a t i m e (a r e c u r r i n g

m o t i f ) i s s o s t r e s s e d i n t h i s ' t r i u m p h a n t h i s t o r i o g r a p h y 1

.b 1 ~ m t any C a t h o l i c r e a d i n g t h e sto2;f woald, l i k e .gqe

whose pome team h a s emerged victo:+:%ous i n an

i n t e r n a t i o n a l f o o t b a l l match, be ,:,cry p l e a s e $ w i t h

I : ~ . , ; . >

Clluurch, l o v e i t more ' and ' m o r e , and. s t rGngthen h i s f a i t h

. . 2.nd c o n l i d e n c e i n i t , .

. . , , . . . . .' , <, ,,.. .. . . .. , , . , . Benind ilks prea.1; . . . dud&6sti o f t i le C a t h o l i c Church

. . - ,

1 : t h e pebple s rFrPier 'enbe '.''-fi;i t h e Church, e x p l a i n e d

i n t e rms of ' b e t t e r i mis s iona ry s t r a t e g i e s , S t r e s s i.s

l a i d on such s t r a t e g i e s as c a r e f o r the s i c k which

imrlced m i r a c l e s i n winning t h e Tgbo , l'' schoo l a p o s t o l a t e , ~ . n d e s p e c i a l l y t h e t e a c h i n g of E n g l i s h which a t t r a c t e d

18 1f;bo c h i l d r e n , t h e e l a b o r a t e l i t u r g y and altel*

clccora t ions which appea led t o t h e Igbo sense of r e l i g i o u s

symbolism a c d of my.ste;-y; C a t h o l i c miss iona ry c a h c h e s i s

which ' t r i e d t o t r a n s f n r m , n o t d e s t r o y t h t p e o p l e ' s

r e l i g i o u s c o n s c i o u s n e ~ s ' l9 t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s ' c a r e and

p r o t e c t i o n of their f l o c k nad so on.

I ~ I t h i s success story, t h e r e aeeir]L t o be a c d n a c i W ~

e f f o r t t o compare, n o t on ly t h c ~ c h i e v e m e n t s of the

Cntht i l ic w i t h t h a t of t h e CMS, 'out a l s o t h e ' n a t u r e '

o 3 l w miss iona ry s o c i e t i e s , a lmos t a lways corning t o

a c o n c l u s i o n t h a t t h e C a t h o l i c Church a c h i e v e d g r e a t e r

s u c c e s s because i t was ' b e t t e r ' In n a t u r e and i n

or~: . . r l i sa t ion t h a n t h e CNS, F o r example, t h e change of

s c h o o l by some p u p i l s i n Nnewi frcm . the CMS t o t h e

C a t h o l i c was s e e n a g a i n s t t h e background o f ' b e t t e r n e s s ' .

r?? LLW UCM, i t i s c la iz led 'seemed t o p o s s e s s a l l t h e

20 n o v e l t y and a t t r a c t i o n i as a g a i n s t t h e CMS Owhere

t h i n g s were a p p a r e n t l y n o t v e r y d i f f c r c n t f r m t h e

c x p e r i c n c e s t h e y ( t h e c h i l d r e n ) were u ~ e d t o i n t h e

t r n d i t i u n a l s o c i e t y 12'. The Roman C a t h o l i c ' s e n s e

of mystGrg and h o l i n e s s v s e e n i n t h e i r Mass w i t h i t s

22 ' e l a b o r a t e and c o l o u r f u l ' l i t u r g y as a g a i n s t t h e

' : ;encrally l e s s e l a b o r a t e s e r v i c e s of t h e P r o t e s t a n t s

wlilch c o n s i s t e d main ly o f p r a y e r s , b i b l e - r e a d i n g and

hynn s i n g i n g - a l l i n a church s t r i p p e d b a r e o f any

d c c o r n t i o n s , ' 2 3 were s a i d t o have a t t r a c t e d more and

n v r e c o n v e r t s t o C a t h o l i c ~ s m ,

T h i s k i n d o f comparison which t r i e s t o s t r e s s t h e

t r i umph of C a t h o l i c i s m o v e r P r o t e s t a n t i s m and which

c h ~ ~ a c t e r i z e t h e ma jo r works p u b l i s h e d a t t h e wake of

tho c e n t e n a r y o e l e b r a . t i o n of t h e adven t of C a t h o l i c i s m

i n E n s t e r n N i g e r i a i s t o c o n j u r e iq t h e minds o f t h e

C a t h o l i c s 3 f e e l i n g o f s u p e r i o r i t y o v e r t h e P r o t e s t a n t s

ulio i n ' t h e i n t e n s e c o m p e t i t i o n f d r winning convert^..^

cmcrged as t h e underdogs1 and were l e f t 'very

e m b i t t e r e d 1 , 24 The h i s t o r i o g r a + y under1 i n e s t h e

p o i n t t h a t C a t h o l i c s u c c e s s was a t t a i n e d d e s p i t e

o p p o s i t i o n from o t h e r miss iona ry b o d i e s a l r d a d y o p e r a t i n g

i n S0utheaste:rn N i g e r i a b e f o r e t h e a r r i v a l o f t h e

Czt1ioli.c m i s s i o n a r i e s . It p o i n t s more s p e c i f i c a l l y t o

t he o p p o s i t i o n by t h e CMS, e q u a t e d w i t h o p p o s i t i o n posed

by 'paganism1 and s l a v e r y . Samuel Johnson Okosi ' s

convar s ion was s e e n as ' t h e g r e a t e s t p o s s i b l e v i c t o r y

thLlt c m l d be i n f l i c t e d . . . over P r o t e s t a n t i s m and

The theme of t h e p e o p l e ' s p r e f e r e n c e f o r t h e

C a t h o l i c Church and i t s m i s s i o n a r i e s was ext renie ly

z e a l o u s l y parsued t o t h e p o i n t of d i s t o r t i o n o f

;, - A d t o r i c a l -; .2 f a c t s . I n h i s e a g e r n e s s t o s t r e s s t h a t t h e

1:;bo ' p r e f e r r e d ' t h e C a t h o l i c Church t o t h e CMS

C h u ~ ~ ~ h , Revo F r o V.A. Obi s a i d t h a t t h e C a t h o l i c

Church, hav ing by i t s p resence i n E a s t e r n 'P rov ided

t h e peop le wi th a n a l t e r n a t i v e which they l c n g e d f o r q

'1t w a s now p o s s i b l e t o compare and choose between b o t h c h u r c h e s and a l s o between m i s s i o n a r i e s . Conversion from one churiEPl t o Cke o t h e r (mainly from t h e Anglican t o t h e C a t h o l i c church) w a s common phenomena.

Dr. S k e c h i n o t e d t h i s when he obse rved thnt t h e C a t h o l i c M i s s i o n a r i e s ' appea red t o many l o c a l p e o p l e as a d i f f e r e n t k i n d of white-man: a k i n d who came f o r t h e w e l f a r e of t h e people . ' T h i s i s v i r t u a l l y i m p o r t a n t t o k e e p i n mind i n o r d e r t o u n d e r s t a n d m e a s p e c t of t h e e v e n t u a l mass movement*

---------.--s.

t o w a r d s t h e Roman C a t h o l i c Church a t t h r t u r n of t h e century .26

Two i s s u e s i n t e r e s t u s i n t h e f o r e b o i n g l o n g

quote. F i r s t , i t is n o t t r u e t h a t t h e r e has been any

i!~.ss movement t owards Roman Cntho1icit;m 'at t h e t u r n . --------*-' of t h a Century. ' The s u i h o r p r o v i d e s no s t a t i s t i c a l

c v i d e n c e t o s u b s t a n t i z t e h i s c l a im . Mass movement

vou ld imply a l a r g e s c a l e d e f l e c t i o n from t h e P r o t e s t a n t

seems t o imply , f r o ~ n t h e Ang l i can Church - t o t h e

%~ilarl C a t h o l i c Church. Behind t h e d e c i s i o n of s e f e n t y

l o c a l peop le of Ossamsri t o j o i n t h e C a t h o l i c Church

l a y t h e c r o w t h e r c r i s i s .

C r o s s = c a r p e t i n g i n r e l i g i o u s a l l e g i a n c e is a common

A f r i c a n i s a lways a s e e k e r of new gods w i t h g r e a t e r

po imrs , and he t r i e s any new r e l i g i o u s form. It i s

n c t t r u e , as Nwosu would want h i s r e a d e r s t o b e l i e v e ,

t h a t c o n v e r s i o n from one church t o t h e o t h e r h a s

a lwys been 'main ly from t h e Ang l i can t o t h e C a t h o l i c . '

'Stres mine-

prove h i s poirit o f c s n v e r s i o n f r ~ m t h e Ang1icn.n

CIlurch t o t h e Roman C a t h o l i c Church by supplying some

d e k o i l s about t h o s e converted27 ( a n e x e r c i s e

t h a t Nwosu d i d no t c o n s i d e r n e c e s s a r y ) ;hey s u r p r i s i n g l y

:a i led t o g i v e a n account o f a s i n g l e i n d i v i d u a l who,

w e n i f he were e x p e l l e d from t h e C a t h o l i c Church,

jo ined t h e Anglican Church. O r does t h i s ' b e s t - s e l l e r

2 8 success s t o r y ' from 1885 t o 1985 c o n t a i n n o t such

i n c i d e n t , even a t t h e g r a s s r o o t s l e v e l of v i l l a g e

cormunity ?

C.A. O b i f i n d s i t conv in ien t *o p o i n t o u t t h a t

n c e r t a i n C a t e c h i s t Jacob of t h e Anglican Church

( v i t h l i t t l e o r no t r a i n i n g a t a l l i n s c r i p t u r e and

theo logy) conver ted t o Roman Cathol ic ism 'because he

f c,uL?d I be aactzbiue of t r n r i s ~ l b s C ~ l a , l ~ 1 ~ t S ~ ~ r t o be both ,

s v t i e f y i n g and i n a c c o r d a ~ l c e wi th s c r i p t u r e , 29 b u t

nowhero, i n t h e h i s t o r y of one hundred y e a r s of

Cathol ic ism i n S o u t n e a s t e r n Niger ia was i t cons ide red

neceisary t o p o i n t o u t t h a t a t l e a s t a C a t h o l i c p r i e s t ,

f u l l y t r a i n e d i n s c r i p t u r e and theology conver ted vo

,in:,.licanism (and subsequent ly marr ied) because he found

t h o l e g i s l a t i o n a g a i n s t p r i e s t l y marr iage u n s c r i p t u r a l . 30

Second, D r . Ekechi was n o t ccnpi;riay. the white

E d y Ghost F a t h e r s w i t h t h e 'White M i ~ s i o n a r i e s ' of

t h e CMS a t O n i t s h a , f o r t h e CMS, by t h e t ime t h a t

o b o c r v a t i o n s was made by O n i t s h a p e o p l e , u sed l o c a l

q y x i t s l l D r . Ekechl was comparing t h n e a r l i e r wh i t e

people at O n i t s h a b5ucfi- B r i t i s h t r a d e r s dnd employees

of t h e Royal Niger Company who on o c c a s i o n s came i n t o

c o n f l i c t w i th O n i t s h a peop le - w i t h t h e wh i t e Yoly

i h o s t Fathers ,

The Royal N ige r Company's European a g e n t s and

cnp loyees had, b e f o r e t h e a r r i v a l of t h e F rench Holy

G h o s t F a t h e r s , shown O n i t s h a peop le a n e g a t i v e s i d e a

of/)qhite man: l a n d g r a b b i n g t e n d e n c i e s i n t h e nape o f

l a n d t r e a t i ~ ~ ; t r a d e monopoly ; d i s r e s p e c t f o r t h e l o c a l

c h i e f s ; war a g a i n s t t h e i n d i g e n o u s peop le i n t h e

ca1.1~ begging f o r l a n d t o b u i l d t h e m i s s i o n house ,

~ h o w i l l g r e s p e c t f o r t h e e l d e r s and c h i e f s , engag ing

i n no t r a d e d i s p u t e s , h e a l i n g t h e s i c k , d e f e n d i n g t h e

:::co?le a g a i n s t t h e o p p r e s s i o n of t h e t r a d e r s , On i t s h a

p c o p l e saw them as a d i f f e r e n t k i n d of wh i t e men who

c m c f o r t h e good o f t h e pecp le ,

It may be s t a t e d t h a t t h e c l a i m s of ' t h e

e v e n t u a l maos movement towards t h e Roman C a t h o l i c

Church at t h e t u r n of t h e c e n t u r y 0 i s a mere propaganda,

intended, F - t o a c h i e v e an

e v e n t u a l V . a s s movement towards Roman C a t h o l i c i s m i n

f u t u r e , It k s a n e v a n g e l i c a l s t r a t e g y , i n t e n d e d t o e f f e c t

c o a v e r s i o n t o Roman C a t h o l i c i s m , and t o p r e v e n t

deflec. l ; ion from t h e Church, ' S i n c e o t h e r s s r a v e t o

cone i n t o y o u r ow3 f o l d , what a r e you l o o k i n g f o r

o u t s i d e ? Tlioae who i n t h e p a s t t u r n e d o v e r co t h e

C~..'iiiol.ic Chuixh saw some t h i n g pec71liarly. ' good i n i t ', t h e w r i t e r seems t o b e s a y i n g . Thcs t h i s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

5s sermonic and h o r t a t o r y ,

I N f7ARkPHRASE; : CONCLillSION : -2 *.- ---- --- -

I n p a r a p h r a s e , t h o a l ~ t h o r s of t h e main works on

C a t h o l i c h i s t o r y i n S a u t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a seem t o be

6a;ring: The Roman Catho1i.c Church a r r i v e d on t h e

:%.gcr n e a r l y t h i r t y y e a r s l a t e r than t h e CWS, but

w i t h i n t h e f i r s t t h r e e decades o f h e r a r r i v a l , s h e was

nble . t o o u t r u n t h e CMS i n t h e race f o r c o n v e r t s , a race

i i l which t h e CMS 'emerged as t h e ucderdog ' and f o r

which s h e was e m b i t t e r e d . The r e a s o n f o r t h e C a t h o l i c

s u c c c s s a r e n o t f a r t o seek .

Thc C a t h o l i c Church ransomed s l a v e s a b o u t t o be s o l d t o

f o r c i g n l a n d s when o t h e r denomina t iona l churches took

no i n t e r e s t i n f i g h t i n . g t h i s dehumanizing t r a f f i c .

Slic d i d no t s t o p a t t h a t ; she a u a r t s r e d t h e s e redeemed

p o p l e and f e d them. She o f f e r e d medic ine t o t h e s i c k ,

f r c c 01 charge an2 by G O do ing saved many from death .

l;x:tcrn.ity homes, b u t t hey cou ld n o t c a t c h up,

The C a t h o l i c b u i l t s c h o o l s where c h i l d r e n p a i d ,lo

fees b u t t h e CMS charged money, The C a t h o l i c s t a u g h t

L!~.~ir p u p i l s i n E n g l i s h and p u p i l s cou ld speak t h e

Ynk;lish l anguage w i t h i n a s h o r t p e r i o d whi le CMS p u p i l s

s ~ c n t e q u i v a l e n t number of y e a r s of s c h o o l i n g l e a r n i n g

the Igbo Alphabe t s and r e a d i n g i n Igbo, a s i t u a t i o n

t ; l a t l e d Chief Obi E j e s h i of Emekuku t o a s k t h e CMS I

; ? u $ , l s , i n a most p e r j o r a t i t r e , i anner : ' W h ~ n s h a l l you

f i n i s h e ~ t i n g 'azu n d ~ ' ? ~ ' i n r e f e r a n e e t o t h e C.M.S

Xcader -- Azu Ndu. A s a r e s u l t o f t h e i r friability t o

sycnk i n t h e whi te man 's l anguage due t o t h e i r c h u r c h ' s

emphas is on Igbo l a n g u a g e , CMS s c h o o l c h i l d r e n were

adlamed each t ime they met wi,th t h e i r C a t h o l i c c o u n t e r p a p t

and t h e r e f o r e a good number of them d e s e r t e d CMS . , ~ c i i o o l s w h c ~ e t h i n g s tjere n o t d i f f e r e n t from what i t used

65e

t o be i n the t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i e t y , 'Unlike t h e CMS who

tcndcd t o t o l e r a t e o r even accommodate t h e a g r e s s i v e

and s u p p r e s s i v e p o l i c i e s o f t h e Royal Niger Company ,32

t h e C a t h o l i c M i s s i o n a r i e s took s i d e s w i t h t h e

i n d i g e n o u s peop le when c o n f l i c t s a r o s e between them

( t h e peop le ) and t h e company. T h i s made t h e CMS

u n p o r u l a r w i t h t h o n a t i v e s .

