Rev. Monsignor Joseph Ogieneni Omesa, the Rev. Father in charge of St. Theresa Catholic Church, Benin, recently celebrated his 40th ordination anniversary. In this interview with Snr correspondent, William Igenegbai, he speaks on his service in the vineyard of God and the journey so far
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Omesa
Let me congratulate you on the 40th anniversary, how do you feel about it?
First, I never wanted to celebrate the anniversary. But some people suggested that it was good to celebrate it as a land mark. At the end of the day, many people started congratulating me and I felt it is good to key in. That was how the idea came and, it was successful.
Now, what informed your decision to become a priest, considering the family you came from?
Well, we say God knows best. You know my father was running Igbado church in the village. Maybe that was where I got the inspiration, but when he died and my mother also died, we were shared to other people. Then I went to live with my aunt where I went to primary school, and since there was nobody to send me to secondary, I left for Benin City where I later went to secondary school. There I stayed with Bishop Kelly from Ireland. I even wanted to adopt his name but already I had been named Joseph.
Was there any opposition to your decision to become a reverend father?
Oh, my late elder brother, Captain Peter, opposed the decision. He did not support the idea and when I eventually found my way there, he came one day with a lorry load of soldiers from Ikeja Cantonment to the seminary at Ibadan, beat me up, burnt my things and took me like a criminal to Benin. You know we were only two males remaining since my immediate elder brother had died. When I got to Benin, I went back to Bishop Kelly and one might, he took me to Epe, Lagos State. At this time he (my brother) was transferred to Maiduguri, Borno State, and sometimes when he came home, he would come and look for me at the seminary but he wouldn’t find me. That was how it was until the eldest man in the family who was then our father said that I should be left alone to do what I wanted. I regret that I was not able to convert him to Christianity before he died.
Considering that in your community then your quarter or your family was known to have very potent idols, was there any spiritual attack or problem as a result of your decision?
No, there was none. Even now, I encourage everybody to be what he wants to be. I don’t dictate to people what they should be or tell them that when they come to my church is only when I can help them. You know our uncle, Alhaji Nasiru, after I told him to come to Catholic Church and he said he wouldn’t. I encouraged him in his religion by sending him and his wife to Mecca, and any time I am going home and I find anything that he might like, I buy for him just to encourage him. So, he has been very close to me, and since your father died, he is the one we now have at home as our father.
So, there was no spiritual opposition whatsoever. Even, the shrines that used to house those idols, there is nothing there any longer. Even when I went to bury my aunty, I wanted to remove the shrines but some young men were making noise, but there is nothing on the ground there. I, however, thank God that today most of the people in the community have become Christians.
But the major religions don’t believe in one another. Even in the same Christendom, some denominations do not believe in others. So why do you encourage people who embrace other religions?
As Catholics we have not rejected any religion or say we don’t believe in any religion. I was privileged to have studied African traditional religion; while in the seminary, I went to study African traditional religion in Cherubim and Seraphim, and Apostolic Church under the late Professor Bolaji Idowu. So I have always looked at religion as the faith of the individual and I find that we are all aiming at one goal. Then my travels have opened me to many things. Not the way we practise religion in Nigeria. In Israel, you can’t even know the difference between Christians and Muslims. They do things in common, even the Jewish people. They are all religions. It is here we are fighting over religion. Religion is not like that; God is love and God wants us to live out that love.
But the bible tells us that the only way to get to God is through Jesus Christ. So why do you encourage those who do not believe in Jesus Christ?
They recognise Jesus Christ. For example, the Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet. They believe that Mohammed atoned for them.
That is why, there’s a place in Israel, our Abiola and all the rich people in this world spent money to build the place, where they believed that Mohammed was buried, the place is not far from the place of Ascension. The essential thing is God. We all have different rules and ways of reaching him. You call God in your own way or dialect and when you get to Yorubaland what the people call him is different from yours. The one thing that is clear is that we are calling one God.
Now, 40 years in the vine yard of God. How has the journey been?
Well, I always tell people that if you have faith and if you believe in God there is nothing or height you cannot attain. The 40 years have been like a train moving clockwise.
Each day belongs to God. I just opened myself to and believe in God, I don’t and have never gone to any juju shrine or involved in any competition with anybody; and God has never failed me in any prayer. So with him on my side I will even grow to the highest height.
Let’s go back to that year, was it 1977 or 1979 at Uromi when you were the priest of the Catholic Church there. You had a court case, how did the case end?
