Senator Yerima and Constitutional Review, By Maryam Uwais

Once again, Senator Yerima is in the news, claiming Islam as the basis for his argument that a girl automatically transforms into an adult of ‘full age’ once she is married, with the attendant responsibilities that relate to the renunciation of citizenship, irrespective of her age or mental capacity. Because the Senator from Zamfara State has gone public with his personal comprehension of the Shari’a, it has become necessary to respond publicly to his utterances.

 It should be pointed out, however, that several media reports on the constitutional review debate at the Senate give the impression that underage marriage has been endorsed by the Senate Chambers. Facts are that S.29 of the 1979 Constitution permits a Nigerian citizen of ‘full age’ to renounce his or her citizenship by declaration in a prescribed manner, for which purpose ‘full age’ was stated to be 18 years and above. The subsection also provides that, ‘any woman who is married shall be deemed to be of full age’. In its current efforts to review the Constitution, the Senate Committee had determined that the particular subsection should be deleted, basically because citizenship has no bearing on gender, as for example, voting, the right to drive a car, possess a weapon or such similar social interactions that are evolving or are germane to a democratic Nation. Senator Yerima, however, vehemently argued (and lobbied) against the removal of the clause, on the grounds that deleting that clause was against (his understanding of) Islam. In his understanding, a girl, once married, automatically assumes the full mental capacity and responsibility to consciously make the prescribed declaration of renouncing her citizenship.

This position needs to scrutinized carefully, against the backdrop of similar positions that obtain under the Shari’a and in our context, as a Nation. Does it then follow that the married girl who is below 18, at election time, would be permitted to vote, or is her not being issued a voters card un-Islamic? Is the Senate now going to make an exception to that law, permitting her to vote, or even drive, in accordance with (Senator Yerima’s understanding of) Islam?

Contrary to the position conveyed by the Senator from Zamfara, there is certainly no unanimity of positions on such contemporary matters of social interaction, within Islamic jurists or the various Schools of Thought. Surely where there is ‘silence in thetexts’ (i.e primary sources) or lack of unanimity as regards a particular practice, that opening allows for a society to determine for itself what is in its best interest (maslaha), in its own context. What about married Muslim girls who inherit property? Is it not the position that in some cases, where not considered sufficiently mature (‘sufaha’, based on Qur’an 4:6), such property remains in the custody of her guardian, until she grows to be intellectually mature? This would, of course, depend on her age, mental capacity and the size and nature of the property. Why does such property not devolve upon her automatically upon marriage, to deal with it as she wishes,irrespective of her mental capacity? There definitely appears to be no basis, under the Shari’a, that would compel a girl to deal with matters of such gravity as therenunciation of citizenship, merely because she is married. Islam is certainly not so presumptuous or harsh as to burden her with what she is mentally and physically incapable of bearing. Her guardian is permitted to determine the age or stage at which such a child can be entrusted with such grave responsibilities, the assessment of her mental capacity being the main determinant.

[caption id="attachment_343525" align="alignnone" width="412"] The Senate[/caption]

As a Muslim woman (without pretensions of scholarship) forever striving for knowledge, research into these matters has revealed that in matters of social interaction (mu’amalat), there is a lot of latitude in what is permitted, unless it is expressly prohibited by a clear text. The rules are certainly not so definitive. What is also evident is that the ‘best interests of the child’ is a paramount consideration within Islam, along with the principle of public good (maslaha or istislah). The operational rules are not defined (probably deliberately, in my humble view) and the determination of such issues is best left to the experience, custom and context of the particular society. The Qur’an provides that the predominant consideration in matters relating to children would depend on the point at which they can be said to not be ‘sufaha’ (mentally immature) anymore, in the context of that particular community.