To u s C a t h o l i c s , e v a n g e l i z a t i o n meant cmore t h a n

t c a c h i n g t h e n a t i v e s t o r e a d t h e B i b l e i n t h e i r own

~ n n p o g e ' ' ~ , It weant t o t a l o a l v a t i o n and winning ' t h e

whole man1 and s e e k i n g t h e wel l be ing of t h e n a t i v e s which

i i lc luded d e f e n d i n g ,them : a g a i n s t t h e o p p r e s s i v e warb

of t h e s t r o n g e r w h i t e m i l i t a r y f o r c e .

Thc e l a b o r a t e C a t h o l i c l i t u r g y , t h e s e n s e o f

h o l i n e s s , t h e p r i e s t l y ves tment r i c h i n t h e i r v a r i e t y

~f c o l o u r s a l l o f which c h a r a c t e r i s a C a t h o l i c worship

v~licn compared t o t h e b a r r e n e s s of t h e CMS Chapelu won

for t h e church t h e h e a r t of t h e Igbo. The CMS f a i l e d ,

f o r t h e most p a r t , because t h e y d i d n o t have

CPIS had ' v e r y l i t t l e m i ~ s i o n a r y t r a i n i n g 1 and no

p r e v i o u s m i s s i o n a r y a t a l l . We had b e t t e r

t r o i ~ c d p r i e s t s , t r a i n e d i n t h p a o e t -.'. Seminary i n

F r a n c e o Our m i s s i o n a r i e s were f o r e i g p e r s , a

-Lhat would have p l a c e d them a t a very g r e a t

f a c t o r

d igadvan tage i n a c h i e v i n g any meaningful s u c c e s s i n t h e

r a c e f o r winning c o n v e r t s - a s a r e s u l t of b o t h

language b a r r i e r and pe rhaps a p o s s i b l e d i s t r u s t of

t i w i r i n t d n t i ~ r i s - b u t t h e y succeeded where t h o s e who

uscd t h e language o f , and who worked amongst t h e i r

otJn peop le , f a i l e d , T h i s was because our p r i e s t s l lsed

b c t t e r e v a n g e l i c n l s t r a t e g i e s , ev idonce of t h e i r s u p e r i o r

; , ? r i c s t l y e d u c a t i o n and miss iona ry t r a i n i n g and of t h e i r

I i g h t i n g t h e course of t h e t r u e Church.

O u r m i s s i o n a r i e s were morc: d e d i c a t e d and more

devoted t o t h e t a s k of s h e r p h e r d i n g t h e f l o c k whereas the

C I X m i s s i o n a r i e s , because of t h e pr;cJ;,:i-f;y~f t h e i r pw

cii , ,~ged i n p e t t y t r a d e and s u b s i s t e n c e a g r i c u l t u r e t o

m.&e b o t h e n d s mcet, t h e r e b y hav ing a ' d i v i d e d i n t e r e s t ' .

Thus, t h e y had ' o n l y p a r t of t h e i r t ime t o rn iss ionsry

work. t 35

Because of a l l t h e s e t h e r e f ~ r e , and because of

.:he f a c t t h a t Providence which i n i t i a l l y brought t h e

i , l ; ~ s q i o ~ ~ LG & ; l ~ l w ~ ~ r n fr6&gaa~a 3~ k$4& w o

;?cople :of t h e Lower Nige r i n t o t h e ca ravan of the

fami ly of God? was w i t h them a l l th rough , Roman

Cathol ic ism won t h e day and succeeded where o t h e r s

f a i l e d . And t h i s i s why you must remain f a i t h f u l

t o t h i s o r i g i n a l Church.

I n a%.: aim t h e r e f o r e , C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y i n

Igboland appears a p o l o g e t i c and sermonic, in tended t o

pYcsen t a p i c t u r e of a g l o r i o u s s u c c e s s of t h e Church

In a r e g i o n where o t h e r miss ionnrg bod ies l a b o u r e d f o r

n c a r l y t h i r t y y e a r s wi thout meaningful succcss ,

C r c d i t i s n o t g iven t o t h e CMS Church f o r wa te r ing t h e

grauncl and f o r p r e p a r i n g t h e minds o f t h e people t o a c c e p t

t : lo message. Indeed, l i k e John t h e B a p t i s t , t h e CMS

can be s a i d t o have p layed t h e most impor tant r o l e of

Dopen lng t h e wayt f o r t h e gospe l t o come i n , It came

nk 2 t ime when t h e people had n o t hea rd a s i n g l e word

of t h e gospel . Likc t h e Base1 and t h e Wesleyan

. : i s s i o n a r i e s i n t h e Gold ~ o a s t , ~ ~ i t may be sugges ted

t l m t C a t h o l i c s u c c e s s may be a s c r i b e d t o t h e e x t e n t t o

which they u t i l i z e d t h e e x p e r i e n c e s o f t h e i r miss ionary

p r e d e c e s s o r s , They probably must have, b e f o r e embarking

on any miss ioncry s t r a t e g i e s , s t u d i e d t h e p a s t e f f o r t s

llow t h e CMS w a s c a r r y i n g on t h i s t a s k , and cou ld n o t

have embarked on t h o s e methods t h a t d i d n o t win many

c o n v e r i s , o r those methods t h a t t h e people e x p r e s s l y

d isapproved o f ,

Although Metuh and Ejizu r a c o g n i z e t h a t ' the

l i t t l e s u c c e s s 1 a t t a i n e d by the CMS i n t h e a r e a

1 w - t ~ probab ly due t o t h ~ fact t h a t i t c o r r e c t e d many

of t h o e r r o r s of t h e e a r l i e r Por tuguese C h a t h o l i c

a . t t ~ : n ~ t ' ' ~ t h e y f a i l t o show that t h e C a t h o l i c

i 4 i s s i o n a r i e s who began t o o p e r a t e i n On i t sha twenty-

ci-sht years a f t e r t h e CMS e s t a b l i s h e d i n t h e a r e a a l s o

l c n r n t from t h e m i s t a k e s of t h a t mis s ion , And t h i s

ncJros t h i s h i s t o r i o g r a p h y unarguably one-sided. L i k e

a q n i z gave i n which the c o n t e s t a n t s s e l e c t t h e c o r r e c t

answer from s a y , f i v e g i v e n a l t e r n a t i v e s , t h e t h i r d and

-thc f o u r t h c o n t e s t a n t s t o answer t h e q u e s t i o n have

;r.ca'ts r chances of g e t t i n g t h e c o r r e c t answer. I n t h e

sane v e i n , t h e C a t h o l i c Church had g r e a t e r chances of

s t r i k i n g a t t h e r i g h t e v a n g e l i c a l a l t e r n a t i v e ,

h a v i n g e l i m i n a t e d a l l t h e o t h e r s t r a t e g i e s a l r e a d y t r i e d

l:y (-he Ci$S, d ' t r a t e g i e n wd?icl: d i d n o t succeed in w;.nnicg

t he g r e a t e r number o f c o n v e r t s . The emphas is i n t h e

Z i q l i s h l anguage by t h e C a t h o l i c s , f o r ekample

(2 f a c t t h a t made t h e i r s c h o o l evange l i sm d i f f e r e n t )

c!iZ n o t come by chanoe. It i s n o t C a t h o l i c o b f i c 2 . d

p o l i c y t o e v a n g e l i z e peop le i n the E n g l i s h language.

The Holy Ghost F a t h ~ r s who a r r i v e d Oni t sha i n 1885 and

who covered t h e f i r s t twenty y e a r s of C a t h o l i c

presence i n S o u t h e a s t e r n N i g c r i a were n o t E n g l i s h , bu t French*

I f t h e r e were ony o f f i c i a l leaguage of the

Ronnn C a t h o l i c Bhurch i n whicn the peofiie must be

cvang;.c.li.z.ed, i t ie L a t i n , and n o t Engl ish . The f a c t

i s t h a t t h e C a t h o i i c m i s s i o n a r i e s unde,-stood t h a t t h e

Igbo l c v e d t o l e a r n t h e E n g l i s h language i n o r d e r t o

bc a b l e t o communicate wi th t h e E n g l i s h dhiteman, and

I n o r d e r t o e a r n p r e s t i g e and r e s p e c t i n h i s l o c a l

coi:tmuni t y , The3 t h e r e f o r e s u p p l i e d t h i s need. The

i a i l u r c o f t h e CMS t o s a t i s f y t h i s d o s i r e of t h e Igbo

ando i n 1 i n e wi th t l ie i r of f i c i . a l p o l i c y , r a t h e r emphasized

t h e v e r n a c u l a r , made t h e i r s c h o o l s u n a t t r a c t i v e . One

o f t h e f a c t o r s t h a t a t ? ; r a c t e d t h e Obi of Aboh t o t h e

C113 i n 1841 was t h a t Simon J o r a c , a n Igbo, cou ld speak

t he whi te man's 1-anguage. -

Thus, t h e C a t h o l i c s l e a r n t from t h e mis take

oP t h e CMS i n t h i s a s p e c t , and i n a n unbiased

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , t h i s p o i n t must be made.

Refe rences 70

0.U. Kalu 'Doing Church H i s t o r y i n A f r i c a Today' PI. 82,

J P, J o r d a n e n t i t l e s Chap te r 15 of h i s Bishop Shanshon of Sou the rn N i 6 e r i a ----- ' A g s i n s t t h e C i t a d e l of S a t a n q

See l o r e r m p l . e , l inwood Reade 22vage i f r i c a ( ~ e w York, Harper and B r o t h e r s , I &r p. 33 and pp. 4 4 6 f f .

POD, C u r t i n ' S c i e n t i f i c ' Racism and r h e B r i t i s h Theory o f Empire1 JHSN, 2/1 (Dec. 1966) pp 40-51 - --

Quaison-Sackep ,-- A f r i c a --- Unbound (1963) as quoted by G.U. Kalu 'Dolag Ohurch H i s t o r y i n A f r i c a Today' p. 82,

F.C.

V e b n

T h i s

Nnabuifu, The H i s t o r y of t h c C a t h o l i c Church i n E a s t e r n ~i T E i n T v o l . I ) ~ 6 e - Foundat ion P e r i o d d ~ ~ 9 0 5 - (Rome 7 g 3 )

Nwosu ( e d ) The C a t h o l i c Church i n O n i t e h n * --- peqpl.e, ,,,,,,---.-.A Places anci E v e n t s -1885-19=-~' - r o n i t s h a , Etukokwu P r e s s 19m introduction^ .

paper was p u b l i s h e d i n 1962 by t h e Ibadan U n i v e r s i t y Press, under t h e same t i t l e .

Obi ( e d ) A Hundred Years of t h e C a t h o l i c Church iif ricana-FEP ~ u b l ' l s h e r s

10, A. Njoku, The Advent of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n N i o r i a t IAs Growth i n G e r r i Diocese, 7-i, iPhe*hsurnpta P r e s s , 1980) pe 31

I V.H. N W O G U , The C a t h o l i c Church i n O n i t s h a , p.

12. ' I b i d - , 13. See Robert S t r a y e r , The M a k i n ~ o f Miss ion

Communities i n E a s t A f r i c a (London, Heinemann, '1938)h.T7

7- L-

Nwosu, 'So R ich and Abundant a H a r v e s t ' i n C.A. Obi ( e d ) A Hundred Year s o f t h e - C a t h o l i c Church, p. 379

17. E. Ikenga-Metuh and C, E j i z u , Hundrrd Y e a r s of C a t h o l i c i n s i n E a s t e r n NC*~ 1885-lrn - .L .- ..-U - - ->- -Tho Nnewi .. St= - ( ~ i m o , ~ s f . l c I n s t i t u t e , 1985) p. 163.

18. I b i d pp. 72-3; See a l s o A. Njoku ,,," The Advent o f t h e C a t h o l i c Church j n N i g e r i a ---_---- P a 253.

19. V,L. Nwosu, 'So R ich and Abundant a H a r v e s t ' P. 379.

20. Metuh ar.d E j i z u , _Hundred Y e a r s o f C a t h o l i c i s m , p. 102

22. Nwosu, 'So Rich a n d Abundant a H a r v e s t ' p. 381

211. Metuh & E j i z u , Hundred Years of C a t h o l i c i s m p. 165 --

Thc N i s t o r y of t h e c a t h o l i c Church i n Nigeria (Lagos, MzMillar., 1982) p. 40

27. See C.A. Obi , 'The F r e n c h P i o n e e r s 1 i n C.A. O b i (ed) .- A Hundred Years of t h e C a t h o i i c Church, p. 76 - s.-

R.A. Njoku, The Advent of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n N i g e r i a , pp. 6-

28. C.A. O b i , 'The French P ioneers t p. 76

29. I b i d e ,

30. Rev* Fr. N.S,S. Iwe

Mjoku, Thc Advent of t h e Ca tho l ic Church, U1- . - - - - , - - -

32. Mctuh and E j i z u , Hundred Ycars of 2athol5.cism -_ -- 6%- _ . . . -.- p. 166,

34. Metuh & E j i z U , iIn,d=d Years of C~tho:l.icisrn, p. 16 1

6 See S-KO Odanttern, Tho Missionary Fac to r i n ~ h a n a ~ ~ e v e 1 0 P m ~ b ~ 8 S q s q s q s q s q E r a , Wat e r v i l l c Pub 1-ishing liouse, 1978) PO 29.

CHAPTER FIVE :

H i s t o r i c a l r econs t ruc t ion presupposes t h e exisken-a

of h i o t o r i c a l evidence without which t he t a sk becomes

a mcre wild goose cllas2. T h i s h i s t o r i c a l evidence

o , ~ c x i s t i n form of w r i t t e n document^, o r a l t r a d i t i o n ,

o r i n t h e va r ious dimensions of h i s t o r i c a l a r t e f a c t s

cach of which has a s t o r y of i ts own t o t e l l . H i s t o r i c a l

evidence could a lbo be sought i n anthropology , cthnography., ethnology, e t h n ~ ~ o o l o g y , archaeology,

l i n g u i s t i c e , Art and serology. Tho more t he h i s t o r i a n

i nc ludes m a t e r i a l s from t h e var50us sources i n h i s

r econs t ruc t ion of ' t h e p a s t , the more ccmprehensive his

work becomes, and t h e more h e is a b l e t o ensure t h o

accuracy of t he informat ion he pas se s on t o t h e r eade r

s ince he has got t h i s informat ion on a p a r t i c u 1 . a ~

thome from va r ious sonrces. A.:y h i r t o r iog raphy t h a t

worths its ec.lt: must t he re fo re t ake cognisance of t h e

v a r i o u s dimensions of h i s t o r i c a l evidence, F a i l u r e

i n t h i s d i r e c t i o n i s l i k e l y t o render t he h i s to r iography

vvilserable t o c r i t i c i s m .