Well, the man belonged to a cult which the church did not recognise; even Nigerian government did not recognise it. The church is open to anybody. So this man died suddenly and the children, instead of coming to the priest to make arrangement, they went on air and started announcing pontifical mass; that they have bishops from their place who were coming to hold high mass, without reference to the person on the ground. Then I had that they had arranged with the bishop, so I called my bishop and asked him, what am I hearing? I am representing you here and nobody has come to me over this matter. He said he did not know. I then set up a committee to find out what was going on. And not too long before this incident, it was alleged that the man and his group used force to get people initiated into their cult. If you had a supermarket, they would raid it and confiscate your goods until you go and get initiated in the cult. At a particular time I had to go and beg this man when they did the same thing to a particular man, a refugee from the North, who was assisted by the church to resettle himself.
So when they brought the dead man’s corpse, it was on a Sunday, they were waiting for the bishops to come and do the burial. The man had three wives, they said he was the pillar of the church, they also said that he built the church but I was not aware. So after dragging me into the church, and people were then talking to them, they took the corpse and went to bury it.
The following day, I got a court summon that after all the expenses they incurred in the bid to bury their father, the church did not allow them to bury their father. The court sent people to go find out and I showed the court the law, the Canon law against such burial. At that time it was written in Latin. And I told them that the Pope was the best interpreter of the Canon law and that I could only read it, so they should obey the law. They lost the case. They did not stop there; they came to Benin to appeal the case and I won the case. They then went to the Supreme Court in Lagos. When I got to the court the following morning, Sir Adetokunbo Ademola’s reaction was, “what is a reverend father doing in my court?” This is because I was wearing my robe, I always do. That was how I was acquitted and some costs were awarded against the man. I won all the three rounds of the case.
As chairman of Bendel and later Edo Christians Pilgrims Board, you had an encounter with suspected assassins. What really happened?
Not just an encounter but different types of encounters. Those who wanted to go overseas, “pastors” brought them and claimed that they were going for spiritual renewal in Jerusalem. I believe a man of God; I am not in your mind but if you present yourself to me as a man of God, I believe you as man of God. Some of those people were taken but they went to Israel and never came back; they ran away, both men and girls. So when I became the national director of the pilgrims welfare board, I was cautioned by the then Head of State, Gen. Sanni Abacha, to be very careful not to tarnish the image of Nigeria. Then we adopted a new strategy; even after you had been screened and you said you had genuine documents, when we got to airport, we would search you. That was how we discovered that what the fake pilgrims were doing was put one shirt and a pair of trousers in their bags and fill the bag with stacks of newspapers so that when they get to the airport in Rome, they would abandon the bags at the airport and escape into Italy. We also discovered that they had other passports other than the Nigerian passports. We eventually decided not to use the Nigerian passport. We were using pilgrims’ passport.
So, two of my cars were snatched and I was kidnapped and beaten; I was asked if I felt that the pilgrims’ board was my property. Even the state leader was also kidnapped and beaten but he later got his car back. Then during the investigation, it was discovered that the accountant to the board was the one collecting money and inserting peoples’ names. So he was dismissed. At the federal level, I had problems with board members; not only were they anxious for money they were also vicious. I resigned both at the state level and the national level, especially when an ambassador then took our money.
Was the board a combined one for Muslims and Christians?
Yes but when I became the national director it was separated and I was given even an office at the old Daily Times building at kawaka, Lagos and I had a lodge at Victoria Island.
So how did the ambassador come about taking your money?
We were attached to the Foreign Affairs Ministry where he was ambassador and the money was in the ministry’s account. We tried and tried but we could not get the money back. At the end of the day, I resigned without any send-off after 14 years of service. I wrote my letter and resigned.
As a servant of God do you have any other experience, bad or good?
Yes, in the Catholic Church there are a lot of tribal sentiments though we are working as one. But now, especially the church in Nigeria; when the white men came, we accepted them generally but why are we now rejecting ourselves to the extent that a bishop will be appointed to a place and the people will say he is not from the area. As people of God, must we behave like that? And when you look thoroughly into those actions you can find lies. These things make one feel disappointed.
We hear out there that men of God face the most temptations have you ever had any and how did you surmount it?
Well, as human beings everybody at a time or the other faces temptation but one has to control oneself. However, when you are sure of yourself and you know the God you serve, there’s no situation you cannot face but when you are not sure of yourself you will not be able to resist any temptation.