It is interesting that Senator Yerima would rather link the weighty and dispassionate subject of citizenship with his understanding of gender vis a vis his perception of the age of marriage, rather than with other matters of social interaction, such as those relating to inheritance rights, driving or even voting. Indeed, citizenship is a contemporary phenomenon within the Sharia, as in the early days the concept of citizenship had not been defined and people traveled across boundaries, without restriction. In a Muslim community, when matters evolve, it is for scholars or experts in Islamic legal philosophy-‘Usul-al-Fiqh’- and juristic reasoning (and not even those solely learned in the Qur’an-‘Mussafirun’, the Fiqh-‘Fuqaha’ or the Hadith-‘Muhaddithun’), to analyze the issues with a view to arriving at an appropriate position for the context of that relevant community. In this particular instance, it is certainly perplexing for the Senator to insist so categorically that even a married ‘intellectually immature’ girl must be permitted to renounce her citizenship, irrespective of her mental capacity. The foundation for such a general and sweeping statement within the Shari’a is difficult to locate.

The public good remains the overriding consideration in the process of analytical reasoning by those qualified for the purpose, so long as the deductions are not in direct conflict with the primary sources of the Shari’a. Therefore, in following arguments repeatedly canvassed by the Senator, it may be necessary to examine the context in which we live, to determine what is good, for the purpose of encouragement and support, and what remains harmful to our society, to be confronted, discouraged or prohibited by Muslim jurists.

Today the North of Nigeria continues to throw up Nigeria’s poorest indices on matters relating to healthcare, nutrition, education, empowerment and productivity. Consequently, unemployment, insecurity, violence and poverty remain rife in that region. Statistics have it that 2/3 of the 102 million poor people in Nigeria live in the North. Extreme poverty in the North translates into extreme vulnerability to the effects of climate change, food security and so much more. Incidentally, over half of the women in the North are married off by the age of 16 and commence childbirth within the first year of marriage. Also, of the 16 million births by girls below the age of 18, 9 out of 10 of them are married.

Facts are that nearly half of all the children under 5 years of age are malnourished in the North East zone, with women and children in the nutrition ‘high-burden’ States of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe andZamfara suffering the most from malnutrition, wasting and stunting. This singular factor remains the underlying cause for 53% of under-5 deaths. If the child is stunted in its first 1000 days, that condition is irreversible, so the future of these children, and the larger population, is permanently shortchanged. The health and nutritional needs of mothers, new-borns and children are closely linked, with young mothers accounting for a majority of severely malnourished children.

Multiple health risks arising from child marriage include the sexual exploitation (including forced sexual relations) that she is subjected to, as well as limited access to reproductive health services, despite the real and present danger of contracting diseases such as HIV/AIDS, STIs (sexually transmitted diseases) and the debilitating ailment of VVF/RVF (VVF-a tear in the flesh between the vagina and the urinary passage, usually due to prolonged labour, resulting in uncontrolled urine or feces in the case of recto-vaginal fistulae-RVF), including the abandonment that comes with such ailments. Nigeria, with 2% of the world’s population, has 10% of VVF patients. Three-quarters of those with VVF/RVF are young girls who are not yet physically mature but have suffered trauma in their first pregnancy.

Statistics show that stillbirths and deaths are 50% more likely in babies born to mothers younger than 18, as against babies born to mothers above that age. Each day, 144 women die in childbirth in Nigeria, with the North East alone having 5 times the global rate of maternal mortality. The lack of information and access to support ultimately results in psycho-social and emotional consequences, domestic violence, abandoned (street) children, with the attendant deprivations of their rights and freedoms, whose wellbeing is severely compromised. The prevalence of the abuse of the right to the exercise of divorce by Muslim men has only compounded the situation, leading to so many negative social deviations such as substance abuse (that has become so rampant), commercial sex work and the complete loss of values in the entire family set up.

