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Urhobo Historical Society |
Remembering Monseigneur Anthony Ọmọnavrọvore
Erhueh
(1938-2014)
By Peter Ekeh
President, Urhobo Historical Society
Anthony Erhueh belonged to a generation
that witnessed many tumultuous beginnings occasioned by important
changes that were compelled by European colonial rule in Urhoboland
and Nigeria. He came of age in the 1940s and 1950s in an Okpara
community that was experiencing such changes at a quickened pace.
Anthony Erhueh attended the famous
Catholic Central [Elementary] School, Okpara Inland, which functioned
at once as the cultural centre of an Urhobo inland community in
British colonial times as well as serving as the pioneering grounds
for training youngsters for the new enlightenment that colonialism and
Christianity brought to Urhoboland. From the special corner of that
era, it was an age that was animated by the actions of English
colonial officers and Irish Catholic missionaries. Like most other
young persons who grew up in Okpara in those days, Anthony Erhueh
absorbed the lessons that flowed from the dramatic establishment, in
1947, of the first Catholic parish in the interior of Urhoboland at
Okpara Inland � aside and away from the metropolitan townships of
Warri and Sapele. An impressive number of Irish priests � beginning
with the burly Fr. J. D. Sheehan and continuing with the charismatic
Fr. Brown � these were the sturdy evangelists who brought Christian
education and faith to a skeptical traditional society in Okpara and
other Urhobo communities of the 1940s and 1950s. The towering Irish
missionary of that era was Bishop Joseph Kelly whose occasional
episcopal visits to Okpara Inland were inspiring in the minds of young
people like Anthony Erhueh.
The appeal of Catholic evangelism in Okpara, especially to young
people, was immeasurably strengthened with the arrival in 1955 of a
senior Seminarian on his Pastoral Year Service (at that time termed as
Probation Year). Peter Nyowheoma had extraordinary influence on the
youth�s regard for Church doctrines because he could explain their
tenets directly. There was clearly an uptake in the influence of the
Church on young people due to his work. Anthony Erhueh and his friends
gained enormously from this new trend, especially while he was back
home on vacation from college.
Anthony Erhueh stood out in that generation of Urhobo youngsters of
the 1950s because he was in the first cohort of youth who took
seriously the spiritual challenges of their times. True, there were a
good number of Urhobo priests before Anthony
Erhueh was ordained in 1966. The doyen of
Urhobo Catholic priests was Monseigneur Stephen Umurie, who was
ordained in 1942. He was a grown man when he embarked on training for
the priesthood in 1929. Other earlier Urhobo Catholic priests -- who
followed in Stephen Umurie�s footsteps and
were ordained before Anthony Erhueh --
these made their choices for priesthood in their adult years. For a
memorable example, the late Monseigneur Joseph Efebe was a long-time
teacher at Catholic Central School, Okpara Inland, before he entered
the Seminary. In contrast, Erhueh�s journey into the priesthood was
begun early in his adolescence.
Anthony Erhueh�s spirituality blossomed in his first year as a
student of St. Peter Claver�s College at Aghalokpe in 1955. The
ambience in that fledgling secondary school, the premier Catholic
college in Urhoboland and in Delta Province of Colonial Nigeria, was
right for pious acts. Begun in 1950 and initially located in Sapele,
St. Peter Claver�s College was relocated to Aghalokpe in 1953. The two
years before Anthony arrived at Aghalokpe saw a burst of building
construction that culminated in the magnificent College Chapel. Also
arriving at Aghalokpe in 1955 was Stephen Ogbeide, a Seminarian from
SS Peter & Paul Major Seminary,
Bodija-Ibadan, who was posted to St. Peter
Claver�s College in his Pastoral Year (termed Probation Year at that
time). Ogbeide not only taught Religious Studies throughout the
school; he prepared students for various aspects of the Catholic faith
and was very influential in his relationship with students who desired
growth in the Catholic faith. The Seminarian from SS Peter & Paul
profoundly helped in redirecting the character of key students, like
Anthony Erhueh, whose spiritual lives he helped to reshape. Further
enriching the religious atmosphere at Aghalokpe was the powerful
presence of foursome Irish Fathers and teachers at the College:
Michael Scully, Principal; Joseph Donnelly; James Byrne; and the
youthful Science teacher, Father O�Shea. For many young boys studying
at Aghalokpe in 1955, the spiritual aura emitted from these sources
was impressive. For Anthony Erhueh, the new Christian appeal compelled
an irresistible vocation. By the end of his first year at St. Peter
Claver�s College, Anthony had made up his mind to become a Catholic
priest. He left Aghalokpe for the Seminary in 1956, first to Benin
City and then farther away at St. Theresa�s Minor Seminary, Oke-Are,
Ibadan -- in order to create greater distance for Anthony�s father who
initially strongly objected to his son�s priestly vocation.
