By Emmanuel Ndukuba

Onitsha, June 30, 2024 – The Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Most Rev Henry Ndukuba has condemned all forms of discrimination in every strata of human society irrespective of tribe, faith or profession.

Ndukuba explained that discrimination was capable of taking humanity many years backward.

He made the condemnation during a memorial lecture in commemoration of 160 years the consecration of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the first Bishop in Africa.

The lecture was held on Sunday at the C.J. Patterson Auditorium, All Saints’ Cathedral, Onitsha, Anambra state.

The Primate, who was represented by the Bishop of Lokoja, Kogi State, the Most Rev Emmanuel Egbunu, remarked, “Discrimination, whether racial or ethnic will hinder rather than promote the cause humanity.

He therefore appealled that all peoples, especially Christians should fight against discrimination in every form of it.

Also in his lead presentation, the Bishop Theologian of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, the Rt Rev Dapo Asaju, had in his paper expressed worries over what he said discrimination caused Bishop Ajayi Crowther.

In the paper, “Bishop Ajayi Crowther… the unsung hero” regretted how much discrimination he said Crowther suffered in the course of his ministry.

According to him, “Crowther was a victim of racial discrimination, his works were critisiced by young ambitious Whitemen who thought that the blacks could not be bishop over them.

“The charges against him were not brought to his knowledge for him to defend himself. He was suspended and later reabsorbed but he resigned the appointment and later died of stroke out of frustration because his work was not appreciated,” he said.

He, however, underscored a few of what he said Crowther achieved as, saying, “He was a seed planter and a pioneer evangelist to Nigeria,

“Was the man with the most remarkable human transformation of features to become a bishop like Joseph, former prisoner who became prime minister.

“He was the first black Bishop in the whole world”, among other contributions.

Also in his own lecture, Asso. Prof. Kanayo Nwadialo noted that Crowther was humiliated and insulted, in his later days, saying that most often “they pointed at him pured the most insulting language and called him a liar.

He said Crowther later died in 1891, “But we are remembering him today because of what he did for God and people East of the Niger.

Putting an end to the controversy of which Diocese is the first in Nigeria, Nwadialor, asked, if Niger was not the first indigenous Diocese in Nigeria, to which Diocese did Bishop Crowther, Lasbery and Tugwel belong?

Primate Ndukuba challenges Anglican communicators on effective gospel propagation

By Emmanuel Ndukuba

The Primate of All Nigeria, Anglican Communion, the Most Rev. Dr. Henry C. Ndukuba, has told communicators in the Church that they had a bounding duty to propagate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

He explained that the position of communicators in the Church was a divine call to preach the Gospel to all the nooks and crannies of the world, insisting that it was a mandate they could not afford to shoulder, saying, “It is an assignment they ought to strive to execute with everything within their capacity”.

The Primate made the call while declaring open the year’s Communicators and Media Officers Conference of Church of Nigeria holding at the Ughelli Diocesan Christian Centre, Ogoni-Olomu, Delta state.

Speaking through the host Bishop of the diocese and the Archbishop of Bendel Province, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, the Most Rev. Dr. Cyril Odutemi, the Primate said that church-based communicators should understand the direction of the leadership of the church so that they could resist the promotion of opposition.

He also asked them to always attack heresies as well as be available to defend the Church in public domains using all equipment available to them and also for them to shun all forms of financial inducements in the course of such engagements.

The Primate had while calling for peace in the country and in the Church said that the media should not allow themselves to be used to cause division and hatred anywhere but should instead use their positions to propagate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

Earlier Archbishop Odutemi had in the homily he said during the opening church service charged the communicators to be consistent in preaching the Gospel, asking them to “make disciples of all men, baptise and teach them”.

Underscoring the importance of communication among human beings, he noted that God first started communication with man.

“Since communication is a very essential instrument that could make or mar the society, communicators should therefore not communicate things that are not worthy of building the Church of Christ.

“As communicators you cannot afford to communicate things that are not worthy. Communication is a veritable tool, it can destroy if not carefully handled,” Archbishop Odutemi said.

He made reference to Abigail, wife of Nabal, Nehemiah and Prophet Ezekiel in the Scripture who he said deployed effective communication to achieve their target, and without mincing words, he asked the Anglican communicators; “What are you writing? Are you building the church or destroying it? What you are writing, is it effective? Is it demarketing the Church, your diocese? We must communicate Jesus always”. He stressed.

Also, quoting Apostle Paul in 1Cor. 9:19, the archbishop said that propagating Christ was a compulsory assignment for Anglican communicators, reminding them that everyone would give account of one’s stewardship as he said that God is taking record of one’s activities.

He emphatically appealled to church communicators to be diligent enough to save the Church of any form of crisis.

Speaking on the theme: “The Great Commission: Contending for Genuine Christian Faith in the World Today (Part One)” taken from Matthew 28:18-20, the Expositor, the Rt. Rev. Prof. Dapo Asaju, the Bishop of Ilesha Diocese, told the communicators that they were priests of God and therefore ministers of the Gospel.

“Yours is a calling from God. You are the most needed in the current work of evangelism. You are called by God to communicate the Gospel to the world, to advance the implementation of the Great Commission.

”It is technology that has the capacity to take the Gospel to the world. Don’t allow them to be hijacked by the devil”, said Bishop Asaju who is also the Bishop Theologian.