Many of these adolescents are married off to men much older than they, and because of the associated power differentials, this singular factor impedes communication between them, with the girl having no negotiation skills in crucial decision-making that may affect her life. Having lost out on these critical life opportunities, these married adolescents can never aspire to living as meaningful and productive members of society. Not being able to participate actively in the community translates to their losing out completely on benefitting from economic activity and earning a decentincome. Many of these girls remain excluded from community life, having been separated from peers and family members by marriage. Depression sets in. A life of diminished opportunities. The community loses out completely; the economy cannot improve where half its population is stuck in this rut.

Child marriage, from available statistics, ultimately hampers the efforts of these young adolescents from acquiring an education, as sooner than later, they find it difficult to combine the onerous responsibilities of being a wife and mother, with schooling. They drop out, if they have not been removed for the purpose of marriage, in the first place. Consequently, 70.8% of young women aged 20-29 in the North West zone are unable to read or write. Due to the fact that these girls are deprived so early of an education (including the access to information and knowledge) they remain bereft of the purchasing power necessary for an adequate diet, healthcare,skills, or even recourse to support in emergencies, all of which would enable them rise above the circumstances of abject poverty. It is paradoxical that Muslims like Senator Yerima would rather their wives and daughters be treated by female medical personnel if they fall ill, and yet they are, by continuously advocating for child marriage, deliberately closing the avenues for girls to aspire to such professions.

Deprivations of formal and non-formal education translate, at such an early age, into restrictions on mobility, domestic burdens, the denial of sundry freedoms in respect of survival, development and participation, as well as the loss of adolescent years. Indeed, children of young, uneducated mothers are also less likely to attain high levels of education, perpetuating cycles of low literacy and limited livelihood opportunities. Child marriage, therefore, ultimately deprives societies of the intellectual and financial/livelihood contributions of girls, and of their offspring. It is no wonder then that the North continues to portray such poor ratings in almost all aspects of human endeavour.

As a consequence, MDGs 1 (relating to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger), 2 (on education), 4 (on reducing child mortality), 5 (on maternal health), 6 (on combating diseases) remain unattainable goals (at least in Northern Nigeria), if we cannot confront the consequences and implications of child marriage. Evidently, the geography of poverty requires a coherent and urgent Northern strategy and a solution to the instability that has bedeviled the region in recent years. Against this background of grim data, we can ill afford to play politics with the obvious deficiencies in our human capital. The North, as an intrinsic part of Nigeria needs to improve on all fronts, to impact positively on Nigeria’s progress and support its growth. Since child marriage has all these devastating and diminishing implications, surely checking the increase in the practice can only trigger and catalyze positive growth, in so many dimensions.

It is certainly not mandatory in Islam that girls must be married off as minors, so to keep insisting that this practice must remain sacrosanct, given the background of needs in Northern Nigeria, is incongruous, even under the Shari’a. Where a practice is determined to be merely permissible and not mandatory, it is considered practicable and entirely feasible within Islamic jurisprudence, to discourage or prohibit it, where it is found to be so harmful to individuals and to the community. Countries such as Yemen, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Somalia and Bangladesh, with majority or high Muslim populations have set a minimum age for marriage as 18, in the acknowledgment that there are serious social, physical and mental health risks associated with child marriages. This progressive step became necessary, in that these indisputable facts placed a heavy burden on the accountable and God-fearing leadership in majority Muslim countries, to protect the vulnerable in their midst.

It is, therefore, not unreasonable to expect that educated elite and public figures such as Senator Yerima, being conscious of their grave responsibilities to prohibit harm and to enjoin good in our own context, should actually discourage this devaluing and belittling practice of early marriage, in the public good, for the protection of the vulnerable and the realization of social benefits. To enable our girls attain their fullest possible potential is definitely a target that Senator Yerima should also be working passionately towards, along with the rest of Nigerians who yearn for a better future.

Indeed, the overriding objectives of the Sharia include the promotion of human dignity, justice, compassion, the removal of hardship, the prevention of harm, the realization of the lawful benefits of the people, and the education of the individual by inculcating in him a sense of self discipline and restraint, which aims are by no means exclusive. All else may be adapted to achieve these ends, which measures may encompass matters of concern not only to law but also to economic development, administration and politics. For those that reflect, the hardship that these little girls experience, where married off and divorced soon after, so wantonly, is certainly unacceptable within the faith.