Al though a t t empt s are made b y the cu r r en t Ca tho l i c

h i s to r iography t o make use of the va r ious sources of

have c o n c e n t r a t e d a t t e n t i o n mainly on ' w r i t t e n evidence '

c s ~ ~ e c i a l l y t h o s e con ta ined i n t h e documents of t h e

e n s i y Eo1.y Ghost F a t h e r s . While n c t q ~ a r r e l l i n g w i t h

t!io i d e a of u s i n g ' h ~ d f a c t s q con ta ined i n w r i t t e n

clocurncnts, it must be s t a t e d , i n complete agreement w i t h

No document can t e l l u s more t h a n t h e a u t h o r of t h e document t h ~ u g h t - what he thought had happened, what he thought ought t o happen o r would happen, o r perhaps only what he danted o t h e r s t o t h i n k he thought , o r even only what he himself thought he thought, '

Indccd, n document does no t p r e s e n t t h e h i s t o r i a n w i t h

s t r a i g h f o r w a r d r e p r o d u c i b l e t r u t h but only conveys o n e ' s

v c s s i o n of what happened, What meaning we g e t from

documents, as Afigbo i n s i s t s , depend~i upon what s o r t

of q u c s t i o n a we put t o themo2 Although w r i t t e n documents

a r c e s s e n t i a l t o t h e h i s t o r i a n , he does n o t need t o

C e r t a i n f a c t o r s , i t should be po in ted nut, may l e a d

thu h i s t o r i a n t o making a f e t i s h uf d o c u m e n t s ~

Bor.lmit.me~t t o a n ideo logy can bec lx td t h o h i s t o r i a n ' s

v i c i o n , l e a d him t o contravene t h e h i s t o r i a n s t e t h i c

with r e g a r d t o t h e p roper app l i ca i . ion of t h e r u l e s of

cvidence i n s i f t i n g h i s t o r i c a l f a c t s f rom a n avalanche

of documentary ev idence , o r make him pay a t t e n t i o n

t o p a r t i c u l a r t y p e s of evidence t o ,the n e g l e z t of t h e

ok l~crs . Th i s oomrnitment t o a n ideoiogy which

rcndcru t h e h i s z o r i a n i n c a p a b l e o f p i c k i n g c o u a g e t o

vinncw d e l i b e r a t e p a i n k ings from hLst ~ r l c a l documents,

and which l e a d s him t o an unbalanced selecJc. on of

Iz is tor ica ' l evidence i s one of t h e major probl.en!s

of Church h i s t o r i o g r a p h y .

TIid PL,',CE OF WRITTEK DOCUMENTE : - * m - ----

C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y s h a r e s i n t h i s problem.

Following op in ions expressed i n t h e documents p ibeserved

i n t h e Holy Ghost Archives i n France , an a l l c o n f l i c t

p i c t u r e h a s been p a i n t e d of t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between

t h c Holy Ghost M i s s i o n a r i e s and t h e Royal Niger

Conpafly i r o n t h e very beglnaing. f i ccwding bo t&ds

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , a s e r i e s of s v i n d i . c t i ~ e measures ' were

unlonshed on t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s by t h e Royal Niger

3 Compqtny . The h i s t o r i o g r a p h y c l a i n s t h a t t h e r e f u s a l

by t h e company t o g i v e t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s passage up t h e

I!igcr f o r t h e i ~ d e s t i n a t i o n a t Igbede on November 22,

1865 - an a c t i o n d e s c r i b e d ac ' c o l d and r e p u l s i v e

r c c e i p t i o n ' - was a n i n i t i a l show of bad f a i t h which

'helped t o sow t h e seed f o r mutual d i ~ t r u s t a t t h e

4 i n l t L a l s t a g e ' The Company, i t i s cla imed, g r a d u a l l y

took S i t s of l a n d belonging t o t h e miss ion wl th t h e

p r c t u x t t h a t i t had j u r i s d i c t i o n over t h e whole a r e &

nnd t h a t the l o c a l people had no r i g h t t o cede t h e i r

Innc', ,, 5

With this ail. c o n f l i c t p i c t u r e paiir ted - mainly

f rola CSSP r e c o r d s and Jordan ' s Bishoa Shnnnhan of -_-- __-I.--

Southern N i g e r i a , the h i s t o r i ~ g r a p h y could no t see any

wa;r i n which the a g e n t s of t h e Company o r o t h e r B f i t i s h

' t r a d e r s i n t h e a r e a could c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e success

of t h e misoion, and s o , t h e i r role^ were badly under-

played. M r . C h a r l e s Townsend who harboured t h e

n i s s i o n a r i e s f o r f o u r days i n h i s s t h t i o n a t Brase and

who took them t o Oni t sha i n h i s own Launch on

Doccrobur 5, 18b5, hnd na place of importance. Him

6 Launch was described as all. ' ou t -o f -da te motor b o a t ' a

tcrm used by Jo rdan and re-echoed and popu la r i zed by

~ l c c c h i . ~ Both J o r d a n and Ekechi avoided any

i n d i c a t i o n t h a t Townsend himselP t r a v e l l e d i n , o r

opcra tcd t h e ' t l n y q boat which, i n t h e midst of t h e

' r a g i n g to rnado ' c r n s t i n g down cn i t and of t h e ' o i l

fut les from a worn and ove?-heated eng ine ' only

~ a n n g c d t o l a n d ai Oll i t sha watdraide on Docomber 5,

1035. I

The three bed-root6 house which t h e Royal

N i ~ ~ : r Company gave t o t h e n i i s s i c n a r i e a free o f ' c h a r g e

to s o l v e , t h e i r t e m p o r a ~ y accommdat ion problem wan

dcsz;.ibed as a ' c o n v e r t e d o l d ware-.house1 a ' d e a t h - t r a p g

a h ~ u s e t o o uncomfok-table f o r hunlnn h a b i t a t i o n t e c a u s e

of i ts Pbverpowering heat by day ' . 8

These p i c t u r e s o f a smooth and s a f e s a i l i n g of

ail ou t -o f -da te t i n y motor-boat t h r o u g h t h e r a ~ i n g o f t h e

q ! S - w t e r even i.n the i m p l i e d absence of t h e owner,

m c l of t h e mjssionar~ies'cxperiences as t h e y l i v e d 13

t h e ' c o n v e r t e d o l d wnreh0us9~ t o o unfcrmfnrtzible f o r

h u m n h a b i t a t i o n , would nska t h e n aTpear l i k e 11e~osfi

i n t h e i r home coun t ry . They braved and su rv iveG a l l

oc!ds and t h u s were a b l e t o s u ~ ceed i n c a r r y i n g o u t t h e

t z s k of e v a n g e l i z i n g q t h e most abandoned s o u l s o f t h e

c h n r x t e r i s t i c of Xav le r do n o t make good h i s c ~ r i o g r a p h y ~

They c o n s t i t u t e what P r o f e s s o r Kalu c a l l s ' s a c c h a r i n e d

h i ~ t b r i o ~ r a ~ h ~ , ~ ~ arid p l a c e n the m i s s i o n a r y o v e r and

above t h e gospel .

The a t - f i r s t - s i g h t a l l c o n f l t c t p i c t u r e p a i n t e d

by t h i s h i s , t o r i o g r a p h y , an i s s u e Chat seemed t o have

u o r f i e d one of t h e C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i a n s of t h e p e r i o d 10

.. n i ~ d which u l t i m a t e l y l e d t o p l a y i n g down t h e

c o i ~ t r i b u t i o n s o f t h e company, i .5 n o t c o r r o b o r a t e d by

clocuincnts i n t t e Holy Ghost f , r c h i e . ~ e ~ ~ S i r G3 ld ie

n ~ a u b r n n n ~ s leLi-er t o t h e S u p o r i o r Genera l of t h e Mother

1;ouse o f t h e Holy Ghost Congregnt iorl I n Sel; kem'oer 1888

comj?lnining a b o u t t h e i.nvolvement of F r . Lutz i n t a k i n g

s!-dcs ~ ~ i t h O n i t s h a peop le i n t h e company's i p o l i t i c a l

x t i o n 7 a g n i n s t t h e neop le i n 2 i c a t e s t h a t up t o September

1822, t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e company and t h o

~ . l i ~ s i o n a r i e s had been co1,dial m d t h s t t h i s c o r d i a l

I r e l a t i o n s h i p got st:ai.ied on ly frsrn the time t h e

r e l a t i o n s h i p berween t3e company and C n i t s h a peop le

s o m e d . Go ld ie i.n t h a t l e t t e r t a l k s abou t t h e

' ex t r emely f i l i e n d l y d i s p o b i t j on1 which t h e company had

h i t h e r t o shown towards the C a t h o l i c M i s s i o n a r i e s and

' a l l t h e h e l p ' i t had r e n d e r e d t o them, and a d v i s e s

tk.'~ i n o r d e r t h a t t h i s 'harmonious r e l a t i o n s ' which

t h e Company va lued s o much might be m a i n t a i n e d , Fr.

O n i t s h a s h o u l d be advised t o r e f r a i n 'from any

L n t ~ r v e n t i o n d i r e c t o r i n d i r e c t , i n p o l i t i c ~ h m a t t e r s f . I 1

Netuh and E j i z u e v i d e n t l y b a s i n g on J o r d a n , claim

t h n t t h e Royal Niger Company Idemandcd n r e n t of

12 30 pounds s t e r l i n g monthlyf on t h e house s h e gave

.I. bo the m i s s i o n n r i e s . Again t h i s s t o r y i s n o t c o r r o b o r a t e d

by t h e documents i n t h e Holy Ghost Archives . h l e t t e r

from L u t z t o t h e S u p e r i o r Genera l c l e a r l y fihows t h n t

-. l i r . S e r g e a n t , the. Company ' s representative, gave t h e house

t o t h e m i ~ s i o n n r i e s f r e e of cha rge u a t i l t hey c o u l d b u i l d

t h i r own house. F a t h e r L u t z s a i d ; , .

I was moved t o a c c e p t h i s o f f e r and t o thank him f o r i t w i t h a l l my h e a r t , , . We a r e now a t o u r ease e s p e c i a l l y because we can do o u r s p i r i t u a l e x e r c i s e s i n a r e g u l a r rnanncr.13

The a l l - t h r o u g h c o n f l i c t s t o r y and the a l l e g e d

i~:~;rrnent of 30 pounds s t e r l i n g monthly on t h e house

[;lvun to t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s - a l l of wh.i.ch have been

?isisroved by r e l e v a n t document - show t h a t t h e g r e a t e r

;)crccntage of C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i a n s e i t h e r p robab ly d i d

n o t make f u l l use of t h e B J y Ghost L r c h i o e s i n FrancR

j u t depended h e a v i l y on J o r d a n and on Ekechi who

p o p u l a r i z e d J o r d a n ' s v iews , o r mere ly p l a y e d down t h e

; -clevimt d a t a i n o r d e r t o a c h i e v e a p a r t i c u l a r o b j e c t i v e .

Ad.!it ionelly t h o s e examples above show c l e a r l y t h a t even

J o r d a n h i m s e l f d i d n o t make f u l l u s e of a r c h i e v a l

m a t e r i a l s bu t used malnly m a t e r i d gathered from

h i s o r a l i n t e r v i e w s wi th t h e Bishrq-,

very much l'r. J o r d a n - who i n f a c t w a s t o t w r i t i n g the

h i s t o r y of the C a t h o l i c Church i n S o n t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a

b u t t h e m i s s i o n ~ ~ y expl .o i t s of h i s g r e a t misc ianary l o r d - has i n f l u e a c e d Cal;holj.c hirstoriography iii Igboland,

e s p ? c i . a l l y wi th the Xhnnahan Cul t which he c rea ted"

Ozigbo d e s c r i b e s J a r d n n ' s R i s h o ~ Shznahan of Southern -_I -I----.-

Ei2eri.a :is ! a c a l c ~ l a t e d propaganda and whitewash' 11)

-..---.-- - ., Using doamencc u n c r i t i c a l l y as i f whatever

i s w r i t t a i . ~ down is t r u e , Ekechi , r e f e r r i n @ ; t o a l e t t e r

\ m i t t e n by Emonet, S u p e r i o r Genera l of t h e Holy Ghost

Congregation r o t h e President of Propagat ion de l a F o i

concludes t h n t t h e miss io r . a r i e s choice of 3 n i t s h a i n

1C85 was because the P r o k e s t a n t s were a l r e a d y t h e r e ,

14 ~t k:~$i , 4; i t WCT(~), 6 3 i y ~ g 20 he 2 b:ont!sut; Betwsou

P r o t e s t a n t i s m and Cath3licisrn t o aee which would have

an upper hand. T h i s view howev,?r, s e e m n o t t o have bean

s h ~ . r e d by some C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i a n s . Both Nnabuife

and Netuh and E j i z u argue t o the con t ra ry . ~ n a b u i f e

i n s i s t s that t h a t l e t t e r was n s t r a t e g y t o g a i n

f i n a n c i a l suppor t from Propaga t ion de l a Foi i n Paris

m d ' n o t a l e g i t i m a t e a u t h o r i t y f o r t h e proor ,,? the

r e a s o n f o r t h e ~ h o i c e . Indeed themes such -ts cn~bating

P r o t e s t a n l inf1uenc.e were very powerfu l i n t h o s e days

ns f a r as a t t r a c t i c g f i n a n c i a l . s u p p o r t was concerned

and t h e m i b ~ i o n n r i e o used them t o t h e i ~ utmc,at

Making a f e t i s h of documentL: h a s a l s o l e d =o a

m r s h i p of Shanahan as t h e most dominant f i g u r e i n t h e

C a t h o l i c m i s s i o n a r y e n t e r p r i s e i n t h e a r e a , F e l l o w i n g

Jorclnn, t h e e n t i r e s u c c e s s of t he e n t e r p r i s e h a s been

a t t r i b u t e d r o t t o t h e p i o n e e r i n g e f f o r k s o f Fr . J o s e p h

L u t z n o r t o Liberrnan' s m i s s i o n a r y d o c t r i n e s which a l l

t h e m i s s i o n a r y l e a d e r s i n the f i e l d were inere2.3-

16 iniplementing, n o r y e t t o t h e ope%rcSt; uf l g b o

copnology t o t n c o r p o r a t e new gods and s o on,'7 b u t

The main c o n c e r r of J o r d a n is t o e x t o i t h e achievernehts

of l r i a h M i s s i o n a r i e s o v e r and above t h o s e of t h e

p i o n e e r i n g F r e n c h m i s s i o c a r i e s t o whom he a s c r i b e s v e r y

l i t t l e s u c c e s s . I n f a c t , i t rnw w e l l be s a i d t h a t

Lh~,nahnn m?nerL;t:-ior i; q o t l j m l 2 e d .ko t h e pages o'

h i s t o r y bcoks a6 a r e s u l t of J v . r d a n r s in f l . uence , bu t i&

a l s o seen v i s i b l y i n t h e whole o f the Oni t sha

Z c c l e s i a s t i c n l Province. The Bishop Shanahan Memcrial

IIospi t a 1 , N sukka ; Bishop Shanahan Col lege , Or lu - one

of t b c b i g g e s t of C a t h o l i c Teacher T r a i n i n g Col leges

be fore 1970, and the Bishop Shanahan K a l l a t

Oni t shn , a p r o j e c t t h a t h a s s o f a r t s k e n more t h a n

h n l f 2 m i l l i o n N G ~ A i n c o n s t r u c t i o n a r e bu t a few

exanlplss o f the v i s i b l e ev idence of t h e myth c r e a t e d

by Jordan. One l.ooks i n vain f o r such s t r u c t u r e s ,

c o l l e g e s , h o s p i t a l 8 and s o on named a f t e r t h e e n e r g e t i c

F a t h e r JJUtz ur t h e p i o n e e r i n g F a t h e r F e r a l i n t h e

Owerri area*

ITIC;WRTCAJ MIZvRRT 'ILS TN QUR ? AND: *i. .!&-.w.*~:.Lrl.Oii*.,sllS .. C A < " *.#..a "'iiII-U.lr*i< -,a- .,

It may be a p p r o p r i a t e , i n this d i s c u a s i o n O f

t he u s e of f o r e i g n n r c i ~ i v a l ma tc r in l s i n r e c o n s t r u c t i n g

l o c z l Church h i s t o r y t o c a l l a t t e n t i o n t o t h e v a s t amount

of mates ia lswe may g e t from c u r l o c a l r e c o r d s , n o t only

from t h e f i l e s of t h e miss ion and p a r i a h s t a t i o n s cr

s c h o o l s , bu t also from p r i v a t o i n d i v i d u a l hands.