Both at Aghalokpe and Oke-Are, Anthony Erhueh proved to be a
brilliant student. He was particularly outstanding in Latin and
Mathematics. Having completed his academic studies at St. Theresa�s
Minor Seminary at Oke-Are, Ibadan, towards the time of Nigeria�s
Independence in 1960, Anthony was one of several Nigerian students who
were selected to study for the priesthood in Rome. Both spiritually
and academically, the Roman experience was a good one for Anthony
Erhueh. It certainly deepened his appreciation for Church history.
Remarkably, he loved the Italian language which he spoke and read
fluently. Anthony Erhueh�s ordination in Rome in 1966 was an
achievement that brought pride to his Urhobo people.
Anthony Erhueh�s studies at Aghalokpe, Oke-Are, and Rome prepared him
well for his pastoral work as well as his academic pursuits which he
craved. Most of the lasting friendships and associations which stood
him in good stead throughout his priestly life were formed in these
settings. Among notable leaders of the Nigerian Catholic Church who
were friends with Monseigneur Erhueh were his classmates or
schoolmates at St. Theresa�s Minor Seminary, Oke-Are, Ibadan, or at
Urbaniana University, Rome: Cardinal Anthony Okogie of Lagos;
Archbishop Felix Adeosin Alaba Job of Ibadan;
and Cardinal John Onaiyekan. These backgrounds also prepared
Anthony Erhueh well for his doctoral studies in Fordham
University, New York, USA, whose Ph.D. (Theology) he was proud to
earn.
The subject-matter of Anthony Erhueh�s Ph.D. thesis at Fordham
University was a theme that dominated changes in ways that the values
of the Church were conveyed to Catholics and non-Catholics alike in
the 1960s and onwards. Anthony Erhueh�s training and experiences in
Rome took place in the era of Pope John XXIII in which several changes
occurred in the Church. For instance, the Latin Mass was modified in
ways that allowed local languages to be employed in celebrating the
Mass without altering its Sacramental essence. In order to enable the
Church to communicate more effectively with the modern world, Pope
John XXIII empanelled the Second Vatican Council in 1962. Its
principal recommendation was dialogue with key segments of the modern
world.
Anthony Erhueh�s Ph.D. thesis focused on the dialogue aspect of the
Second Vatican Council. It was published in 1987 by Urbaniana
University Press with the following title:
Vatican II: Image of God in Man. An Inquiry into the Theological
Foundation and Significance of Human Dignity in the Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, �Gaudium et Spes.� Erhueh�s theological treatise examined
the premises and significance of the Second Vatican Council. Accepting
Vatican II�s far-reaching call for dialogue between Catholicism and
other Christian and non-Christian as well as non-Biblical confessions
of faith, including atheists, Erhueh urged such dialogue to be
extended to African Traditional Religions. In the last chapter of his
impressive book, Anthony Erhueh applied these insights from the
lessons of the Second Vatican Council to his native knowledge of
Urhobo religious practices and beliefs in an original effort to
include African cultures in the promise of Vatican II. Such knowledge
prepared for Anthony Erhueh
the grounds for many years of fruitful teaching of Theology at the Major Seminary at Bodija-Ibadan in the
1980s and 1990s.
There is a fragment of Urhobo history pertaining to Monseigneur Anthony Erhueh that deserves to be sketched out. At the time of Erhueh�s ordination in 1966, the young priest was justifiably proclaimed by the people of Okpara as their first Catholic priest. Meanwhile, in his mature years, the Reverend Monseigneur has been claimed as Otovwodo-Ughelli native. This apparent discrepancy owes to Monseigneur Anthony Erhueh�s father�s parentage. Anthony�s father�s given names are Ojagberevwe (by which he was known in Okpara) and Eyamu (by which he was known in Ughelli). The name of Ojagberevwe�s father is Erhueh. Ojagberevwe was raised by his mother in her native hometown of Okpara. As a young man, Ojagberevwe was quite active in the affairs of Urhuvwu r� Igbere, his mother�s quarter in Okpara Inland. Ojagberevwe married a local young woman, Ọnorhọ, from Urhuvwu r� Uno of Okpara Inland. Together, they had six children among whom Monseigneur Anthony Erhueh was the second born. Unfortunately, Anthony�s mother died rather young � while he was in his first year at Aghalokpe. With the loss of his Okpara spouse and, later, with the death of his own mother in 1968, Ojagberevwe Eyamu Erhueh left Okpara and returned to his father�s hometown of Otovwodo-Ughelli where he successfully plied a community life as a leader of the Erhueh family.
