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COLONIAL RULE AND THE ROLE OF THE CHIEFS IN THE EARLY CATHOLICIZATION OF NIGERIA

NWOSU RAPHAEL CCE

INTRODUCTION

At the dawn of the history of Catholic Church in Nigeria, especially in the Eastern

part, the Colonial masters and the Chiefs played great role for its initial realization. The warm reception, generosity and hospitality of the eastern Chiefs became theconducive soil on which the initial evangelizing attempts commenced. To this, V.ANwosu quoted Father Lutz to have confessed that when they arrived at Onitsha,the king showed himself very disposed towards them and their request to beallowed to settle in his domain was granted. 1 This typifies the manner in which themissionaries encountered the people of the eastern Nigeria represented by thesechiefs unlike in the north. Some of the Chiefs who impression in the annals of history are, Chief John Samuel Okosi I of Onitsha, Chief Ojiako Ezenne of Adazi,Chief Michael Muoyekwu Onyiuke II of Nimo, Chief Solomon Ezeokoli I of Nnobi andso on. This work is going therefore to expose the role of these chiefs generally inthe colonial environment of the then Masters. It may not exhaust all that could bewritten on this topic but it will go a long way to attempt a commendablesummarized expose on the subject matter. May I kindly be excused when I omit ormisrepresent an idea as that is not ill-intended.

THE COLONIAL RULE AND THE GROWING CHURCH

The very truth of history is that Christ and Caesar walked down the road todevelopment and civilization of Africa together. A. G. Nwedo wrote that while themissionaries, in obedience to the voice of the Vicar of Christ, are quietly butquickly scattering the seed of the gospel, the enemy of peace is also busy sewing

the choking cockle.2

This means that as national awakening become more intensein various parts of Africa, delicate political and social strategization were appliedby the colonial masters who in turn aided unconsciously our growing Churches.

Concretely, the colonial masters made use of the warrant chief system of administration. Many of the chiefs who contributed positively or negatively to thegrowth of the Catholic Church in the East operated in this system from 1900.

Following the increased control which the Masters gained over the interior of Igboland and Southern Nigeria, they started to institute native courts. There were twotypes- minor courts and higher councils. The minor courts were presided over bythe local warrant chief appointed by the British political competent officer andgiven judicial powers to operate under the guidance of the native laws andcustoms that do not oppose natural laws. Besides, the two courts were also1Nwosu V.A., The Laity And The Growth of Catholic Church In Nigeria, the Onitsha Story 1903-1983 ,AFP, 1990, p.1

2Nwedo A.G., The Church, Colonialism and Islam in Nigeria, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria;Lagos, 2000, p.1

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empowered with so much powers vested in the warrant chiefs, it was easy forchiefs to extend their power to matters other than political and the generalmaintenance of law and order. We shall see how this contributed to the growth of the growing church

THE ROLE OF THE CHIEFS AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE GROWING CHURCH.

As aforementioned, some Chiefs paid prizes positively or otherwise to help theearly growing Church in Nigeria. This follows the wisdom of the missionaries to usethe local Chiefs in evangelization. According to Nwosu V.A., these Chiefs fall intotwo broad groups; those who were not Christians but gave strong support to aChristian church in their domain; chiefs who not only supported a Christian Churchbut became adherents themselves. 3 The later group was fewer but made moreprofitable contributions to the church. In the first group, Chiefs like Onyeama of Eke, Orjiako of Adazi and Odimegwu of Ihiala are examples. The second groupincluded Chiefs John Samuel Okosi I of Onitsha, Michae Onyiuke of Nimo, MichaelEze of Ukpo, Solomon Ezeokoli of Nnobi and Henry Umeadi of Igbariam. TheseChiefs typified the fortunes of Catholic Church in Igbo land under the Warrant Chief system of Native administration. Concretely these Chiefs helped the missionariesin great ways. 1. ACCEPTANCE : when the missionaries arrived at their respectivecommunities, they welcomed them warmly and accepted them to work in theircommunities. This enabled the missionaries to apply their knowledge that wherethe king is, there is the religion. 2. DONATION OF LANDS: This is anotherimportant aid granted to the missionaries by these generous Chiefs. Large mass of lands were freely donated for building of Schools and Churches. This is a kindgesture common to all the Chiefs. They may had done this for the gain of it whileothers for the love of the Christian God, but what matters is that Gods youngChurch kept steadily in growth.

3. PROPAGATION OF FAITH AND EDUCATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT TOSUBJECTS:

Some of these Chiefs did not stop at permitting the missionaries but went a longway of encouraging their subjects to involve themselves with the novelty. Forinstance, Chief John Samuel Okolo Okosi I of Onitsha, is reported to haveconstantly helped in teaching Catechism in the evenings (Nwosu p.6), Chief Orjiakoalso was paying school fees for all the pupils in Adazi for 12 years and preventedthe Protestant Anglican from entering Adazi which accounts for the high level of Catholicity today in Adazi, 4 Chief Michael Onyiuke irrespective of his Fathers

refusal to send him to school, later struggled and was educated, thus, built atechnical workshop for his people in Nimo. He also prevented the establishment of

3Nwosu V.A., Ibid. p.7

4 Ibid., p.10

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Protestant Church in Nimo. 5 But Ezeokoli fought against the Catholic Church inAwuda but promoted Protestantism.

CONCLUSION

We have seen that Chiefs were powerful instruments of evangelization, especiallyin the initial stage of the Church in Igbo land. To this, the Catholic MissionaryConference asserted the power and inevitability of Chiefs when they instructedthat every foundation of a school must go through the Chiefs. Surely, they wereoperating on the maxim that where the king is, there is the peoples religion.

Therefore to convert a Chief is to convert his entire community. This saw thesuccess of mission in the Eastern part of Nigeria unlike in the north.

5 Ibid. p.14