These .documents may show r e c o r d s c f baptisma, c o n f i r m a t i o n s ,

m a r r i a g e s and b u r i a l s . They w i l l r 5 v e a l c a s e s of c a t c h i s t s

and a g e n t s w r i t i n g t o t h e i r p a r i s h p r i e s t s , o r

83 0

headmasters writing t o t h e Pariah Szhool Managers.

Accounts of d i s c i p l i n a r y a c t i o n s a f f e c t i n g schoo l

t e a c h e r s , c a t e c h i s t s , o rda ined c l e s q y and t h e l a i t y

t r i l l be r evea led . Such r e c o r d s w i l l a l s o g i v e a c c o u n t s

of Church b u i l d i n g s , church expansion, evangelism and

80 on.

Roland O l i v e r i n s i s t s t h a t such r 2 c o r d s cou ld

give u s a more r e v e a l i n g p i c t u r e o f miss ionary h i s t o r y

i n A f r i c a o I 8

We do n o t , by t h e fo rego ing , mean t o d e n i g r a t e t h e

use c,f w r i t t e n s o u r c e s especia!.ly t h o s e con ta ined i n

f o r c i g n a r c h i e v e s a s h i s t o r i c a l source m a t e r i a l s , The

p o i n t t h a t i s be ing made i s t h a t t \ ey should be used

t r i th cau t ion . Carrt;j warning t h a t document can

toll ua more than what t h e author of the doct~menk

thought . , , perhaps s t a n d s t r u e f o r all t imes , What

vrc g e t from n document depends upon what q u e s t i o n s we

p u t t o i t , A l l t h e r u l e s r e g a r d i n g v a l i d a t i o n of a

m i t t e n document should be a p p l i e d . Besides, i n

hand l ing a p a r t i c u l a r t o p i c t h e h i s t o r i a n shou ld

acek i n f o r m a t i o n from t h e v a r i o u s forms of u n w r i t t e n

s o u r c e s as McCall h a s c a l l e d o u r a t t e n t i o n to,'' i n c l u d i n g

o r a l h i s t o r i o g r a p h y . Copying from t h o s e who copied

from t h o s e who used t h e primary s o u r c e s may l e a d t o

a f r i g h t e n i n g m i s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f f a c t s , and t o avoid

t h i s , h i s t o r i c a l f a c t s c o n t a i n e d i n a p a r t i c u l a r

yub l i shed work should be a u t h e n t i c a t e d by r e f e r e n c e

t o t h e primary s o u r c e s , by r e f e r e n c e t o o t h e r works

on t h e same theme, and t o t h e v a r i o u s dimension of

u n w r i t t e n evidence.

CULTURE ENCOUNTXR : . -*- I n doing t h e h i s t o r y of any Re l ig ion i~ N i g e r i a ,

.;jngi ~ n d Ayandele have i n s i s t e d t h a t ' t h e only way.e.

i s i n r s l e t i o x l t o t h e r e s t of t h e s o c i e t y t 2 0 . The Church

I I i s tory l l s s o c i a t i o n of I n d i a has m d e r t a k e n t o write

t h o h i s t o r y o f C h r i s t i a n i t y i n I n d i a ' i n t h e c o n t e x t

of I n d i a n ist tor^ 12'' Thi a h o l i s t i c approach w i l l

r c v c n l t h e outcome of an encoun te r between t h e two

v i a b l e c u l t u r e s - t h e C h r i s t i a n ciulture and t h e

T r x l i t i o n a l c u l t u r e and m o m s p e c i f i c a l l y t h e outcome

of t,b: ~eli$T;:'ous dirncriwiu~, of ? b e silcrr%texc Afiy

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y t h a t f a i l s t o g ive a f u l l account of

t h i s encoun te r i s n o t a good enough h i s t o r i o g r a p h y . P r o f e s s o r Ka lu ' c warning t h a t

a c r e a t i v e h i s t o r i c a l a n a l y s i s o f t h e p rcsence of C h r i s t i a n i t y jn A f r i c a o o . must f o c u s on t h e i n n e r dynamics of t h e encoun te r between v i a b l e \ Jes tern and Af r ican cosmologies and c u l t u r e s $22

must be t aken s e r i o u s . In t h i s e x e r c i s e , no a t t e m p t

shoulcl be made t o e i t h e r S o m a n t i l i s e , o r h i d e the dead

voods i n , e i t h e r c u l t u r e ,

The m i s s i o n a r i e s on a r r i v a l i n ?.frica encoun te red

v i a b l e r e l . . i g ious sys t ems and c u l t u r a l p a t t e r n s - o r

\:hat R a t r a r y d e s c r i b e s as l A Li-;ring Unive r se ' . 23 The

s t o r y of t h e C h u r ~ h i n any c u l t u r e cannot be s a i d t o

hcwe been w e i l t o l d i f i t t r e a t s t h e c u l t u r a l

nnC r e l i g i o u s e n c o u n t e r merely c a s u a l l y . I n f a c t , S t r a y e r t h i n k s t h a t a new approach t o doing Church

h i s t o r y i n :Lfrica shou ld be t h a t o f a focus on t h e

1-cl:igious encoun te r , 2 4

The q u e s t i o n may be r a i s e d : To what e x t s n t does

Cntho:Lic h i s to r i -ography g i v e P u l l a c c o u n t s o f t h i s

ciico.untel bctween t h e e x t e r n a l change a g e ~ t . ( ~ h r i s t i a n i t y )

and t h o t r a d i t i o n a l r e l i g i o n and c u l t u r e , and t h 2

c~su : i ?q r e l i g i o u s change? Tl e qu ick a n s v e r seems t o

'I;.: t&i i .?~c real, d<,':ajJ,;,; of O?lcouu.tapi~ .,):f the I

r o 1 , i g i o u s type and t h e r e l i g i o u s change subsequent t o

s a c h e n c o u n t e r s , seem t o be p l a y e 6 down. A few

examples w i l l s u f f i c e .

The Chief of N r i (Eze ~ r i ) has e l sewhere been

Lesc r ibed as ' t h e S p i r i t u a l p o t e n t e t e o v e r a l a r g e

extent of t h e I b o count ry125 vho i n modern t imea

s k i l l . w e i l u s much s p i r i t u a l i n f l u e n c e among h i s

86.

peop le as 'a s a c r e d , quas i -d iv ine ru le? I .

Mri people a r e g e n e r a l l y he ld t o be t h e t r a d i t i o n a l

p r i o s t l y t r i b e o f t h e Igbo country whose ' r i t u a l

s p c c i a l i s t s 2 t r a v e l l e d th rough t h e l e n g t h and b r e a t h of

26 Igbo land ' P u r i f y i n g communities from abomination1 . C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y f a i l s t o g i v e an account of t h e

i n f l u e n c e of t h i s s p i r i t u a l p o t e n t a t e , o r t h e r e l i g i o u

of t h e people a3 such on t h e Church opened t h e r e i n 1906,

The Shurch was ' a b r u p t l y c l o s e d down' n o t because of t h e

j.nfLl!enc:& of t h o r u l e r o r t h a t of t h e r e l i g i o n of

t h e peop le , bu t because I N r i people,. . accused t h e i r

s t a t i o n t e a c h e r of g r e e d i n e s s and of r e c r u i t i n g t h e i r

g i r l s f o r t h e eiljoyment of c o l o n i a l army

Okpu kgulu . '27 It is c u r i o u s t o observe

C m i m i r Eke does no t i n d i c a t e h i s source i n

in2ormz.tionLorder t o a l l o w t h t r e a d e r t o

The b u r i a l of Bro the r J e a n Qrptto i n

a g a i n s t which Obi finazonwu p r o t e s t e d waa

Obi Anaeonwu had w r i t t e n n l e t t e r t o Fr .

s t a t i o n e d a t

t h a t

of t h i s

crosscheck.

Oni t sha

g l o s s e d over.

Lutz p r o t e s t i n g

c[;ninst t h e b u r i a l o f t h e d i s e e s e d Bro ther i n Onitsha.

'i'hcrc was no i n d i c a t i o n t h a t Fr, Lutz e v e r r e p l i e d t h e

I : ingPs l e t t e r , o r went h imsel f t o t h e King ' s hoxse

t o s e t t l e t h e m a t t e r ; bu t r a t h e r t h a t t h e King r e p l i e d

his own l e t t e r by sending a message t o Fr . Lutz . t o say

t h a t t h e m a t t e r was c1ose.d. 28 Desp i te t h e face-saving

s t a tement t h a t ' t h e i n c i d e n c e must have t a u g h t him and

h i s team o f m i s s i o n a r i e s t h a t they had a l o t t o l e a r n

from and abou t t h e n a t i v e s v 2 ' - which does n o t i n any

w2.y sugges t t h a t Lu tz e v e r r e p l i e d t h e l e t t e r o r d i d

an;:.thj.ng t o remedy t h e d e w c r a t e d t r a d i t i o n ! i t is

n l i t t l e d i f f i c u l t t o b e l i e v e t h a t Fr . Obi, t h e a u t h o r

of t h i s s t o r y r e a l l y wants t o be t aken s e r i o u s when

he seemed t o have concluded t h a t F r o Lutz n e i t h e r

r ~ i ~ l i c d t h e K i n g ' s l e t t e r , n o r d i s c u s s e d the m a t t e r

u i Q h t h e King f a c e t o f a c e , n o r d i d any th ing t o

rcncdy t h e s i t u a t i o n .

of Oni t sha , t h e c u s t o d i a n of O n i t s h a custom and

t r a d i t i o n would, a f t e r w r i t i n g such a l e t t e r a g a i n a t

t h e d e c e c r n t i o n of t h e p e o p l e ' s t r a d i t i o n , t u r n around

a d say t o t h e miss ionary l e a d e r ' P l e a s e S i r , I am

sory I had t o w r i t e t h a t l e t t e r ; P l e a s e f o r g e t i t .

The m a t t e r i s d e c l a r e d c l c s e d ' . That would sound

absurd of King worthy of h i s p e o p l e ' s r e s p e c t . I n

f n c t , one may be al lowed t o suspec t t h a t t h e r e is

something t h e a u t h o r wants t o cover up: a s a c r i f i c e

performed t o appease anger of t h e Ances to r s ; a r i t u a l

c l c n n s i n g of t h e Land, o r exhumation of t h e body f o r

b u r i a l i n t h e r i g h t place,30 e i t h e r of which t h e

m i s s i o n a r i e s f inanced o r consented t h a t i t be done,

- .. - --- - - -

88.

iL'JdDLING OF ORAL TR~LDITION : . - -- Close ly a s s o c i a t e d wi th this flagrant disn issa l

of the K i n g ' s l e t t e r a s t r iva13 ' i a t h e way t h e

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y h n a d l e s o r a l t r a d i t i o n u a t e r i a l s . I n

h i s a t t e m p t s t o e x p l a i n t h e Kingas l e t t e r , Fr . Obi

u n f o r t u n a t e l y g o t involved i n a d i s t o r t i o n and

n i s r c p r e s e h k a t i o n of Igbo t r a d i t i o n r e g a r d i n g

r c g u l a t i o n c aboot b u r i a l p l a c e s , According t o him, t h e

:;in[; of Oni t sha !found i t neCessary t o p o i n t o u t t h a t

i n Igboland, t h e cemetery was s e t a p a r t and f a r

rcnoved from human h a b i t a t i o n . r 32

G e n e r a l i z a t i o n i s a common problem of t h e

c n t c r p r i s c o f h i s t o r i c a l r e c o n s t r u c t i o n . Not

p c p a r c d t o engage i n t h e t e d i u s task- o f f i e l d

i n v e s t i g a t i o n , Obi found i t more convinhent t o

conclude t h a t a p a r t i c u l a r c u l c u r d p r a c t i c e i n one

p r t of lgbo iand must appdy i n every a e t a i l t o eoely

ot l icr p l a c e ) . Thus, he conc ludes that t h e r u l e s

r cgnrd ing b u r i a l p l ~ c e s irA Oni tshn and i n h i s I d e m i l i

nrcn of Igbolnnd i n 1886 must apply t o a l l o t h e r areas.

Tho t r u t h is

t h c Igbo had, and

nnd f a r removed 33 -- of' t h e f r e e born.

t h a t , c o n t r a r y t o 3 b i 8 s a s s e r t i o i ~ ,

s t i l l have, no cemetery s e t a p a r t

from human h a b i t a t i o n f o r t h e b u r i a l

I n Owerri , Or lu , Bende, Umuahia and

I

~ c v ! ~ a r e a s of Igbo l snd , t h e frei3born were, and a r e

s t i l l t o a large e x t e n t . buried i n tht-.ir compounds

o r even i n t h e i r houocs. The Igbo do n o t throw awny

t l l c i r dead, but l i t e r a l l y l i v e wi th them. The A b i r i b a

IGL? s t i l l bury t h e dead i n his owa house. The Tgbo of

Oguta have a s y s t e n of b u r i a l bf a c h i e f c l u ~ e t o t l l a t

0% t h e Ashan t i i n Ghana. The Chie f , s b a t e d on h i s

c h c i r wi th a l l t h e good t h i n g s t h a t a r e upp posed t o

m1:e l l f s comfor table i-n t h e l i f e beyond, is b ~ r i e d i n

h i s cort~pannd o r i-n h i s house*

Indeed, t h e t r a d i t i o n a l cotqound and t h e back of

it was, and i s s t i l l l a r g e l y s o today, t h e b u r i a l

ground f o r t h e a d u l t freeborrA among t h e people i n t h e

p e n t e r segment of t h e Igbo coun t ry , e s p e c i a l l y what i s

nsu Imo S t a t e and Etche a r e a s of R ivers S t a t e s . Older

chllclren and young a d u l t s were b u r i e d a t t h e back of t h e

% c3m;pr-anrlw rlr at. 'LF.6 ?o~ttf i? .~ pl.%c-,v (42 r::~3L+-akior

(Qlqq p l g o r Qkpy U'm) which were never far removed from

tl1.c new abode. People are n o t b u r i e d away frow t h e i r

conpounds o r from t h e immediate e n v i r o n s o f t h e

compounds, It may be s a i d t h a t even today, men

rrlic) arc 'men' a r e n o t b u r i e d i n t h e Church graveyards.

