The church did not ignore Sen Ubah's, contributions, Nnewi Catholic Diocese insists

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By Madu Obi

The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi has insisted that the late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah's contributions to the building of the recently dedicated Our Lady of Assumption Cathedral in the industrial city, was not in any way ignored.

The clarification came on the heels of the controversy trailing comments by one James Okoye who claimed that the church did not recognize Ubah's contributions during the dedication ceremony.

The publicity chairman of the dedication committee, Rev. Fr. Hyginus Aghulor, said the church appreciated the immense contributions of Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah and others towards the building of a beautiful edifice for the worship of God.

“The church has for months composed prayers for the dedication of the cathedral, revered our benefactors, raised those who have passed on before the Lord, amongst whom are Ifeanyi Ubah and Ajulu Uzodike, who were part of the cathedral building committee from day one.

The Bishop of the Nnewi Catholic Diocese, Bishop Jonas Benson Okoye, mentioned Cardinal Francis Arinze, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, and others during the service. Dr. Ubah was mentioned on page 10 of the dedication brochure. He was also mentioned copiously from pages 7–9,” Rev. Fr. Aghulor stressed.

He, however, clarified that the former senator was a major benefactor to the diocese, but did not either build the cathedral singlehandedly, or initiated the building project.

Fr. Aghulor also pointed out that people who give in the church do not do so to have their names engraved on marble, but added quickly that the church normally prays for her benefactors.

“As at the last count, twenty churches have been built by individuals in the diocese and none of them has been immortalized; we didn’t build monuments for them.

The church, I must however say, has her own way of immortalizing her benefactors. We have one hundred and forty-seven parishes in the diocese.

People who give to the church are giving to God, not the Bishop or priests, and the appreciation of those individuals is a continuous process, unlike what is obtainable in government,” he added.