My life as a Bishop -Martins

You are 52. Looking back, what were your most memorable moments? The day most memorable in my life was the day that eight of us in a class were ordained priests. We were ordained by Archbishop Okogie in 1983. That stands out in many ways. When the diocese of Abeokuta was created and I was […]

You are 52. Looking back, what were your most memorable moments?

The day most memorable in my life was the day that eight of us in a class were ordained priests. We were ordained by Archbishop Okogie in 1983. That stands out in many ways. When the diocese of Abeokuta was created and I was asked to run it, it was significant too because I was given the opportunity to build the diocese.

How would you describe your priesthood experience thus far?

The life of a priest; basically you feel the fact that God is entrusting you with something far bigger than you. You feel a sense of God’s people having an expectation of one that one needs to live up to by the Grace of God. Sometime, it is a struggle to be what God wants one to be. Nevertheless, it is a joyful one because as you struggles, one feels the hands and grace of God leading them. As the struggle continues, you see yourself doing things that ordinarily you couldn’t do were it not for the Grace of God.

During these periods of struggle, was there any moment you regretted being a priest?

No. Definitely not. By the grace of God, up till now, I have never had that kind of experience. Well, before I became a priest, naturally during the formative years, I had to ask myself if that was actually what I wanted to do. But as soon as it was clear to me by the Grace of God that that was what God wanted me to do, I never had any regrets.

When you were posted to Abeokuta some 13 years ago as bishop, what was the state of the diocese and what is it now?

Abeokuta used to be part of Lagos Archdiocese and it was the rural part of Lagos Archdiocese. Rural in the sense that it was outside of Lagos and in rural Egbado-Awore area which, relatively speaking will be rural compared with Lagos.

So we were created the diocese with few parishes and few priests with a lot of zeal to ensure that things work out well. There were only nine parishes when we began and there were only 12 priests. But there were a lot of zealous people willing to work.

Now, we really can look back and say thanks be to God. In all aspects of life, we have seen remarkable development. In terms of physical structures, we have seen quite a number of them. For instance, this house we are sitting in [St. Alphonus Catholic Church Parish Priest House] was not here when the diocese started. In fact, this whole compound where the massive church is been built, wasn’t for us at that time. This physical structures development is replicated virtually in all parishes across the diocese. We now have about 30 parishes plus quasi parishes. As for priests, we have 40 of us now and we will have more soon because we have quite a number in the seminary. God has been very kind with us in the 13-year life span of the diocese.

Thirteen years down the line, the diocese still doesn’t have its cathedral. Why?

The church that became a cathedral was the church within which I was baptized. When it was named a cathedral, it became too limited to fulfil the purpose of a cathedral either in terms of size or aesthetics. That is why we decided that, it would be appropriate to build a new cathedral. What we did is to begin to build around the cathedral. We are still building around the whole structure, with the hope that we will put a roof on top the structure soon. We have a cathedral but the cathedral building is still in progress.

How much is the cathedral costing; how much have we achieved and how much is left?

When we did the costing in 2000, it was to cost us about N250 million. But of course, over the years, things have changed and costs have changed as well. So we need to do a new costing now to know exactly how much it will cost now.

However, we have spent over N90 million on the project and we are at the roofing level now. The steel put together will cost us N30 million. The entire roofing itself, we are still in the process of costing it.

What is the capacity of the cathedral?

It should hold at least 2,500 people at a time.

What is the position of the church on the post election violence?

After the elections, the Catholic Bishops Conference made a statement to the effect that the elections were one of the freest and fairest we have ever had given the reports across the country and around the world. Agreed there were challenges but we cannot compare the 2011 elections with those of 2007 or 2003. 2011 elections weres considerably of higher standard. They are miles apart. The church has a positive impression on the conduct of the elections. This is credit to Nigerians who did what was right and to INEC which made the environment conducive.

There were crises after the elections but I think these crises were un-called for. They were unnecessary and ill-advised considering the fact that there is a process of seeking redress. The crisis graduated into something that seemed a religious crisis and witnessed the unfortunate death of young graduates serving their fatherland. One hopes that the enquiry set up will unravel those behind the violence and be made to face the law.