They p r e f e r t o be b u r i e d i n the i r compounds, t o s l e e p

w i t h t h e i r f a t h e r s . It may a l s o be s a i d t h a t t h e ave rage

I ~ b o C h r i s t i a n seems t o r e g a r d t h e Church cemetery as

n place f o r t h e b u r i a l of s t r a n g e r s , women, c h i l d r e n

cncl o u t c a s t s ,

iLt t h e t ime t h e whi te m i s s i o n a r i e s were h e r e ,

p u b l i c b u r i a l p l a c e s , a lways l o c a t e d i n t h e ' e v i l

Eoros t t away from t h e v i l l a g e , b u t n o t 'very f a r

rcnovcd' from i t , c x i s t e d on ly f o r t h e b u r i a l of

s t r n n g e r s , o u t c a s t s , b a b i e s who d i e d b e f o r e c u t t i n g

';heir f i r s t t e e t h , people who d ied from such d i s e a s e s

as l e p r o s y , small pox, swol len b e l l y o r s c r o t h e n and

pco?ic who d i e d o t h e r forms o i bad death . Such p l a c e s

A s o se rved t h e purposes of e x e c u t i o n and b u r i a l o f e v i l

non , t h i e v e s and s t r a n g e r s s u s p e c t e d t o be t h i e v 2 s o r

b~ .d men. A t dea th , a s t r a n g e r was e i t h e r t aken t o h i s

home ( i f i t were known) f o r b u r i a l b e c ~ u s e 'Isi nwa d i a l a

a i i i z h i e l i na-mbat ( t h e head of a f r e e b o r n does n o t

1i.c h ~ r ~ e r . i :LII an, i ths i to in.^), 3r t..r;4,ed i;i t h e ptb:Lic

b u r i n l f o r e s t , e s p e c i a l l y i f he had r o t l i v e d l o n g eno1:gh

t o b e . f u l l y acqua in ted wi th t h e people and t o be

rega rded RS one wi th them.

b s t r a n g e r c o u l d be b u r i e d i n the Compa~md

h i s l a n d l o r d i f he had concludgd t h e Igba-Ndu

( ~ o v c n a n t o f mutual t r u s t and c o o p e r a t i o n ) w i t h

thc people. Ob i ' 6 r e a d e r s from a r e a s i n Igboland

vhcrc s u c h p u b l i c b u r i a l f o l - e s t s e x i s t e d o r s t i l l e x i s t

f o r t h e burial o f Yunknowns and ' ~ u f n m i l . i n r '

s t r a n g e r s and such people as mentioned e a r l i e r would

i n t c r p r e t e t h e K i n g ' s l e t t e r t o mean t h a t J e a n

C o t t o as a s t r a n g e r only twenty days o l d i n t h e l a n d ,

w u l d have been b u r i e d i n such a p l a c e ,

; iISSIOI1';~RY HIST0RIOGRI;PEIY; -. . *--I

The term 'Miss ionary H i s t o r i o g r a p h y ' was f i rs t used

by P r o f e s s o r Kalu i n 1981 L O d e s c r i b e t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

O P t ' ) , : ~ ; !'j =: 1 ~ ' l ? L ' g j ~ t : @ il: . t . f ~ l . i : 34. p'r,: ; o : j,y ~1 i, %e? y

c o l o n i c 1 h i s t o r i o g r a p h i c a l framework, i t emphasized the

r o l c p layed by t h e whi t e m i s s i o n a r i e s . La rge ly

w r i t t e n by m i s s i o n a r i e s and t h e i r p r ~ t e g e s who swallowed

n i s s i o n n r y i d e o l o g i e s i n t h e i r t o t a l i t y , t h e

h i s t o r i cg raphy was propagand i s t and u n c r i t i c a l . It

m s i n t e n d e d t o boos t m o r d q o f t h e s u p p o r t e r s :of

n ~ s s i o n a r y s o c i e t i e s i n the home base. It s t r e s s e d

t h c r o l e p layed by t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s - w h a t t hey d i d

o r d i d n o t do - t o use P r o f e s s o r K n l u l s now p o p u l a r

dic'turn,

I

92.

I n c o n t r ~ s t t o t h e on&oing Church h i s t o r i o g r a p h y 1

( i n t h e t h i r d world) which s e e k s t o u n d e r s t a n d a n d t o

i n t e r p r e t e t h o outcome of t h e i n t e r a c t i o n between t h e

prcscnce o f t h o Kingdom of God and n c u l t u r e area,

lrhich seeks t o t e l l t h e s t o r y a s a n a c c m n t o f a l l

s~i~cvcrcc.nts connectecl d i r e c t l y o r i n d i r e c t l y w i t h

t b c name of c h k i s t p35 and which i s w r i t t e n from t h e

p o i r t of view of t h e p e o p l e ' s h i s t o r y , m i s s i o n a r y

l ~ i s t o r i o g r a p h y a t t e r n ~ t s t o t e l l t h e s t o r y of t h e

Church as i f t h e Church o p e r a t e s i n a c u l t u ~ a l vacuum,

ns i f i t e x i s t s o u t s i d e o f t h e world and as i f i t is

u n a f f e c t e d by s e c u l a r e v e n t s . It sounds t r iumphant .

k t over-exel-gerates t h o d s t ~ a ~ !if ',b:: 1 octd. gucjfir, iki:

n re a lways i n r e t r e a t a t t h e s i g h t o f t h e i m p e r i o u s

advance of t h e c h r i s t i a n God.

C a t L o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y 1.n Igbo land seems t o be

c a s t i n t h e mould of m i s s i o n a r x h i s t o r i o g r a p h y *

i J t h o u g h Obi s t a r t e d i n the i n t r o d u c t i o n t o

A i:undrec! Y e a r s of t h e Cc~tholi-c Church i n E a s t e r n -,.-

I T i c ~ r i a by s a y i n g , w i t h r e f e r e n c e t o K a l u ' s dictum, t h a t . . -%.-

'The book n o t a n l y f o c u s e s on what t h e m i s s i o n a r i d s

d i d o r what t hey d i d n o t do, bus also exposes t h e

r o l e p l a y e d by t h e E a s t e r n N i g e r i a n ' s t h e m s e l v e s t 9

what f o l l o w s B e e a s n o t t o v i n d i c a t e t h a t s t a n c e .

i loro i m p o r t a n t l y , t h e pcjor a t t e n t i o n g iven t o t h e

s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l and economic environment i n which

the m i s ~ i o n a r i e s o p e r a t e d makes i t d i f f i c u l t f o r t h e

' l i s t o r i o g r a p h y t o p a s s t h e t e s t of Church h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

i n i . f r i c a at t h e c l o s e of t h e 2 0 t h Century.

Raading th rough t h e works p u b l i s h e d a t t h e

pc:Locl, c e r t a i n q u e s t i o n s k e e p p o s i n g themselves .

Y o what e x t e n t d i d t h e Slave Trade, and e s p e c i a l l y

domest ic s l a v e r y a f f e c t t h e work o f t h e Church, and

t;: at r o l o d i d t h e Church p l a y i n e r a d i c a t i n g t h e

sdrstol.n? What was t h e e f f e c t of t h e f i r s t wor ld war

on t h e f o r t u n e s af t h e Church? How d i d t h e r i s a o f

n a t i o n a l i s t movement G and t h e i n d e p n c k n t Churches

t'riilt became t h e i r o f f s h o o t s a f f e c t t h e t o t a l i t y o f

t k e e v a n g e l i z a t i o n programme o f Roman C a t h o l i c i s m i n

Igbo land? To what e x t e n t d i d t h e B r i t i s h conques t of

Sg"v~airs~h"? dr$ss::dc :i~n,,z :i%api5kt~ bgpt; . . : t~d;~~ pmg;,g~~'f:f:$ta:*

Wht new r e l i g i o u s forms have emerged as a r e s u l t of

t h o e n c o u n t e r between c h r i s t i a n i t y arid t r a d i t i c n a l

religion? and s o on. The r e a d e r of t h e major

works p u b l i s h e d a t t h e wake o f t h e c e n t u r y c e l e b r a t i o n -

c s p e c i a l l y those t h a t cover a hundred y e a r s of the

h i s t o r y of t h e Church - Z ~ o k s i n r a i n far such

i ~ i p o r t a n t s t o r i e s a s t h e account of B r i t i s h conquest

of t h e 'Long J u j u ' a t ,irochukwu; t h e Warrant Chief

System and i t s e f f e c t on t h e work and expansion of t h e

Church an(! so on.

It i s n o t enough t o t e l l t h e s t o r y of t h e Church,

It i s more impor tan t , and indeed makes more sense

t o t e l l t h i s s t o r y i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e r e s t o f s o c i e t y .

TXE FINGER OF GOD: ..-a

There i b a tendency, i n c u r r e n t Ca tho l i c

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , t o a t t r i b u t e h i s t o r i c a l c a u s a t i o n t o

Providence. The b a s i c m a t r i x of h i s t o r i c a l e x p l a n a t i o n

of t h i s h i s t c r i c g r a p h y i s t o be found a t t h e opening

of t h e f i r s t Chapter o f h Hundrcd Years -- of t h e C a t h o l i c -- Church. Accepting compls te ly t h o views expreseed by " -ulC - .-- Pope C e l e s t i n e V I t h a t

Every h i s t o r y i s s a c r e d his tory . . . Every h i s t o r y is a gospel... E l i m i n a t e God from h i s t o r y arrd you w i l l n o t be a b l e unders tand even t h e h i s t o r y of man,..

Obi a v e r s t h a t :

,,, t h e h i s t o r y of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n E a s t e r n N i g e r i a can be more meaningful ly unders tood only i n t h e con tex t of Divine i n t e r v e n t i o n i n t h e h i s t o r y of t h e b lack peop les of t h e lower Niger -37

Committed t o t h i s ideo logy , t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

goes on t o e x p l a i n a lmost every b i t o f event i n t h e

CmEe of C a t h o l i c e v a n g e l i z a t i o n i n terms of Divine

i n t e r v e n t j o n . I n h i s q u e s t i o n why t h e C a t h o l i c

n i s s i o n a r i e s had t o come t o t h i s p a r t of t h e world i n

1265, Obi s a y s that. God s e n t t h a ~ t o Eas te rn N i g e r i a

' t r ~ lenG t h e people of t h e Lower Niger i n t o i.hia

'caravan of t h o people of ~ o d : ~ ~ 'Divine Pro- ' idence

he i n s i s t s :

Wanted t h e % s t e r n Niger ians t o s e e t h e s a l v a t i o n o f God and s o s e n t t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s t o l e a d them t o the knowl.cdge o f t h e t r u t h - CHRIST! Therefore t h e h i s t o r y of t h c Jaower Niger p r o p e r l y unders tood is t h e . . I 1 , eitd L! '&~l~I . - j , i . i~~f i ( . I ? 2.

t rnnscenc'smted and s u p e r n a t u r a l h i s t o r y , 49

That sounds g r e a t t o tile ears of t h e a r d e n t and devout

c h r i s t i a n e a g e r t o heal the account of t h e p l a n t i n g

of t h e mustard seed. But i t makes t h e s e c u l a r

h i s t o r i a n , i n t e r e s t e d i n main ta in ing t h e e t h i c s of

opj e c t ' i ve and sc i . en t i f i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y q u i t e

uncomfortable.

The views expressed i n 1935 b; Bishop T a y l o r , t h e

Vica r A p o s t o l i c of Asaba at the celebration of the

E c c l e s i a s t i c a l Province has been wholely and

e n t i r e l y accepted. The V i c a r ' s view is t h a t t h e

d c c l s i o n t o stay at' O n i t s h a w a s p r o v i d e n t i a l .

' ' iccording t o him:

... when t h e two B r o t h e r s and t h e two F a t h e r s mounted God's l i q u i d r o a d between sea and

. . . d e s e r t ; t h e i r l i t t l e boa t d i d n o t go f a r t h e r .

." . .. . . t h a n Oni t sha . The m i s s i o n a r i e s were t o take '

s,t f naewO ,.. ",.& '3; ,'., >P.?$,::'=J.CS~..~:-. -4

~ : , . + % ~ % ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ y , ~ ~ * . r & . ~ ~ ~ & ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . . & ~ ~ @ ~ ~ A ~ ~ ~ ~ ; ~ : v F- ,. .$fig+ ..'CU& e. . q, ;!(< ",+&

I....'. *

Since t h e boa a .i.:- r~r~r+c,uyrc.-+:;,+

under s tood t h a t i t was t h e mind of Pro.vid.once t h a t he s h o u l d remain at O n i t d i n a n d s o a t O n i t s h a he s e t t l e d .

C a t h o l i c h i ~ t o r i a n s who c i t e d t h e above d i d n o t ,

i n t h e f i r s t p l a c e , c o n s i d e r t h e i n a c u r a c i e s i n t h o s e

s t a t e m e n t s . l i t no t ime d i d t h e two B r o t h e r s and t h e

two B a t h e r s embark one ' l i t t l e boa*' for'Cla!.:&~iza

n t t h e s a u z time. F r , L u t z wh i l e a t O n i t s h a a f t e r h i s L - -- f i r s t l t ee t ing w i t h Obi imazonwu and h i s c h i e f s was n o t ,

i n f a z t , w a i t i n g f o r a boa t t o t a k e him and t h e o t h e r

n i s s i o n a r i e s t o Igbede , b u t f o r one t o t a k e him t o

7 brms t o c o l l e c t t h e B r o t h e r s wi,o, w i t h t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s

Launch when i t l e f t Brafis f o r O n i t s h a on November 25,

1885. When he r e t u r n e d t o 9 n i t s h a w i t h t h e two B r o t h e r s

on December 29, 3885, L u t z s e t t l e d a t On i t sha .

Adigwe's accoun t c r e d i t e d t o Bishop Anyogu a l s o

cx i3 ic ins t h e d e c i s i o n as p r o v i d e n t i a l . The two

f n t h e r s had ' w a i t e d and wa i t ed ' f o r a s h i p from B r a s s

t o b r i n g t h e two B r o t h e r s and t h e i r l u g g a g e s , b u t no

v c s s e l a r r i v e d . They had s t a r t e d a Novona p r a y e r and

had decided t h a t if t h e v e s s e l f a i l e d t o a r r i v e a t t h e

e x p i r a t i o n of a g iven d a t e (which Adigwe d i d n o t s t a t e )

, they would abandon .the journey .to Igbede, And when no

vos se l f i n a l l y a r r i v e d , they dec ided t h a t it wasr +y't;"C,it:r~c~gn~$r,~:**rw~*J(. .%?-: r , 2 .,?,. .. .-@gd +mw~t* i

p r o v i d e n t i a l t h a t t h e y . s h o u l d s t a y a t Oni tsha , 4 I

That tory i t s e l f does n o t eeem t o be based on

uhz t a c t u a l l y happened, It ' e g r e a t e s t ~ho~tcoming is

t:lat i t does no t g i v e t h e date t a r g e t s e t by t h e

r:i&c5rt s r + i n D Snn m d e r a w h a t t ? m ~ tb? n i s s i n n ~ r i e e

h n i f o r w a i t i n g and wa i t ing . They a r r i v e d O n i t s h a on

Gcccrnbcr 5, and t h c whole day was a lmost a l l s p e n t in

Cbi ..nazonwu's Palace . The 6 t h and 7 t h were s p e n t i n

l o o k i n g around t h e town, w i t h e s c o r t s from t h e O b i t s

f o r a c o n v i n i e n t s i t e f o r t h e mission. They

had f i n a l l y chosen a p l a c e on t h e 7 t h and a f t e r

s i g n i n g an agreement t o r e g u l a r i z e t h e concess ion of

t h c p i e c e of l a n d , F r , Lu tz boarded a Royal Niger

Company v e s s e l back t o Brass, v i a Akassa t o c o l l e c t

t h e i r luggagos and t h e two Bro the r s .

H i s t o r i a n s have advanced s e v e r a l reasons why

k s a d i t x o m b rulefa iu $jest A % ~ x c n aack:pke$ C

The l i t e r a t u r e on t h i e i s enormous, Behind Oba

Ozdna ' e i n v i t a t i o n , of t h e Por tuguese missionaries i n

1511s lay a demand f o r f i r e a r m s t b f i g h t ' h i s wars. 42

Tllc las t paragraph of a l e t t e r from ) t h e King of . .

X p b u t o P h i l i p I1 of P o r t u g a l t i e d t h e Kingv5 '.

admiss ion i n t o t h e 'company of ~ e s u e ' with a clehand

f o r f i r e a r m s t o g i g h t ' t h i s enemy o f o u r s who a l r e a d y A - . . . .".. 1 .

has caused g r e a t damage v43 0damtten"aesbs ts t h a t behind

t h c r ~ c e p t i a n which t h e King o f Asante a c c ~ r d e d t o .