Although the fundamentals of faith and the practical pillars on which they stand remain immutable in principle, they may be interpreted and justified at the level of implementation in the exercise of public good. This process must of need be carried out solely by persons learned and eminently qualified to speak on the subject matter in question. We must always bear in mind that the ‘appropriation’ of divine authority in religious interpretation is best left to Scholars learned in Islamic legal philosophy and analytical reasoning. Having acquired the requisite knowledge and expertise (including the capacity to weigh the various views in the particular sphere of learning in the context of our times), these Jurists would also need to have imbibed, at the barest minimum, the attributes of humility, compassion, reflection, wisdom, self-restraint, diligence, objectivity, along with piety. Our learned Scholars must stand up and be heard, rather than remain silent on matters that so adversely affect us as individuals, as a region, a Nation and as members of a global community, which challenges paradoxically controvert the deeper meaning and purpose of the Shari’a.

Back to the issue in contention, it is important to commend the thinking behind the decision to delete the constitutional clause that seeks to lumber even an ‘intellectually immature’ girl, where married, with the grave responsibility of the power to renounce her citizenship, thereby elevating the subject of citizenship to the level whereby both men and women have similar responsibilities, without discrimination. It is hoped that ultimately, members of the Senate would reflect deeply on the implications of their recent action and revisit their decision to retain the contentious clause, if only to ensure that every Nigerian citizen of full age, without distinction, is subjected to similar standards and responsibilities under the provisions of our Constitution.

Maryam Uwais (MFR), is Chairperson Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative, Kano. 

Courtesy: Omojuwa.com

 

 

A nation of paedophiles

By Femi Fani-Kayode

Senator and former Governor Ahmed Sani, the Yerima Bakura, has finally had his way. The Nigerian Senate has bowed to his will and agreed to be silent about the age that young girls can get married in Nigeria. What this means once it is followed through and enshrined in our laws and Constitution is that girls that are as young as nine years old, provided they are deemed as having been ‘’physically developed enough’’ by their suitors, could be lawfully bedded and married in our country. That is the sordid level that we have now, as a people and as a nation, degenerated to. I weep for Nigeria and, perhaps more appropiately, I weep for the Nigerian girl-child.   Yet we have no choice but to live with this new reality and to accept it as it is. After all, our representatives in the sacred halls of the Senate were not sensitive enough or ‘’man enough’’ to shoot down the whole thing, to stand firmly against the unholy agenda and to say boldly and firmly that, ‘’come what may’’, our children must be protected from sexual deviants and reprobates.

[caption id="attachment_343525" align="alignnone" width="412"] David Mark presiding over Senate plenary[/caption]

And since the Senate, in its infinite wisdom, has now endorsed the “Paedophile Charter”, which  essentially  seeks to make it lawful and constitutional for  very  young girls  to get married and to have sex, it is my view that we have now become a nation of perverts and paedophiles. Every Nigerian should bow his or her head in shame because what the Senate  did  and seeks to do in the future, by beginning the process to amend our  Constitution in order for it to cater for the filthy appetite and godless fantasies of child molestors and sexual predators is sordid, ungodly and unforgiveable.

Surely, we ought to be seeking to protect our children and not seeking to bed them. Yet it appears that not everyone shares our outrage and collective sense of shame. One Uche Ezechukwu made the following contribution which went viral on the social media networks and which I think speaks volume.

According to him, whatever was done in the time of old can as well be done in modern times - no matter how crude.

I am appalled by these words. The truth is that I have never heard such a self-serving and specious argument in defence of the philosophies and beliefs of  Senator  Ahmed Sani, who married a 12-year- old Egyptian girl, as this one. Ahmed Sani himself could not have argued it better. Yet I think that it is an utter shame. And this is more so because the individual that is putting the argument is supposedly a Christian. The Old Testament of the Holy Bible prescribes ‘’stoning’’ for adultery but that does not mean that Christian countries, or indeed secular states like Nigeria, should stone adulterers.

