REV. FR. IGNATIUS ADINKWU EMERGES FIRST ABAH-UNOR INDIGENOUS CATHOLIC PRIEST

Williams Shakespeare a literary giant was a prolific writer in his days. He wrote many rich plays dress up in living messages. One of them titled, Twelfth Night, painted a picture of greatness and how it could be acquired. In that literary piece, the writer described how greatness can be achieved by any living mortal or as a God sent endowment. According to him, some personalities who had fame attached to their names had this greatness endowed on them right from birth and grew up with this trait to become Heroes.

Still dwelling on this topic of greatness, Williams Shakespeare also added that this endowment can also be acquired through dint of hard work and steadfastness, and in some rare occasions such beneficiaries must have had greatness come their way by accident or under circumstances divined by God.

If we are to apply all these routes of greatness to the case of Rev. Fr. Ignatius Adinkwu who was recently ordained to the catholic priesthood, it would not be out of place to deduce that his, was greatness achieved through perseverance and of course, divine intervention.

Rev Fr. Ignatius journey to priesthood was that faced with roadblocks due to one challenge or the other. Under normal circumstances he would have crossed the Rubicon to become a priest in a recorded time as it is the norm through the major seminary but in his case, Rev. Fr. Ignatius made it in 12 years! But the good news however is that he was able to get to the promised land of his dreams after all odds when on Saturday August 22nd, 2015 he was ordained as priest amongst others by Most Rev. Dr. Michael Odogwu Elue, Bishop of Issele-Uku Catholic Diocese, thus giving teeth to that prophetic saying that with perseverance and perhaps Divine intervention what one would be will be.

The occasion of Rev. Fr. Ignatius ordination along with eleven others took place at St. Paul Cathedral Issele-Uku. It was an occasion that saw all the rich catholic rites for such ceremony on display. The ordination mass began with a procession of over 200 seminarians and about 300 priests from within and outside the diocese in attendance. The main bowl of the cathedral was jam-packed with catholic faithful drawn from within and outside the dioceses in their hundreds. They basically came to identify with the new priests. And at exactly 11.45 am on this Saturday, Rev. Fr. Ignatius was ordained and became the first Abah-Unor indigenous catholic priest in Aniocha South Local Government area of Delta state.

Cheers from well wishers and friends of Rev. Fr. Ignatius had rented the air in the church at this hour of his ordination.

At the end of the mass all roads led to the old church in the cathedral premises Issele-Uku where a colorful reception was held in honor of Rev. Fr. Ignatius, featuring friends and family members in attendance.

From there, the train of Rev. Fr. I.G comprising friends and family members moved to his home town of Abah-Unor in a long motorcade where the celebration continued. At the first entrance leading to Abah-Unor, the new priest was welcomed by the Umu-Awolo group and others. Deafening cannon shots then reverberated, and cheers from the crowd rented the air at this point.

After this show of solidarity, Rev. Fr. IG and his entourage drove to the town in what can be described as the triumphant entry of the first indigenous catholic priest of the village into the waiting hand of the natives. The convoy drove round the town with Rev. Fr. IG acknowledging cheers from friends and onlookers; thereafter,

the crowd had surged forward in each of the routes visited by the jubilating entourage. The convoy finally grinds to a halt at the family compound of Rev. Fr. Ignatius where he blessed water and sprinkled it, at all directions in the compound as his first blessing for the community. After that there was solemn vespers (the Roman Catholic traditional prayers) which he officiated, where incense accompanied with psalms were offered to God for the needs of the people and the church.

This was followed by the traditional seminarians’ night celebrated in the town where Rev. Fr. Ignatius was officially given a send forth by seminarians.

On Sunday 23^rd of August, Rev. Fr. IG celebrated his first mass in the town which was attended by parishioners drawn from the entire Ewulu parish in the area. Friends and well wishers of Fr. I.G. from Ibusa, Asaba, Ekpoma, Lagos and other parts of the country were also at the All Saints Catholic Church Abah-Unor for the well-attended mass.

Celebrating with Fr. I.G were five other priests who came to give him their morale supports with their physical presence. The homilist at the mass, Rev. Fr. John-Bosco  Ezeonwumelu had during the mass advised Fr. I.G to be steadfast in doing the work of God.

Other highlights of the mass was when Fr. IG blessed his family, the entire faithful present and priests. Another reception followed immediately after the mass at the church premises where guests were treated to sumptuous meal and variety of entertainment. The celebration continued in his family compound as the priests, Seminarians and well wishers came visiting after the mass.

Excitement was written all over the face of Rev. Fr. I.G who never stopped exchanging pleasantries with the guests that came to him in solidarity, at the various reception venues in the town.

An elated Fr. IG had in the various speeches rendered at the reception ground showed his faithfulness to God who elevated him to the priesthood, and thanking   friends, family members and the entire Abah-Unor community who stood by him during his journey to the priesthood.

A document made available to the paper indicated that Rev. Fr Ignatius Adinkwu Iweanandu was born on the 10^th may 1979 in Idumu-Awolo quarters of Abah-Unor into the family of Mr. and Mrs. John Adinkwu. His parents are still alive kicking in good health. He is the 7^th child out of the 12 children of the family. He graduated from the prestigious All Saints Catholic Major Seminary, Uhiele, Ekpoma, during the course of his study, he bagged a degree in Philosophy from the University of Benin, and a bachelor degree in Theology from the Pontifical Urban University Rome, Italy.

The story of Rev. Fr. Adinkwu Ignatius can therefore be equated to that of a man who achieved greatness through perseverance and a touch of divine intervention as Williams Shakespeare wittingly pointed out in his book the Twelfth Night that greatness is either God sent or acquired with divine touch.

Notable personalities that contributed to the successful hosting of the various receptions held in honor of Rev. Fr. Ignatius after his ordination include Mr. and Mrs. Okonta, his bosom friend and benefactor, who worked tooth and nail to ensure the celebrant dreams, came true.

Also Rev. FR. Adione Paul, parish priest Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ewulu was visibly everywhere during the ceremony to ensure that every bits of arrangement went well.

The priest played the role of host priest as his church oversees all the catholic out posts in the area. That drew the curtain on the activities that followed Rev. Fr. I.G’s ordination.