Frcc.mcnts Asante miss ion of 1841 l a y , t h e Kings desire

f o r i q r c v . c ? p o l i t i c a l re la t ions between Lsante and

~ r i t a i n . ~ ~ The i n i t i a l acceptance of t h e missionaries

b:r Nutcsa I, t h e Kabaka of Buganda fn 1877 wac

in f luenced by h i s o v e r i d i n g ambi t ion t o ga in p o l i t i c a l

y9r:cr and t o o b t a i n f i r e a r m s t o f i g t t t h e Egypt ians ,

h i o cnemies from t h e n o r t h o 45 Chief Oparaochacbwe of' Uldcwo

i n 5 . t j ~ l l y weicomed F:', Feral b c c a ~ l s e he hoped t h a t $he

Rcv 3 h t h e r boiug i l white m a n W O I ~ ; . ~ ' do aL ma?:no what

,tRe D i s t r i c t G f f i c e r wcs doing a t Oweid . 46

I n t h e case of Obi bnazonwu, E l i z a b e t h I c i c h e i

I I I G advanced r e a s o n s sucn as t h e King ' s i n t e n t i o n t o

g a i n i n c r e a s e d p r o s p e r i t y , h i s t o p e s of g o t t i n g arms

t o t i g h t h i s wars and h i s d e s i r e t o escape from

'dangerous d i p l a m a t i s i s o l a t i o n f 4 7 . But C.B. Obi does

n o t swrn prepared t o a c c e p t any o f t h e n a t u r a l and

mundane reasons , and i n t h i s s p e c i f i c c a s e , why' Obi

Lnazonwu accep ted t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s , On t h e c o n t r a r y ,

hc i n s i s t s t h a t

Thc a g n o s t i c o r t h e a t h e i s t may a c c e p t t h c s e e x p l a n a t i o n s as t h e reason why t h o King p e r m i t t e d t h e C a t h o l i c m i s & i o n a r i o s t o s e t t l e i n h i s t e r r i t o r y . The man of f a i t h however, would see Divine i n t e r v e n t i o n i n t h e whole drama* God works i n ways t h a t are n o t c i e a r t o man.48

Thus, a p p a r e n t l y d i s i l l u s i o n e d wi th t h e concept of

s c i c u t i f i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y made famous by Ranke:. and

S i r I s a i a h B e r l i n , C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y a t t r i b u t e s

h i s t o r i c a l c a u s a t i o n t o providenceo Indeed, i t may

bc p u t d i r e c t l y t h a t t h i s h i s t o r i o g z a p h y does no t

seem t o have taken any s e r i o u s view of Rankots c e n t r a l

concern t h a t h i s t o r i a n s should t r y and e r a s e t h e deep

i n p r i n t of theology o r t h e ' F i n g e r o f God7 as t h e

dominant concep tua l p a t t e r n i n h i s t o r i c a l exp lana t ion .

r l 2ac p r e s e n t w r i t e r r e c a l l s a view expressed by one

of h i s ' l e c t u r e r s i n Af r ican T r a d i t i o n a l R e l i g i o n who,

a l q a r e n t l y worr ied abou t kf r i c a s c o n s i s t e n t tendency

t o e x p l a i n c a u s a t i o n i n terms of ' s p i r i t 1 o r ' d i v i n e t

i n t c r v e h t i o n o r i n terms of ' m y s t i c a l f o r c e s t o r

' t r a d i t i o n a l medic ine t a lw~ys i n s i s t e d 'Before g iv ing

a supernntuial e x p l a n a t i o n t o any event, f iret try and

H i s t o r i a n s who i n s i s t on ' n a t u r a l g o r s c i e n t i f i c

e x p l a n a t i o n of e v e n t s a r e n o t n e c e s s a r i l y be ing

a n t i - c h r i s t i a n , n e i t h e r do they by t h a t i n t e n d t o

nucf;cst t h a t God is no l o n g e r a c t i v e i n human h i s t o r y .

As C. H a r r i s Harbison has p o i n t e d o ~ t , t h e concern of

h i s t o r i a n s - frbm Bayle t o V o l t a i r e - t o c l e a n s e the

l i i s t o r i c a l r ecord of a l l s u p e r s t i t i o n and p r i e s t l y

d i s t o r t i o n , and t h e concern f o r accuracy and o b j e c t i v i t y

c v l d a n t i n t h e 1 9 t h Century German School of ' S c i e n t i f i c 1

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y werc n o t a n t i - c h r i e t iane50 By subsumming

cvcry h i s t o r i c a l even t under t h e canopy of God's d i r e c t

i n t c r v c n t i o n , w e n o t only w r i t e h i s t o r y t h a t i.s n o t

liumane, b u t a l s o hold God r e s p o n s i b l e f o r a l l human

e r r o r s o

0L;L HISTORIOGRAPHY : &-&.A-

I

David Henige d e f i n e s o r a l h i s t o r y as ' t h e s tudy of

t h e r e c e n t p a s t by means of l i f e h i s t o r i e s o r p e r s o n a l

recollections where i n f o r m a n t s speak abou t t h e i r own

~ x ? f i r f c n c ~ ~ a 51 Frnm % b a t + > f i n i t i o r n r a L h ln tor io f f r&y

nay be - d e f i n e d ae t h e p r o c e s s o f a o i n g h i s t o r y from

evidence c o l l e c t e d by word of rnough where informants

spcak about t h e i r own experiences,

Henige has c a l l e d a t t e n t i o n t o t h e f a c t that

o r a l h i s t o r i o g r a p h y i s not a r e c e n t phenomenon i n

huilnn h i s t o r y . Homer, Herodotus and Thucydides were

a l l o r a l h i s t o r i n n e . Both Herodotus and Thucydides

c m b i n o d t h e use of o r a l t r a d i t i o n w i t h i n f u r r n ~ t i o n

c o l l e c t e d p e r s o n a l l y from informants . 52 H i s t o r i a n s

~ > f i icdiovnl hlestern Europe used o r a l sources .

Nuft?.ltrr h i s t o r i a n s a l s o used o r a l d n t a as well as w r i t t e n

s u u r c d s o Because o f t h e importance a t t a c h e d t o o r a l i t y

i n I s l a m i c . & ~ c i e t y ~ ~ , a good d e a l of t h e e a r l y p e r i o d

of I s l a a i c h i s t o r y was r e c o n s t r u c t e d from o r a l m r t e r i a l s .

Cut by t h e end of t h e s e v e n t e e n t h cen tu ry h i s t o r i a n s

i n Zurope had begun t o abandon t h e use of o r a l d a t a i n

h i s t o r i c a l r e c o n s t r u c t i o n . The n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ,

howcver, SAW a r e v i v a l of i n t e r e s t i n o r a l d a t a i n

b c t h B r i t a i n and France. The s tudy of fo3.klore which

% bogan t o be championed by men l i k e Andrew Lang and

Sidney Har t l and i n Bri tnin,5 ' i and Augustine T h i e r r y

ci1.d Jules nichelet i n ~ r a n c e ~ ~ l e d t o a renewed interest

However, the q u e s t i o n of t h e u s e of o r a l d n t a

i n historical r e c o n s t r u c t i o n has sj.ilcc then remained

a m a t t e r of cons tan t d e b a t e , b u t the concensus of

o i ~ i n i o n , eepecia1l.y amongst i , f r ican h i s t o r i m s , i s

t h n t o r a l d a t a are u s e f u l i n A f r i c a n h i s t o r i c a l

r c c 3 n s t r u c t ion ,

To what e x t o n t t h e c a r e o r a l mzt ter ia ls u s e d i n

t h c r s c o n s t r u c t i o n of t h e h i s t o r y of t h e C a t h o l i c

Church i n E a s t e r n N i g e r i a ? I n t h i s s u c t i o n of t h i s

c l ~ a ? t c r , we s h a l l f o c u s a t t e n t 5 o n o r t h i s q u e s t i o n ,

It is i n t e r e s t i n g t o p o i n t o u t t h a t t h e a u t h o r s '

n l l e g i n n c u t o w r i t t e n document d i d no t becloud t h e i r

v i s i o n cjf t h e impor tance of o r a l ev idence i n t h e i r

task, Ora l h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , i t should be s a i d , i s an

i n p o r t n a t approach i n t h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of Church

h i s t o r y i n : rfr ica t h a t ought t o be pursued wi th a l l

v i s o u r . 1.'~ good umber of t h o s e who wi tnessed t h e

and n good number o f t h e f i r s t c r o p s of miss ion s c h o o l s

a r c st.i.11. a l i v e . These people zould be o u r pr imary

cources , a l l o w i n g f o r e r r o r s t h a t may be due t o 1066 of

ncni ory . P r o f e s s o r Afigbo s h a r e s t h e view t h a t o r a l

ev idcncc c a n be of g r e a t value i n Af r i can h i s t o r i c a l

reconstruction. He i n s f i s t s t h a t 'knowledge o f t h e

c o l o n i a l p e r i o d of A f r i c a n h i s t o r y can be much

o n r i c h c d by o r a l ev idence i n s p i t e of t h e huge

s t a e k s of documents l e f t beh ind by colonial

n2 :min i s t r a to r s ' 56

I n t h e i r Hundred Year s of C a t h o l i c i s m i n E a s t e r n ------ N i ~ e r i a , Metuh and E j i z u make u s e o f s a y i n g s o r i g i n a t i n g . . A .--

f r o ~ ~ ~ p a r t i c u l a r s i t ~ i b l e b e n i n t h e m i e s i o n a r i a s ' -- i n t e r a c t i o n wi th t h o people . These s a y i n g s n r a u s e d

today i n s i t u a t i o n s similar t o t h e i r v a r i o u s o r i g i n s ,

tl i icl t h e n remain v i a b l e s o u r c e s o f r e c o n s t r u c t i n g t h e

p x t , For example, s u c h s a y i n g s a s ' h f u Ibekwe a f u -I--

~ : . i b o ~ ~ ( r h e r u v c r you s e e Ibskwe t h e r e a l s o you s e e * - t h c whi te man) n o t o n l y t e l l u s a b o n t t h e c l o s e and

c o r d i a l r e l a t i o n s t h a t e x i s t e d be tkeen t h e w h i t e s and

S:)iIlo L f r i c c n r u l e r s and p r i v a t e <ind:ivid;la%s d u r i n g t h e

p r i o 4 , bu t o l s o p o i n t o u t how u s e f ~ l Ibekwe and

his f a m i l y c o u l d be as primary s o u r c e s i n t h e Church

h i s t o r i a n s q e f f o r t t o r e c o n s t r u c t t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e

Church i n Nnewi. Today t i m t s t a t e m e n t may be used t o

d e s c r i b e two c l o s e f r i e n d s . The s a y i n g 'Ndi f a d a --- nil i bcha bu 9 i b o n,a gorment ~ R i l l ~ ~ ' . ( t h e w h i t e LU----- -.. ~ n i s s i o n a r i e s a r e t h e government known t o t h e p e o p l e )

which p o i n t s t o t h e f a c t t h a t t h e p o p l e r e g a r d e d the

n i s s i o n n r i e s t o be one and t h e same wi th c o l o n i a l

o f f i c i a l s , When t h e Owerri Igbo s a y s 'A bekee wy agbarad

104,

( t h o wait@ man is a god) he n c t on ly c o n j u r e s i n the

ninJ o f t h e h e a r e r how h i g h l y esteemed, even as a d i v i n e

b e i n g , t h e whi te man a p p e a r s t o t h e Igbo t o d a y , but

also h e l p s us t o r e c a p t u r e h i s f e e l i n g at t h e first

c n c o u n t c r w i t h t h e wh i t e man.

Those s a y i n g s which t h e h i s t o r i e n may d i s c o v e r a s

hc cngnges i n t h e s e a r c h f o r o r a l d a t a ser-;e, n o t

only as h i s t o r i c a l e v i d e n c e i n and of t hemse lves , bu t

a l s o cmrich o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g of documents p e r t a i n i n g

t o such i ssues , p e r s o n s o r t h i n g s , Henige d o e s no t

n c c c s s a r i l y i s t e n d t o d i s c r e d i t t3e use of sayings o r

c l i c h u s i n r e c o n s t r u c t i n g t h e p a s t when he o b s e r v e s t h a t

.'i.h-cjr niny be s o p o p u l a r i z e d a n i t s o u ~ e d i n o r d i n a r y

cvcrychy l i f e . tha t peop le , o v e r t h s yearls, t e r d kc r . 1 2 G f o r g e t t h e i r h i s t o r : i c a l d e r i v a t i o n s -

Thc b e s t i l l u s t r a t i o n of the u s e of oral. ev idence

Z i n C a t h o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y i s Aclure Njoku'c

X v o n t of t h e C a t h o l i c Church in Xastcrn N i ~ e r i a : Its . .# . .. * ---,- --.--- .-- --.-

Growth i n O w e r r i lXocese , The bu lk o f t h e book was . - - 1 -__.-----1-1

rfri-kten from i n f o r m a t i o n g o t a t o r a l i n t e r v i e w s , from

s t o r i e s c i r c u l a t i n g i n t h e area about the m i s s i o n a r i e s

axd t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s , and from a e r s o n a l e x p r i e n c e s .

The w e a l t h of t h e m a t e r i a l s she g a t h e r e d and the

sinpli c i t y wi th wh i . ch she orfl;ctnizt:d than w i t h o a t

1050

o v ~ r v a i g h t i n g t h e m w i t h ' a r c h i v a l recordat make h e r a n

o r a l h i s t o r i a n .

It must be p o i n t e d o u t a l s o t h a t a c o n s i d e r a b l e

p o r t i o n o f V.A. Nvosu's e d i t e d work - The C a t h o l i c

Church i n O n i t s h n be long t o ora l . h i s t o r i o g r a p h y , ' * C A .--- Yl l f -

Such s t o r i e s as t h o found ing of t h e l i rs t i n d i g e n o u s

c i s t o r h o o d , t h e s t o r y o f t h e f i r s t Tencner T r a i n i n g

Co l l ege f o r Women, and .the a c c o u n t o f Catho1i.c r e sponse

t o t h c c h a l l e n g e of P r a y e r Houses were w r i t t e n main ly

frocl o r a l data, t h e a u t h o r s u s i n g t h c i r own p e r s o n a l

i- collections as wel l .

INDIGENOUS IIGENWCCNCLUSIONS : -------.-.--- -a

One o f t h e jmpor t an t themes i n t h o ongoing c h u r c h

h i s t o r i o g r a p h y i n A f r i c a is t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n of t h e

tlic s u c c e s s of t h e m i s s i o n a r y e adl;erprise. Al though

mainly concerned w i t h t h e kmpact of C h r i s t i a n i t y on '.

I J ige r inn @ u l t u r e s , i iyandele shows g r e a t i n t e r e s t i n

p e o p l e k11c r o l e p l a y e d by t h o i n d i ~ e n o u s L i n t h e s p r e a d

~f t h e GospelD Ekechi seems t o have emphasized t h e

r o l e ~f t h e i n d i g e n o u s p e o p l e n o r e t h a n d i d t h o s e who

wrote b e f o r c him. One o f t h e m ~ i n conce rns o f Temu,

i n adc i i t i on t o s a y i n g t h a t t ~ . c B r i t i c h P r a t e s t a n t .

105.

m' i r ; s iona r i c s w0rkc.l h.:nds i n glct, ,nr:t-,t= Lhe c o l o n i s l

~ ; ~ v c r n m t . n t , i s t o a s s e r t t h a t w i thou t t h e i n d i g e n o u s

p c o p l c , t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s would n o t have advanced

beyond t h e Mombnsa C'oast. To Tom Iuma, Ugandans

c v n n g c l i z e d Ugandansu Recently, S,C. ChLLta h a s

c'avotcd a d o c t o r a l t h e s i s t o t h e s t u d y of t h e

c o n t r i b u t i o n s o f t h e v a r i o u s c a t e g o r i e s of t h e i n d i g e n o u s

pcop le co t h e s u c c e s s o f t h e m i s s i o n a r y e n t ? r p r i s e .