Neither does it mean that we should preserve the institution of slavery or crucify petty thieves simply because the Holy Bible endorsed both practices in the Old Testament. We must accept the fact that the interpretation of biblical and koranic provisions are evolutionary and are ever changing. Jesus Himself said ‘’laws are made for man and not man for laws’’. The suggestion that paedophilia has any place in any modern and decent society simply because it was once practised in the distant past is not only a despicable argument but it also does not make any sense. After all, cannibalism and child and human sacrifices  were once widely practised and were held as being perfectly acceptable throughout the world as well but that does not mean that we should practice any of those terrible vices today.

The young man, Uche Ezechukwu,    who appears to be defending child rape in the name of islam, should either let someone lay with and ‘’marry’’ his own six or seven-year-old daughter or he should seal his lips forever and stop trying to defend the indefensible. His assertions, and I daresay those of Senator  Sani and anyone that shares their primitive views, are not only utterly immoral and reprehensible but they are also intellectually dishonest. I say this because the truth is that there is NO Muslim country in the world that has adopted the “paedophile charter” where six or seven year olds can marry and be bedded except for possibly Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Every other Muslim country in the world, including Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Egypt, Jordan, Senegal, the Sudan, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Qatar, Bahrain, Dagestan, Albania, Bosnia, Somalia, Algeria, Libya, Mali, Azerbijhan and Syria, have, specifically, banned child marriage, paedophilia and child rape in their various constitutions and laws and some have declared it ‘’repugnant’’, ‘’unacceptable’’ and ‘’unislamic’’. Are these people not Muslims too?

Like Christianity and Judaism, Islam is a noble, pure, honourable and ancient faith that seeks to protect the weakest and most vulnerable in society, including children. No one should use the misinterpretation of its provisions to try to justify or rationalise what is essentially depraved, shameful, disgusting and barbaric behaviour and the most sordid and filthy expression of sexual deviance and perversion. Even animals do not marry or bed their own infants. The bitter truth is that paedophiles have no place in any civilised society.

I am constrained to say that in the light of their “yes” vote to child marriage and their green light to paedophilia, every single member of the Nigerian Senate should bow his or her head in utter shame and should be compelled to offer their own infant and under age daughters for marriage. I repeat, they have turned us into a nation of perverts and paedophiles.

Adieu, Unu Habib

BY PETER ENAHORO

Bad news has its way of arriving not in soothing drips but as a brutal, in-your-face truth that leaves the rest of your day effectively over. A telephone call; a voice: “Have you heard …?”

No. You have not heard that your life-long friend, Herbert Unegbu – co-reveller in the hedonistic years of your earlier life, and fellow musketeer in the heyday of journalistic innocence in the actualisation of Independence – has passed away.

We first met at Daily Times where I arrived as an insecure, novice sub-editor. Herbie was a senior reporter in the Newsroom having newly arrived from the Eastern Region.  Although our paths did not cross in the workplace, we were soon drawn together by our common delights in watering holes and other places that attracted journalists as magnet to metal. What singled out Herbert for me was the way he drank beer.  If you were not previously thirsty, watching Herbert enjoy a drink instantly changed that!

Our special bonding was sealed during a shared visit to Europe in 1959. I discovered a steely edge to Herbert’s easy-going façade; it took courage to wear loud traditional robes to some of the places to where our official programs took us.  A high point was Herbert ‘s hand-woven, red and black Igbo couture he donned to the Opera House in Munich.  A small crowd gathered at the main entrance to cheer us as we drove off at the end of the show, to the quiet satisfaction of Herbert whose inclination, ordinarily, was neither flamboyant nor aggressive. He’d set out to make a political and cultural statement throughout the trip and succeeded without announcing his intention.