Monseigneur Anthony Erhueh treasured his family ties to Ughelli and
Okpara remarkably well � albeit in different ways. The affairs of the
Erhueh family of Ughelli were of huge significance for the mature
Anthony Erhueh. Following the death of his father and of his elder
brother, James, Monseigneur Erhueh did play an elder�s role of
offering advice on family matters to the members of the Erhueh family.
Meanwhile, Anthony Erhueh maintained his ties to his mother�s
relatives in Okpara as well as to his father�s maternal family of
Urhuvwu r� Igbere of
Okpara. It is striking that when Monseigneur Erhueh needed a reliable
driver, he went to his mother�s family to seek help. Some of the
closest advisers that he consulted on personal and family problems
were his Okpara relatives. For two prominent examples, the late
Justice Mitaire Unurhoro and Chief Thompson Okpoko (SAN) � both Okpara
relatives of Anthony Erhueh � were his life-time confidants and
supporters.
Anthony Erhueh was a strong family man in another sense that will
forever be honoured and treasured by the Erhueh family. His father,
Chief Ojagberevwe
Eyamu Erhueh,
was re-married following the early death of Anthony�s mother. Chief
Erhueh therefore had many more children, some of whom were born in his
old age. Anthony paid full attention to the spiritual welfare of these
younger members of the Erhueh family. He also sought sponsorship for
their education in Catholic schools. Thus, Friday Erhueh, now a
businessman in Ughelli, and his younger
brother, the late Augustine Erhueh, were helped to attain good
standards by their Reverend elder brother through the assistance of a
benevolent Catholic woman, Madam Obiomah, of Warri. Monseigneur
Anthony Erhueh�s intervention in the case of another vulnerable
younger family member was even more dramatic. Painfully, Anthony�s
immediate younger sister, Ọmọtẹkoro, had died early,
leaving five young children behind. The youngest of these, Benedicta,
needed multiplex care. Anthony helped his little niece in many ways,
seeking assistance for her upbringing and training in Catholic
institutions and schools. Now resident in the United States, Benedicta
has grown up to be a successful professional woman. Remarkably, she
has followed in the footsteps of her gracious uncle: she has adopted
four orphaned members of the Erhueh family whom she is assisting to
develop into successful and responsible adults.
Friendship was another precious institution that Monseigneur Anthony
Erhueh valued greatly, almost next in strength to the family. Several
of his personal friends date back to his young days in Okpara. His
earliest and best friend was Chief Joseph Imo Otite. Anthony Erhueh
and Imo Otite were baptized on the same day at the Catholic Church in
Okpara Inland in 1953. Their friendship was deep and abiding and
lasted till the end. They uniquely addressed each other by that Urhobo
moniker of endearment:
Oko-o. When Monseigneur
Anthony Erhueh�s illness turned grave, he asked quite often to be
driven to Okpara to be with his old friend. There were other friends
that Anthony Erhueh retained from his youth in Okpara: Professor
Andrew Evwaraye and Simon Agbro were often mentioned by Anthony Erhueh
as trusted friends. At St. Peter Claver�s College, Aghalokpe, Anthony
Erhueh�s closest friend was another Catholic devotee: Francis Okezie
(later known as Professor Francis Onofeghara). The Reverend
Monseigneur must have developed, during his years as a student in
Oke-Are (Ibadan), Rome, and Fordham University (USA), other close
friends who are not known to this writer. However, at SS Peter &
Paul Major Seminary, Bodija-Ibadan, his friendship with Msgr. Michael
Mozia was well celebrated and greatly treasured by Anthony Erhueh.
It is fair to say that I enjoyed a relationship with Anthony Erhueh
that he valued greatly and that went well beyond the ordinary Urhobo
meaning of friendship. This is so on two counts. First, I was four
years older than Anthony Erhueh and I did
serve as his mentor on occasions, particularly at St. Peter Claver�s
College, Aghalokpe. Second, Anthony Erhueh and I were old-fashioned
namesakes for which reason we called ourselves
Ọkpọ. This is
because in the whole of
Urhuvwu r� Igbere quarter
of Okpara, from which both of us hailed as children, only two of us
bore the colonial name of �Palmer.� Anthony did drop that colonial
name from his set of names, although his contemporaries in Okpara
still address him as Palmer. In any case, he and I called ourselves
Ọkpọ -- that
is, namesake � for the six decades in which we interacted with each
other. Our relationship was strengthened � but also complicated --
when Anthony Erhueh became the second boy from
Urhuvwu r� Igbere, after me, to attend St. Peter Claver�s College, Aghalokpe.