C n t h o l i c h i s t o r i o g r a p h y g i v e s a c o n s i d e r a b l e p l a c e

t u t h c c o n t r i b u t i o n o f i n d i g e n o u s peop le towards

; : i s s io r&ary ef fo i4ts . I n t h e O n i t s h a a r e a . Chief I d i g o

JP L p p l e ~ i , Samuel Johnson Vkosi of O n i t s h a and Chief

Onyeamc: of Eke a p p e a r t o be t h e d a r l i n g t r a d i t i o n a l

r u l c r s u~lcl t h e g.rcateo+ c o n t r i P u t o r s t o t h e succefis

o f t h e ell t e r p r i s e . Chief I d i g o ' s A g u l e r i h a s been d e s c r i b e d

as ' g l o r i a I b o t and t h e C h i e f ' s d e a t h as t h e g r e a t e s t

loss t o C a t h o l i c i s m i n S o ~ * t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a , C h i e l Obi

2 ..) c s h i of Emekuku nnd Karnalu O s u j i of Owerri p l a y e d the

::pc!ntcst r o l e when (,ompared t o t h e o the r1 c h j e f s . It

vns John Kamalu O c u j i , a fo rmer p m t e s t a n t who s i n g l e -

hanC-edly fough t t o I r i n ~ ; t h e S n t h o l i c Church t o Owel r io 59

Chief i Q e s h i was 60 e n t h u s i a s t i c abou t making

Ackuku p reaminen t ly C a t h o l i c t h a t k.e mounted a road

b l o c k t o p r e v e n t young u*u who would go Lo the CMS

Church a t Egbu from d o i n g so. 60

The c o n t r i b u t i o n s of ind iv i -dua l s and g roups were

d s o h i g h l i g h t e d , The es tab l i shm5nt ; o f t he C a t h o l i c

Church at Orlu w a s due t o t h e e f f o r t s of a group of

y o u n ~ men who devo ted t h e i r t i n e and money i n the

s o v c r a l c:n~itaci:s t h a t cvcntunl!.y b rough t t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s .

z c n c r a l uhnrac;tfi r i s t i c s o f Cathol i c I I i c to r iog raphy i n

I ~ b o l n n d , , The d i s c u s s i o n & abovc ssern t c chaw, among

o t l i c r t h i n g s t h a t t h e r e had been an undue reve l fence t o

c lo~umcnt s , e c i p e c i a l l j t o documents: ia ihe a r c h i v e s o f

t l x Iiolg Ghcst Mi.ssionarlcs i i ~ France . This uncri c i c a l

thc v i a b l e Igbo r t l i g i o n and cogmology, It h a s

a l s o in some casoe, l e d t o a d i s t o r t i o n o f o r a l

t r a d i t i o n a l m a t e r i n l s . The emphasis on t h e F i ~ q e r of

God nncl t h e p r a i ~ e f o r m i s s i o n a r i e s , a s p e c , i a l l y f o r Shaiiahan

I ? n t l i ~ r ' j makes t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y ' q i i i i f y ti* bq 6"-

called miss ionary l r i ~ t o r i o ~ r a y h y ,

O r a l ev idence , > s p e c i a l l y eye wi t n e s s a c count,s,

uas used j.11 t h e w r i t i n g of t h e h i s t o r y as il 'is well

i l l u s t r a t e d i n some o f the books p u b l i s h s d a t t h e

Refe rences ' .. .

la E.Ho Carr, What i s H i s t o r y ~ e n g 3 . b Books, (1964) po 16.

2. L.E. ,if i g b o ' N i g e r i a T h r o u ~ h Miss ionary Eye* - - h Review of i iyandele t s Miss ionary I m a c t on Hodern N i ~ r i a Iker&ga 7 2 ( ~ u l y *-TI .- --9 -

3. C.A. Obi 'The French P i o n e e r s , 1885-1905' i n C.J. Obi , ( ed ) k Hundred ------- Years of t h e C a t h o l i c Church p, 58 -A

4. C.A, Obi 'The Iioyal Nie;er Company and The Holy Ghost Mission i n Oni t sha, 1855-19n0' i n V o A o Nwosu ( e d ) The C a t h o l i c Church i n ----- -- O n i t s h a , p , 3 .----

5,, E o Ikenga kk tu & C O I . E j i z u , Hundred Years of C n t h o l i c i ~ m i n Gas te rn 'N%geria,, p. 29 --- -- F.C. Nnabnj f e . The ::istory_ of t h e C a t h o l i c

I I - .I---=

Church i n E a s t e r n N i g e r i a , p. 222

6. J o P , J o r d a n , .-- Bishop Shanahan -z<--.-.- o f Sou the rn !=ria - ?pa 87-9

7. d k e c h i , Mlss ionzrg ? n t e r ~ ~ i s c " and Rivalry, p. 73

n 0- Jo rdan , B ~ s h o p Shanahan, r o 11

3 . O.Uo Kalu qDoing Church H i s t o r y i n A f r i c a Today' p. 7$

10,' Nnabuife, =His to ry ---- of t h e C a t h o l i c Church, p.220

11. CSSP I ~ I / ~ L / V I , S i r Go ld ie Taubman t o Supe-ior General o f :,he H d y ?>ost Congregat ion: . , . , . . is, .,. . ... ,' . London, Segt , 1'1, 1888. c i t e d by s i~a1>u i fe The H i s t ~ r y of t h e - C a t h o l i c Church, pp. 221-222

12, l'!etuh & E j i z u , Hundred Years of Ca tho l i c i sm, p. 15 ---.- ,--

CSSP l g l / B / ~ I n Lu.te to S u p e i s r G e n e r a l , O n i t s h a , 20 Canuary 1886, c i t e d by Nnabui fe , I b i d , p, 106 --a

1 , R . k ~ . Ozigbo, J ~ b o C a t h o l i c i s m , The O n i t s h a I-.---.- a".*----

Connect ion 1 ~ 6 ? - 1 9 , ~ ~ ~ 0 n i t s h a , f i f icana-Fep .- .--.A-&.:* Pub1 i s h e r s , 1 9 8 T p . 7.1

hvnabuife, . The -- -- H i s t o ~ y o f -- .-- t h e am-- C a t h o l i c - Churc_h_, p. 109

Tlic L i t e r a t u r e on why t h e tri5ssionaric.s succeeded j s enormous, and t o a t t r i b u t e . tL i s s u c c e s s t o t h e a c t i v i t i e s of one i r i iss ionary i s t o engage i n a d i s t o r t i o n o f f a c t s ,

Eolancl O l i v e r , The b i i ss ionar - F a c t o r i n d a 6 t A f r i c a f -- -.--- ( L o ~ ~ d o n , ~on~rnn-5 'Cntroduc t i o n .

J.F. ,'lde A j a y i and E8he Ayanclcl.e, 'Emerging Themes i n Vest A f r i c a n Ne1igio.a H i s t o r y 1 -.-... J:,S 701, I[1 (1974) p. 39

Henry S.Wilson, The Church H i s t o r y A s s o c i a t i o n of I n d i a : An Ecumenical. Experiment i n Church H i s t o r r i n . Ecumenical &j.soactiyes> pa 69 ,,----- ,-,,,-,,- - . A - , .

O,U, Malu 'Doing Church H i s t o r y 1 , p. 79

R.S, R a t t r a y 'Anthropology and C h r i s t i a n Miss ions , T h e i r Yuiua l Bea r ing on ths Problems of C o l o n i a l ! i d m i n i s t r a t i c n s A f r i c a Volo I

I ---I

(1928) p. 103.

Rober t S t r a y e r , 'Mis s ion H i s t o r y i n A f r i c a : New Per spec : t ives on an Encoun te r1 Tho A f r i c a n S t u d i e s Review Vol. XIX/I ( ~ p r i l 1 9 7 r .------ pp. ,l-15. See a l s o h i s The Makina of Mission Communities i n East Africa ---I_--- a-

25, Thomas, Awka ?:eie;hbour&,o,ddW p. .- 48 aE c i t e d by E n Isichei, h H i s t o g of t h e Igbo PeoqLc - -. (London, MacMillan I~?D<~-?-O

2G. I s i c h e i , 1bj.d

27. C . I . Eke 'The C r e a t i o n of More Dioceses A f t e r 1960' i n C.A. Obi ( e d ) fi Xund~~er l T e a r s o f t h e ---."--- C a t h o l i c Church, h6----" _I__-- c-

30. Perhaps a p u h l l c b u r i a l f o r e s t f o r , s t rangers , c h i l d r e n who d i e d b e f o r e c u t t i n e t h e i r f i r s t t e e t h , people who d i e d t h e v a r i o u s forms of bad d c a t h , and o u t c a s t s . T h ~ s e e x i s t e d , n11d sl i l l e x i s t i n sone places throughout t h e g r e a t e r p a r t o f Igba land ,

37. The w y Fr. Obi d i s m i s s e s t h i ~ l e t t e r is r a t h e r s u r p r i s i n g o lie s a i d ' T h i s l o t t e r w r i t t e n n ine ty - seven y e a r s ago rnny s o m d s t r a ~ g c but i t shows t h e K i n g ' s e x e r c i ~ e of ro3a.l power, tho t his word wac la1.r and 3.1.1 t h c i n h a b i t a n t s o f Oni t shn , - black and whi te a l i k e - were al.1 h i s s u b j e c t s t . A Hundred Years of . --.- ----- t h e C a t h o l i c Church, p,, 31,

- U _ 1 - r - -

330 ' S t r e s s mine

34. O.Us Kalu, 'Doing C!hurch H i s t o r y i n iifriczi Today, p., 80

35. . K a j Beago ' I n d i g e n i z n t i o n and Church H i s t o r y ' ~ u J l e t . i n of t h e Church H i c t r ~ g of I n d i a n . --I--- - ,,-I. .--r - m- I--_ I . _ - I - _ - - - - '

Fcb. ;5tb17, p, ~8-------

3 6 . Giovani P a p i n i 'The L e t t e r s of Pope C e l e s t i n e V I t o a l l Mankind - t r a n s l a t e d Tro~i! I t a l i a u by L o r c t La Murilalle (Ner Y o r k , 1948) p. 129 as ~ u o t e d by Obi, A Hundred Years p. 2 .---- ---,,, ..'

370 Obi;, A Hundred Years , p. 2 -

40. T h i s a d d r e s s d e l i v e r e d a t t h e S i l v e r J u b i l l e e Celebration Was l a t e r p u b l i s h e d t h e f o l l o w i n g Year i n Cornmunit -.-+$-- B u l l e t i n - - - Vole 307 (May 1 9 6 T pp , .5 Off ,. See Obi. ,\ Hundred Year s , ------ p, 15. Metuh & E j i z u Hundred Y e a r ~ of

-a-

C a t h o l i c i s m p, 13 --- ------. 41, H. lidigwe, 'The Eeg: i i~ning of t h e Caihol5.c Church

Among t h e Igbo of S o u t h - E a s t e x NSgeria , 4385-18.30 ( u n p u b l i s h e d PhoD. t n e s i s , U n i v e r s i t y of Vienna 1966) po 61 , See a l s o

i"L IIundred Y e a r s o f t h e C a t h o 1 . i ~ Church O o i 9 ------ -- - ----.. p. 14.

Ryder, B e n i n and t h e E,ss+n~ 1485-1897 ondo don, Longmnn 19m pp, t 5 - T -

45. Samwiri R e K a r u g i r e , 'The A r r i v a l of t h e European M i s s i o n s r i G s ( i n Buganda): The F i r s t F i f t e e n Y e a r s v i a Tom Tuma and P h a r e s Mutibwa ( e d s ) h Century of C h r i s t i a n i t y i n U p ~ n d a 1 8 7 7 - l $ 7 ? ~ a ~ r o b i g Uzima P r e s s , 1978) $Ti-

46. ROAo Njoku, -- The Advent o f t h e CI_l C a t h o l i c C h u r - p. 4 4

48. O b i , k Hundred Years, p. 20

9 . Msgn. ;.No Ezeanya (now Biahop ~zeanya,) Lectures d e l i v e r e d i n c l a s s WN, 1976.)

50. E. H a r r i s H a r b i s m 'The Marks of n C h r i s t i a n H i s t o r i a n 1 i n C.T. McSp;tL.re (ed)

Iiistc.r--?nd i l i s to r : i ans , (Oxford, OUP 1 9 7 : I m C t d Sy O n U o $:&;~.7i)r,fnR C h u r ~ h

52, I h i d m , pe8 ,."-~-*.. -..

53* In bluslirn Lega l Praceclure, e y e ~ i t r ~ e s s evidence was p r e f e r r e d t o any form of w r i t t e n documentat ion,

55. C h a r l e s Reur ick , Beyond th-c?-ln~&?ltenrnent : --- .- K i s t o r ims and FolkloA*c i n Nine t e e n t h Century

*----. . - ------. .- France ~ ~ l o a m i n ~ t o n . ?9:Tt,T- -----

56. A C E , Afigbo 'Oral. T r a d i t i o n and Hf s t o r y i n & a s t e r n N i g e r i a 1 ~ f ~ ~ ~ c a Notes Vol. 3/3 i n p r i l 1966) p o 13.

57. Mctuh & E j i z u , Hundred Years of Ca tho l i c i sm, p. 66 - --_11-_1----- -L-L

58. David Renige, O r a l H i . s t o r i o ~ p h ~ , pp, 87-88 - 1 - . - *--

59, d u r c Njoku, Advent of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n 3 . . _I_-----

N i g e r i a , pp. 66-.'?0 -- - Lo. IIidL P. 47

BOOKS : . --

On t he I n s t r u c t i o r ? on C a t h o l i c s on

The Church and Culture . ,--.--- - --- ,----.- -.--- (0qitbha: 1973

h s t r c c t i o n on C a t h o l i c s on Si[;le-Taking . -I ----L _^I. -- ---.I -."-U_I

(Oni t s h a : .1973rr

Answer i n ~ G o d ' s C a L l ondo don: 1083) ._..I -- .. .-

Ajayi, J.F.A, a C h r i s t i a n Miss ions i n Ni e r i a 1841-1892: _I------ -a-

The Hakln~-?-i?ew E l i t e L o d o n : Longman, - .- 1 9 g 5 r -

?-

Drewer, H.G,, I n v a s i o n .. l--...- f o r God (1344).

Cookc, C.M,, Mary Charles Walker ( D ~ b 1 . b : FOI?I- Ccurt - 'lif;eTsi =)-: -- -

Cmmpton, EoP., C h r i s t i a n i t y i n N o ~ ~ t i l e r n N i g e r i a --- --.- .---- (Cambridge: Univer ~ i t ~ Presu. 1975)-

I-L.-.-_ .-.- _ _ _, O r i d i n s - _n----l of t h e NQer 14i.i.zj cn , 1841-1891 =badan: I.U.P, iaZ;2To

X c c h i , F ,K, , Miss iona ry h t e r ~ i s e and Riv, . l ry i n -..--- I -bo land ., l m 9 l%n"%F'-?rank Cuss, 1972) * - -2 -,- -. -.--

1 ' .~neasa i .o , H.0, e t a l e The lidvent p.nd Growth of t h e - - - -->-- -. --- - ...- --- - C a t h o l i c Church i n N n u p Diocese T o y i t s h a : 1985). - -. - --- m-. - _W--_.

Zpc'Lle, E,M.T.! The Church on t h e N i ~ e r D e l t a . .--- - - --.- - .--- ( P o r t I i a r cour t r Niger P r e s s , 1955) ,,

-r -d i zo , P q M , ,

Idowu, E,B.,

I s i c h e i , E , ,

Our Memoir of t h e Reverend P z t h z r Y I Y I Y I * v . *w"-w-."-..fl"UL""--" M

i c ilg $7. ~~~~~~~n Tall. .i (-gT-.r!y.br~:e P 4978) , .I* wr.- * .-" **...I* -" .' *...-..I- . -*m

Towards a n r-digenou s Church &- - -GUT; m,+ ,# ,.

