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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF KADUNA

The first Catholic Mission Station in what is now Northern Nigeria was established in Lokoja in 1884. The two resident priests were Rev. Frs. Jules Poirier and Florentini, both of the Society of African Mission (SMA) of France. Rev. Fr. Florentini unfortunately died after a few months of his arrival and was replaced by Rev. Fr. Charles Zappa in 1886.The first mass in the Archdiocese was celebrated in the area presently known as kakuri Bus Stop in 1908. Rev. Fr. Cerminati who said the mass cycled all over the place, travelling as far as Sokoto to do his pastoral work.In 1911, an ecclesiastical jurisdiction, including the Eastern half of the northern territory, was carved out and named the Prefecture Apostolic of Northern-Eastern Nigeria. The Prefecture included the provinces of Sokoto, Niger, Zaria, Northern Benue, Plateau, Bauchi, Adamawa and Borno. All other areas north of Rivers Niger and Benue were administered by the Vicar Apostolic of Asaba in the South-West of Nigeria.In 1922, Msgr. Oswald Wailer SMA, was transferred from Shendam to Kano, and more Catholic Missions were opened in 1929. In 1934, the Northern Territory was divided into the Prefecture Apostolic of Kaduna and the Prefecture Apostolic of Jos. The former comprised the provinces of Kano, Zaria, Niger, Katsina, Sokoto and other cities in the North. Msgr. Hughes SMA, who was in charge of the Prefecture Apostolic of Kaduna, transferred his headquarters from Kano to Kaduna. In 1944, Msgr. Hughes was transferred to and appointed Vicar Apostolic of Ondo/Ilorin. Rev. Fr. John McCarthy was Msgr. in charge of the Apostolic of Kaduna.In 1953, the Prefecture Apostolic of Kaduna was raised to the status of a diocese and Msgr. McCarthy became its first bishop. In 1959, Kaduna diocese was raised to the status of an archdiocese, with McCarthy as its first Archbishop. In February 1975, Archbishop McCarthy retired and left Nigeria in April of that same year owing to ill health. He was succeeded by Archbishop Peter Yariyok Jatau, Emeritus, who was consecrated a Co-Adjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kaduna on Sunday, November 5, 1972 at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna. Archbishop Jatau, Emeritus, administered the Archdiocese and the ecclesiastical province of Kaduna from that year to 16, November, 2007, when he retired. The current Archbishop, Most Rev. Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, was named the Metropolitan Archbishop by the Vatican on the 16th of November 2007, and installed Archbishop on the 31st of January, 2008, by Archbishop P. Y. Jatau, Emeritus, at the Ranch Bees Stadium, Independence Way, Kaduna.

                                                                                   A BRIEF PROFILE OF MOST REV. DR. MATTHEW MAN-OSO NDAGOSO

Most Rev. Dr. Matthew Man-oso Ndagoso was born into the family of Mr. Ndagoso Zargina Njarbuso and Mrs. Ori Tuga on the 3rd day of January 1960, in the village of Loh in Demsa Local Government Area of Adamawa State. He started his formal education in the Class of Religious Institution (C.R.I.), in Loh, from 1965 to 1966. He proceeded to St. Joseph’s Primary School Bilachi, a neighbouring village, for his primary education in 1968. Between 1969 and 1973, he was at St. Rita’s Primary School, Bare. The journey into the Catholic Priesthood started earnestly when he secured admission into St. Peter’s Minor Seminary Yola, where he had his secondary education from 1973 to 1978. From St. Peter’s Minor Seminary, he gained admission into St. Augustine’s Major Seminary Jos, where he studied Philosophy and Theology from 1979 to 1986. He was ordained Priest for the Diocese of Yola on October 4, 1986. In 1986 to 1987, he was an assistant Priest in Bali Parish and as Parish Priest in Donga from 1987 to 1989 and St. Mary’s Wukari from 1989 to 1990. As a man with thirst for knowledge, the Church sent him to study Ecumenical Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome from 1990 to 1992. He obtained a Licentiate in Ecumenical Theology. On his return from Rome, he was posted to Wukari as Parish Priest where he served from 1992 to 1994. In September 1994, he was appointed Cathedral Administrator and Director of Ecumenism. In 1995, he was appointed Vicar General. In 1996 he went back to Rome to complete his studies that led to the award of a Doctorate degree (STD) in Ecumenical Theology in 1998. On his return to Nigeria, he was immediately posted out to continue his work in the Lord’s vineyard. Our Lady of Good Council Parish Gombi was his first posting. He also combined the posting as Parish Priest with other assignments like the Education Secretary of the Diocese and Dean of Yola Deanery. When the Good Shepherd Major Seminary was approved for the Kaduna Ecclesiastical Province in March 1999, he was appointed the Rector, a position he held until his appointment by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II on 28th February 2003 as Bishop of Maiduguri Diocese. Bishop M.M. Ndagoso worked tirelessly for the Diocese of Maiduguri from the day of his appointment until his new appointment as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Kaduna by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, on 16th November 2007. His grace has a great dream and vision for the Archdiocese of Kaduna which in collaboration with the Priests, Religious and Laity of the Archdiocese has been working towards its achievement. This is made visible in the many achievements he has recorded so far in the Archdiocese. One major step he took to ensure involvement of all in the Church for pastoral development was the establishment of various Commissions in the Archdiocese which are headed by both the Priests, Religious and the Laity. Effort to meet up with the pastoral need of the people in Kaduna Archdiocese cannot be overemphasized. To this effect, the Archbishop, Most Rev. Dr. Matthew M. Ndagoso has ordained so many Priests into the vineyard of the Lord. Many Parishes, Pastoral Areas, Chaplaincies and Independent Mission Areas were created to make Priests more accessible to the faithful. He has promoted a cordial relationship between the Priests, Religious and the Laity in the Archdiocese through his principle of “Solidarity, Subsidiary and Collaboration”. In this, weaker Parishes benefits from the stronger ones spiritually, financially and materially. The Financial Policy introduced by the Archbishop has brought order and increased accountability in financial life of the Archdiocese. To further buttress his love for religious Education, he approved the establishment of a Centre for Research in Religious Studies in the Archdiocese to give the Laity the opportunity to have the basic introductory knowledge of the Church’s documents. The Archdiocesan Minor Seminary too has continue to enjoy tremendous support from the Archbishop. The welfare of the less privilege ones is of paramount importance to the Archbishop. This is seen in his continuous support to the Archdiocesan JDPC and St. Gerard’s Catholic Hospital Kaduna. Beneficiaries of these are both Christians, Muslims and people of other faith irrespective of where they come from. In order to ensure that the pastoral, social and economic needs of the Archdiocese are met, His grace has embarked on a multi-million Naira project of building a gigantic secretariat for the Archdiocese, which is at the verge of its completion. The “Bring back our Schools” campaign has been one of the major concerns of the Archbishop. This campaign is meant to echo a cry to the State Government to return the Missionary Schools that were taken over by the Government to the Church to boost the education standard in the Archdiocese. It is no doubt that Kaduna State is regarded as the heart of Northern Nigeria. However, the challenges of insecurity are enormous. Despite all these, the Church in Kaduna Archdiocese relatively enjoys peace due to our peaceful co-existence with people of other faith profession, especially, with our Muslim brothers and sisters. This was made possible following the tireless effort of our dear Archbishop in the area of Interreligious Dialogue and numerous seminars in the Archdiocese. All the achievements mentioned above are but “the tips of an ice-berg” among the numerous achievements recorded in Kaduna Archdiocese by His grace, Most Rev. Dr. Matthew Man-oso Ndagoso, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Kaduna.

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