Anthony�s father especially asked me to take care of him.
Ojagberevwe
Erhueh therefore thought that I betrayed
him when he learnt that his son had left for the Seminary with my
encouragement. As he complained to my father, �Palmer allowed �Father�
people to take away my son.� My own father�s response could not have
been reassuring to Anthony Erhueh�s father. My father told Anthony�s
father that his own son, Samuel, my immediate younger brother, had
absconded and that he, too, had left with the �Father� people.
The relationship between Anthony Erhueh and me became complex and
interesting in later years. In 1957, my younger brother, Samuel, took
ill at St. Theresa�s Minor Seminary, Oke-Are, Ibadan, at which he and
Anthony were students. Anthony was thrust into the position of closest
available relative to my brother and he did his best to give him care.
When Samuel died and was buried in the Seminary grounds, he more or
less became the chief mourner. Meanwhile, Anthony Erhueh spent his
vacation months with me at Irrua, Ishan Division, where I was teaching
Latin and a few other subjects at Annunciation College (1958-1960). By
the time Dr. Anthony Erhueh came back to Ibadan to teach at the Major
Seminary at Bodija, in the 1980s, I was settled at Ibadan as Professor
of Political Science at the University of Ibadan. Our relationship
deepened as he served as my family�s spiritual adviser, baptizing
three of my children. I recall, especially, in 1989, while I was away
on Sabbatical leave in the United States and one of my sons became
difficult, dropping out of his university classes, it was Anthony
Erhueh who intervened and probably saved the young man�s future.
As far as Monseigneur Anthony Erhueh was concerned, such services to
friends and to his own family were all part of his ministry. He saw
his care for the vulnerable, especially unprotected children among us,
as part of God�s work that he was called upon to do. By nature,
Anthony Erhueh was a humble man who preferred unadvertised services in
favour of the poor to the brazen limelight of association with the
mighty.
Aside from such personal and individual ministration in unpublicized
settings, we in Urhobo Historical Society have a special reason for
remembering the work of Monseigneur Anthony Erhueh on the occasion of
his death. In 2004, Urhobo Historical Society had its first Conference
in Urhoboland. In preparing for that Conference, we wanted to have an
Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service as a way of ending the three-day
Conference. Not confident on how such service would work out, we asked
Monseigneur Erhueh to help with its organization. With the help of
Rev. Dr. Samuel Erivwo of the Anglican Communion as well as a Catholic
Choir from the Catholic Cathedral at Warri and an Anglican Choir from
St. Luke�s Church, Sapele, a magnificent Thanksgiving Service was
produced. That pattern of Thanksgiving Service, first established by
Monseigneur Erhueh, has since been repeated by Urhobo Historical
Society and other Urhobo organizations. We salute and thank
Monseigneur Anthony Erhueh for this and many other services to the
Urhobo people.
I believe I speak for Monseigneur Anthony Erhueh�s friends and
associates when I say that the organization in which he offered his
services for five decades has done well for him, spiritually and
physically, in his last days. We salute the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Warri and its Parish of Our Mother of the Redeemer, Effurun, for
offering solace to Monseigneur Anthony Erhueh in the midst of an
overwhelming disease. In particular, we thank the Parish Priest of Our
Mother of Redeemer as well as the humble Seminarian assigned to take
care of Monseigneur Anthony Erhueh in his last days. This work of
charity is deserving of a man who devoted his life work to serving the
poor and the vulnerable. We extend in these words of thanks our
gratitude to Mrs. Theresa (Piano) Ukre, Anthony Erhueh�s beloved
younger sister, for her passion for her brother�s well-being. We are
aware that Monseigneur Anthony Erhue�s two surviving younger brothers
� Mr. Leventis Erhueh (Atlanta, USA) and Dr. Wilson Erhueh (Ughelli,
Nigeria) who shared the agony of losing their mother at an early age
-- have been consumed with grief for the loss of their beloved elder
brother. We cherish their love for Anthony Erhueh. While we all
remember and praise such works and acts of Charity, we pray for a dear
friend and sincere pastor among his people:
MAY THE GOOD LORD BLESS ANTHONY ỌMỌNAVRỌVORE
ERHUEH�S SOUL AND MAY HE REST IN GOD�S ETERNAL PEACE
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