In my opinion, Herbert Unegbu was one of the three best informed political journalists in Lagos, in the late 1950s and 1960s ranking after MCK Ajuluchukwu and Bisi Onabanjo, both older and, respectively, deeply associated with the NCNC and the Action Group, whereas Herbert was non-aligned.

Although he would end his journalism career in the Newsroom of the Federal Government’s Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, Herbert’s leap to national fame was when he was appointed editor of the highly-regarded West African Pilot. This was the start of his newspaper column under the pseudonym Unu Habib, which became a celebrated moniker in households across Nigeria.

[caption id="attachment_403756" align="alignnone" width="412"] *Unegbu[/caption]

Its authority was Herbert’s access to “Deep Throats” in the Federal political establishment. Herbert neither bragged about his invaluable contacts nor did he name-drop among his colleagues. A long-lasting friend was Chief Theophilus Owolabi Sobowale Benson, society scion and Minister of Information in Tafawa Balewa’s First Republic Cabinet, fondly cheered as “Tos-B” by Lagos crowds.

We all became vulnerable in our individual ways as Nigeria stumbled from one crisis to another, blundering heedlessly toward the nadir of civil war.

Herbert’s assertions in the Unu-Habib column were too well informed to be mere guess work. Eventually, a Special Branch officer was assigned to go and have a not so friendly chat with him.  Herbert was hauled to the grim interrogation h.q  Who were his sources?, the authorities wanted to know.

He responded to the questions by invoking the constraint that journalists are forbidden to disclose their source of information.  The injunction, he explained, is as binding as the oath of confidentiality sworn to by Roman Catholic priests even unto death.

Herbert said the officer invited him to view a holding cell.  A mat on the bare floor, a blanket and a barricaded skyline window were all the décor in the tiny room.

“A man of your status should not be in a hovel like this even for one night”, the policeman told him.  “Today is Friday. You will not see me again until Monday. This is where you will eat, sleep, and spend the day. While mosquitoes are biting you to pieces I will be in my bed with an electric fan.  My brother, please don’t punish yourself”.

Herbert was at his most persuasive when cajoling with a posture of reasonableness: “The oath I have sworn to is the igbandu (a solemn Igbo oath) of journalism.  You are my brother, an Igbo. You know that if I breach igbandu I will surely die.”

“Igbandu is a serious matter.” The police officer agreed.
“Very serious”, Herbert nodded.

“What should we do?”, the officer asked, after a long pause. He was softening to Herbert’s charm offensive.

“Let’s think it over, over the weekend; until Monday”, Herbert suggested.  “Even if I run away from my job in Lagos, where can I hide in Igboland from a brother Igbo?”

Monday came and Monday went. The Igbo officer did not return. So what happened? A case of amnesia or did Herbert’s network of highly-placed friends call-off the witch-hunt? Herbert never said which.

If Herbert made enemies in his long life, I didn’t know them. He did, however, offend the one person in my life he should not have tried it on!

Herbert was homeward bound in the small hours of the morning - “ambulating on s.s foot” - unsteadily picking his way, following a long night of plentiful ambrosia at the Ambassador Hotel. His route unavoidably took him past the house I shared with my brothers, Ben and Dan.

Herbert’s eye caught sight of an open window. That invited him to come over, hoping for a chat with me even at that ungodly hour.

“Peter!”, he called out quite loudly.

The trouble was our mother was in residence, on a visit.  Mama called out to me startled by Herbert’s sudden holler.

“Who is this woman?”, Herbert snapped.  “Shut up woman!”

I was by then in the room.  The remainder of the drama was of Herbert warning me to beware of the women I brought home! He seemed not to have heard or understood a word I said.

Three years later, I was returning to Lagos after a year with my parents in Ibadan.

“My son”, my mother admonished me, “be especially mindful not to keep the company of the one you call Herbert.”