The I bo PeO_pl;z=and tm!;:-Europeans : --,--->.

The G c n e s i s of a Relacionsh& t o 1906 - - . . . rr+---

(London: F a b e r and Faber , 1973).

ii Hisi.ory ~f t h e I ~ b o People 'GU";IToi I-.;,: c ~ m a ' T ~ ~ T$Tc 7:

Jordan, I. I?, ,, R.L:hop Shanaha-rr-?f ; ; ~ ~ h > ~ ~ N ~ & e r i a 7 ~ c b l i n : Clanmore and 2eyno!-ds,-mT9),

i i a lu , O.U. (ed) k H i s t o r y o f C h r i s t ianj . ty J, ~ r , , ~ t J f ,--la:- --,..- - -.- - - -.--.-- .-

The N i ~ e r i a n S t o q { ~ b a d t l n : DayctFar Pxess, T7F;To

i inkozi , 1.,O, and O j o ,Zfo labi G-J., .--- The N i s t o g o f t h e .- --- C a t h o l i c Church i n Niffer ia (LGioo: , - -- .--- --

MdiMillan, 1 9 - 8 z r - - -*--

_I II.U,* IU I A C 189 1-2980 T.ilr;pu o f uq.: , A Y, A. . The Makinbs~,~hf,, Mz$:~.f!, Nt2$-e3 _- mc--,me-

( j m : E h l n d e t o Preci,;, ;;-:'fi

IJjokuJ, R,,I., The l idvent o f t h e C a t h o l i c Church in -. I -YP-U-I-MI,. ---el------

N i g e r i a : Its Growth i n Owerr i Diocese _ --_----_-------- f i w c r r i : Asumpta Press, 1 9 2 r - -

Nnabuife , F e C o , s h e Z l s t o r y ----,..-- of t h e C a t h o l i c Church , -- i n E a s l e r n N i e r i a V 3 1 , L The Foundat.& ~ i ~ + ~ o ~ o m e ---- : 19 GI--

(Dubl in : I 9 6 Z ) .

Mwedo, A.S., Centenar C e l e b r a t i o n .in Eas te rn N i g e r i a ,m+JT----- -- -- --

Obi, Coke (ed) A Hundred Years of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i n .-- n- ------ E a s t e r n ~&er~&B-i805-'19~5 (Oni t s h a : -*----

Af r i c a n a - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ g ~ s ) , - * - -

Okoye, J. (ed) B i s h g Joseph Shanahan - -- - -- " -&itsha: ~ a b a n s i P r e s s , 7971 ).

O l i v e r , R., The M i s s i o n a x F a c t o r i n Eas t A f r i c a (London: Tongman, 1952).

Onyeama, D,, (Enugu: D e l t a P u b l i c a t i o n s

Tho Hietory , ?rid8 u d %riupb 01 tb* C a t h o l i c Knighthood (03it sha: 1974). -__I-

Ozigbo, I . R . A , , 1-bo Cathol ic ism; The Oni t sha Connection, 1 9 ' - 8 r t ( o n i t ~ ~ h ~ ~ c a n a - ~ ~ ~ Publ isher . 1985).

Ccade, Winwood, S a v s e [ , f r i c a ( ~ e w Yoxk: Harper and .- - rot her s,?m>'.

The Making of Miss ion Communities i n St rn 'yer , R . S . , _-- --- .- - ------- E a s t 1 , f r i c a -or : Heinemann 19mO- -...-- --

n , a y l o r , J,V., The Growth of t h e Church in Bugpi Endon? QCM re s x T 9 T T T "

E r i t i . sh P r o t e s t n n t M i s s i ~ : . l s ond don: Longmar,

( e d s ) Tuna, T & Mutibwa,LA .- .- Centu r -.L. & - of C h r i s t i a n i t y -...---. i n U anda

1977--1977 T a l r o u l : Uzima Press* ---*

Watt, Eva S t u a r t , Asame f ~ r - God "...a

U_ .----- - u e s t for God i n "he Iboe Country *.-&.-I- - Y - . _ _ Y U I _ ^ I11

M a r s h d l Morgan & ~ c b i t , 1951).

Irf igbo, A e E U , ' A Reassessment o f t h e I I i s t o r i o g r a p h y of t h e C o l o n i a l P e r i o d i n West h f r l c a ' i n :rjhyi and Esp ie ( e d s ) ------- I.: ",')lousand Years of A f r i c a n H i s t o r y ( Ibadan , I~U.P-~) I - - - - -

-- --,.- - ' O r a l T r a d i t i o n and H i s t o r y i n E a s t e r n N i g e r i a ' I & 11, !.Rrica ldctes, 3/3 (1966). - -- -- 4/17 !1967)

----a- -,- ' Fac t o r Myth i n l ' l lgerian d i s t o r i o g r a p h J . f l\l%ei.ian Kaiazinz- Nos. ? 2 5 . - 1 ~ 3 ( 1977) .-- -A>-

-. - ------ ' W r i t i n g Af r i can C11luxh Yis tory ' Chcrch Cross ing Fr~,n,t,x*, Essays on t h e Nature -̂_-ha-

of t h e 14ission, i n honour of Beugt Sundkler .

.",yandele, E,;,, , ' T r a d l t i c n a l R u l e r s and N i s s i o r i a r i e s -in Pre -Colon ia l \Jest A f r i c a l T a r i k h

-.-..a w0 3;l (q969) 0

- '8ow Truly N i g e r i a n i s our N i g e l i a n d i s t o r y 1 A f r i c a Notes Vol, 5/2 (,;968-69) 0 ---- -

Bovlden, H.W., ' Sc i ence and t h e I d e a of Church H i s t o r y : an American Debate C h ~ r c b H i s t o r x

U __U_ _.__a-

V O ~ 0 36( 1967 ).

C l a r k , IID.L., 'Church His ro ry o r t h e H i s t o r y of t h e Churcht I n d i a n Church H i s t o r y R e v i e w Vol. 8 ( 1 9 7 4 ) ~

- v r . - - - -- - Clarke , P.B., 'The Methods and Ideology of t h e Xoly Ghost

F a t h e r o i n P a ~ t e r i , N i g e r i a , 1885.*1905' i n

Crampto* , E.P.T,, C l l r i s t i a n i t y i n Morthern N i g e r i a ' i n O.U. Kalu ( e d ) - C h r i s t i a n i t y i n Veet A f r i c a : l lxe Ni&erian S t o q T ~ b a d a n : Days ta r P r e s s , mn. -

- . -

C u r t i n , P.D., " t S c i e n t i f i c " Racism and t h e B r i t i s h Theory of Eqi& &fig# yl (@el?. 1%ub

Bool in , W., 'The B i r t h and Development of t h e C a t h o l i c Miss ion i n 9zutul.ut Ozubulu .. -. Ma~aaine (Oni t sha : Etukokwu P r e s s , 1960) . - --

Du!;o, J o O o , 'Church H i s t o r y as a 3 i a l o g u e w i t h Trad-i t i o n ' , S t , Lckes J o c n l a l of Theol or&

U I.-----.--

Val, 20 ( 197%.

3l:echi, F.I;,, 'The Holy Ghost F a t h e r s i n E a s t e r n N i g e r i a , 1885-1420: O b s e ~ v a t i o n s i n Miss ion S trater.;y ~ ~ f r i c a r St8ldj.c6 Review XV/? ' ---- -----.. 7 - d

(19'?3:,

i h e a b n l i s i , M, , ' B r i e f H i s t o r y of Nsugbe C a t h o l i c Church, 1890-19 10' , (Himsograph, Nsugbe: May 4, 1983).

Xnrbisun, E,H., 'The f.larkc of a C h r i s t i a n H i s t o r i a n ' i s C-'1'. M c l u t i r e ( e d ) God, H i s t o r y and . .-- -. . - >

H i s t o r i a n s (Oxford: OUP, 1977)- -.---.w -.o

IIay , D. W e , ' C h r i s t i a n T r a d i t i o n a n d t h e Church H i s t o r i a n '

'The Holy Ghost F a t h e r s i n N i g e r i a t The Leader ( 0 v e r r i : J u l y 25, and Oct. 177 1959). --..- --

1 Some Memories ' k o l q - s 9 6 t !!issiona~y Annals Vol. 50 ( ~ p r i l 1567/0

' P e t e r Pan Syarome: Church Aid and Self-hood i n A f r i c a 1 ---a N i s s i d o g y , - 3/1 (1975) u

IOv3r a Century of C h r i s t i a n P resence i n

'Doing Church H i s t o r y i n A f r i c a i'odayf i n Ld:as Viscl ler ( e d ) C h u r ~ ~ - _ f ~ $ _ t ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ n - ~ Ecurneniaal Fkr sPec t i - r&F;mpers and Repor t s of LII. ----..I.- ---. - a n In . te imnat ional Ecunenica l C o n s u l t a t i o n h e l d i r . Bad e, O t t , 12-17, 1981'1

'The B e r l i n West A f r i c a n Conference 1884/5 and t h e Development of C h r i s t i a n i t y

Xing, I!.@-, ' A f r i c a n Church H i s t o r y . i n t h e Maki.ngt J o u r n a l of E c c l e s i a t i c a l H m ~ y ----- v o l e xv 1 X I / ~ ( l g G j ) T - -

L a t o u r e t t e , K.S., 'New P e r s p e c t i - ? e s i n Church I I i s t o l y ' J o u r n a l o f R e l i g i o n XX.1 ( 194.1 ) , .----C-- I

I i a l l a r d , CJ,, 'Method aud P e r s p e c t i v e i i l C h u c h H i s t o r y - A R e c o n s i d e r a t i o n Journal . o f Ai.ierican

.- --- Academy of Re1 i g i o n T 6 ' T ~ $ 6 r -rr-- -.-- P-r.

IIanning, F a t r i c k , 'No tes Towards a Theory of I d e o l o g y i n l i i . s to r i ca1 Writ i i ig i n Hode:-n i ' , f r i ca s -

S ~ r ~ a d i a n J o u r n a l o f A f r i c a n S t u d i e s .-,- -. Val 8;rZjT i"g'?7:~~--'---- ---- PTwosu, V,ir . , 'The Growth o f t h c C a t h o l i c Church i n

O n i t s h a E c c X e s i a s t i c a l Piwvince' i n .\,Om Makozi and G , J . k f o l a b i Ojo ( e d s ) The H i s t o r y of t h e Catho1.5 c Ch'~.~,cll i n N i g e r i 2 --.I-----. .---- -.---ruU1- - .-.u- -

Nvec!cl, 2,. ' H i s t o r y o f t h e Church i n N i g z r i a 6 i n Th2 Leade r ( ~ w e r r i . , Nov. 6-20, lg*??)

Ocludoyc, M . , 'The P i a n c i n g o f C h r i s t i a n i t y i n Yorubaland' i n O.U. K R ~ U ( e d ) C h r i s t i a n i t y $n bJ%t i ~ f r i c n ,

--l

Thl N i p L - i a n ~ t o ~ - ( r b a d a n , Days ta r P r e s s , 1978). .- ---.-- .

Ckoye, M e , ' H o w Brotherhood F i r s t S t z r t e d i n t h e Gid Sou the rn N i g e r i a i n T r i n i t a s ( O n i t s h a Oct-Dec, 1975) G

'The Begi:ining of t h e Maynooth Movement and t h e R i s e of S t . P a t r i c k s s Miss ionary S o c i e t y ,

1920-1930' J o u r n a l cf R e l i g i o n - i n A f r i c a VCA x Fasc I'I'miC

*The Weak Youndations o f Missionary E v a n g e l i z a t i o n i n P r e ~ C o i o n i d i L f r i c a : The Case of t h e l g b o of Sou the rn S i g e r i a , 1857-1900' - Missi01.c>~y -. Vol V111/1 (1s8Oj 0

Ozigbo, I , R , A . , ' C a t h o l i c P i o n e e r i n g i n S o u t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a During t h e 1 9 t h C e n t u r y 1 , j o u r n a l of

---..IIy...lll-'l

L i b e r a l S t u d i e s , Vol. I Nos. 1/2 - C M R y f i - z - T @ r

I '. - - - - . 'Toward a H i s t o r y of Roman C a t h o l i c C h r i s t i a n i t y i n N i g e r i a f (Unpublished Ccnference Paper d e l i v e r e d a t Na i rob i Kenya on The History of the Church in A f r i c a ,

Entr;.y, R'S,, 'Anthropology and C h r i s t i a n P i s s i o n s l ~ f r ~ c a - I ( 1928).

Ilyclcr, i i lan , E a r l y Por tuguese M i s s i o n a r i e s i n Western A f r i c a ' T a r l k h -- -- 3/1 (1969).

Shanahan, J,, 'Those E a r l y Y e a r s q a s e r i e s of

n ~ n y l q r , J,, 'Church H i s t o r y as H i s t o r y of E v a n g e l i z a t i o n 1

h u s t r a l ~ s i a n C a t h o l i c Rt: x r d 101 56 ( 1979 1. - ----a

Unigwe, A. U,, , 'The E z i o r a C a t h o l i c Mission1, i n - Ozubulu .M=zine - (Oni tsha: Etukokwu P r e s s , 19m.

!.lcbster, J.B,, 'Some M a t e r i a l s f o r t h e Study of A f r i c a n Churches ' BULSACH Vole 1/2 ( ~ e c . 1963). ----

Vli l lncr , Ho, 'On Method i n Church His to ry i ~ i o g r a p h i c a l t S t u d i e s ) ' -- T h e o l o g , ~ Vol, 77 ( 1974). ,

i I

Ylilson, E.S, , 'The Church Histoi-y i l s s o c i a t i o n of I n d i a : I An Ecumenical Experiment' i n Lukas Vischer ( ed ) 1 Church H i s t o r y -I-a i n an Ecumenical P e r s p e c t i v e ( p a p e r s and Repor-Ls of a n I n t e r n a t i o n a l

UNPUBLISHED TKESES/DISSERTATIONS: - - -- .-

Adigwe, H., 'The Beginning o f t h e C a t h o l i c Church Among t h e Ibos of S o u t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a , 1885-1930 - (P~.D, D i s s e r t a t i o n , U n i v e r s i t y of Vienna, 19G6 1.

Cookc, E.M., T h e I r i s h Diocesan P r i e s t s i n Southern N i g e r i a ' ( M o ; i , T h e s i s , U n i v e r s i t y Col l e p , Cork, 197'1 ),

e l : 'The Development of Seminar ies i n E a s t e r n N i g e r i a , 1924-1974' ( M , A . D i s s e r t a t i o n , s,~.A,s. U n i v e r s i t y of London, 1983)

Nwosu, V,A, , 'The I e i t y and E s p c i a l l y C a t h o l i c Women i n tho Debate Concerning t h e Role of t h e C a t h o l i c Church i'? E a s t e r n N i g e r i a , -1945-1370~ (M"A. D i s s e r t a t i o n , SOAS Universiky of Londcn>-

Obi, C, i i , , ' I gbo Response t o t h e Holy Ghost Missionary Presence i~ Oni t sha and Its Environs , 7885- 1930' ( M ~ A , T h e s i s SOAS U n i v e r s i t y of London 1980) Q

Ozi$bo, T e R o A o , 'A C h r i s t i a n f l i ~ s i o n I n t h e E r a . o f Colonial iem: 1, Study of t h e C a t h o l i c Missionary E g t e r p r i s e i n South E a s t e r n N i g e r i a , 1885-1939 ' (Ph.Do Dj s s e r t a t i o n Birminghm U n i v e r s i t y , 1980),