On arrival in Yaba, I dropped off my suitcases and made a beeline for the offices of West African Pilot, a short walking distance down the road.

“My mother told me I should avoid your company,” was how I announced my return to Daily Times, to him.

Herbert sent a staff out to fetch us beer, from nearby Ambassador Hotel. In years to come, Isyaku Ibrahim, who went on the errand, would advance to multi-millionaire and patron of President Aliyu Shehu Shagari’s NPN  in the Second Republic.

When Alex Nwokedi, Igwe of Achala, fellow alumni of the Daily Times, rang to tell me Herbert died, aged 89, I could not match the age with the fresh-faced roisterer I’d imagined was our age group. Herbert  lived long and lived young.

Herbie was planning to write his memoirs. He requested me to make a contribution. I asked for specifics to guide me. His reply by text message did not altogether tally with my memory of the areas he wanted me to cover. I took the cowardly route of procrastination, hoping to buy time and not offend in a hasty reply.
And now it is all too late.

*Peter Enahoro (aka Peter Pan) contributed this tribute from London.

THE OKIJA REVELATION: My only brother died and that aborted my journey to priesthood — Jonathan’s adviser

By Vincent Ujumadu

NZE Akachukwu Nwankpo is the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Technical Matters and secretary of Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SURE –P. Last weekend, at his home town, Okija, Anambra State, Nwankpo narrated how he missed being ordained a reverend father in the Catholic Church at a time people in his community were almost counting him as one of their indigenous priests.

In this part of Anambra State, any family that has a reverend father is considered a lucky one in view of the respect accorded priests and the rigorous nature of becoming one. So, when the young Nwankpo  gained admission into St. Paul’s Junior Seminary, Ukpor in Nnewi South local government area, his parents and kinsmen were happy. Through hard work, he progressed and obtained the Bachelor of Philophy degree of the Pontifical Urban University of Rome before a certain event terminated his priestly ambition. The presidential adviser, who spoke during his induction into the Noble Order of the Knights of St. John International at the St. Mary’s Church, Okija, said that following the death of his only brother after he had obtained his Bachelor of Philosophy degree and was at the last lap of his becoming a Catholic priest, there was so much pressure on his parents that he should get married to perpetuate the family name.

Addressing the congregation which had reverend fathers and his classmates at junior and senior seminaries in attendance, he expressed happiness that despite his inability to become a priest, he has maintained his position in the faith.

Narrating the story, he said: “I was an altar boy when a young priest working in my parish then, who is today the Bishop of Nnewi Diocese, Most Rev Hilary Okeke, advised me to become a priest. That was how I entered  St. Paul’s Seminary, Ukpor and progressed to the senior seminary. But after a painful experience my parents went through following the death of my elder brother, there was so much pressure on them that I should get married. My parents had earlier lost six children and we remained two and, when my brother died, I was the only one remaining.

“At that point in time in my life, I had become a bit radical in the seminary and following my kind of life, the then Archbishop of Onitsha, who is today a Cardinal, called me and said that he had discovered that I could serve the church better from outside the seminary. When I wedded, my classmates in the seminary, many of whom are priests today, served the Mass and God has blessed that wedlock with five children. I am happy that despite my failure to be ordained a reverend father, I have been maintaining my position in the faith. I am also happy that today, I am privileged to be a Soldier of Christ in the church as a Knight of St. John International.”

Some of his classmates in the senior seminary said Nwankpo’s departure from the seminary was a big surprise to them because he was one of those doing well. “We still see him as one of us in spite of the fact that he is presently serving the President as a special adviser. We know that through him, God has a good plan for Nigeria and Anambra State and our prayer is that the plan would come to fruition,” they said.

Bishop Hilary Okeke of Nnewi Diocese, who presided at the Pontifical Mass, said Nwankpo remained one of his special sons and reminded the congregation that one could work for God in various ways. “I am happy that he has not stopped serving God despite the fact that he did not become a reverend father,” the bishop said.