Which means you have had temptations?
(Cuts in) No, no. The only thing I know is that as a leader, you have people begging you to do this or that for them, especially when I was the national director of the pilgrims’ board, young men and women would come and tell me that whatever it would take, they would want me to assist them to get out of the country. Even very prominent Nigerians are ready to give you millions of naira to make sure you help their children or relations out of the country. But then it is not only my name that I will protect if I don’t do it but the catholic church or Christendom; and also we know what your banner headline will be when such a thing happens: “Catholic priest caught taking bribe.” When it happen you can only deny but it is between me and you. Many came like that but I always told them to go their districts and if you bring such a person, however you did it, I don’t know but the name is under your district. No matter the amount they brought I never took and I will not take. I believe in my grandfather’s saying; “I am not hungry; I am not satisfied, but I’m not like one who has not eaten at all.”
I always believe in the Lord, no matter what happens. I was never taught to take what does not belong to me. Even when my parents died and we went to live with other people, any food that was not given to me I did not touch because I didn’t know what was there and my life has been like that.
What of women who come for counselling?
They come but they know the kind of person I am. They say I am not approachable, so when you come to my place, will you be talking to a man who is not approachable? I deal with people on official basis. So women coming, I have only one room; will they come and visit me there?
What if they decide to enter your room will you stop them?
Why will they enter my room? When I come to your house do I enter your bedroom?
You have a sitting room and temptation starts from there?
Temptation can start and when it does I tell you it is time to go. The intention of you coming, your evil will be crushed; you don’t know the power of a priest. So, there is nowhere you don’t have temptation. Some even fry chicken and bring to me but I don’t eat anyhow; even when I go to my siblings I hardly eat their food. I have my own kitchen I cook my food; even when I go to the village I cook my food. When I employed someone to take care of my house, he messed up the place. I even have a lawnmower there; I clear the field myself.
Has there been any time you regretted becoming a priest?
I have had occasions when I thought otherwise especially when Auchi Diocese was to be created. I was sent there to put some things on the ground; the people at Auchi did not want to see me. They were telling the bishop a lot of things about me. The bishop didn’t want me to know; in fact, he withdrew many documents from me. I became neither here nor there.
As a priest, I know you get stipends from the mission, is that enough for you or do you do other jobs like teaching to augment?
What they give me is enough for me. When I was a young priest, I used to smoke and take a little drink but now I no longer do those things; I take only wine. Even soft drinks, I don’t take now because the people producing them here are killer, nobody knows the content of the drink. Everybody now makes drinks. Indian, Chinese etc and plastic materials they use for the containers are recycled and no one knows where they got them from.
These days we hear of men of God engaging in financial and sexual immorality. For example, a pastor recently alleged that some men of God were given N7 billion to campaign for a particular party. What is your reaction to this?
It is not part of our culture; some of these half-baked churches are not recognised by the Catholic. Whatever they call themselves, it is all money, because of the state of the nation’s economy. I don’t know that they gave pastors N7 billion but when you hear that a lady went to church and gave N5 million, then you begin to question the integrity in the whole thing.
How do you relax?
When I was a young man, I used to play lawn tennis but at above 60 now I can no longer do those things, and I cannot jog here because of the security situation. I only walk; I take a good walk every other day. Even then it is safer to walk in Lagos than here. Whenever I come to Lagos I walk on the Victoria Island-Ikoyi Bridge. You see, one needs to be very careful these days. A woman was kidnapped recently because she discussed in a bus how she was sent some dollars and the bank short paid her the naira equivalent. In the night some boys went to pick her, and her family paid more than what she was sent before she was released.
This title monsignor, how does one get it, does one do any extra-ordinary to merit it?
When the church appreciates what you are doing they honour you. It is not given to everybody. There are senior priests who are not monsignors. At the time I became a monsignor I was not up to 25 years in priesthood. I was to be a diplomat in the church. Maybe because of the work I was doing the bishops in Rome found me worthy to be so honoured. At a time, anywhere I went they said I was the youngest monsignor in Nigeria. It is an honour bestowed by the Pope. It is not like the one they give with a feather and red cap. I even have a red cup now, which is the only thing I took from my late elder brother when he died.
Do you wear the red cap along with your robes?
Yes, if I go to the village, I put on the cap.
Is it not funny seeing a reverend father putting on a red cap while in his cassock?
It is the short cap, not the long one. They sell it in the market.
What is your advice to the electorate and politicians on the coming elections?
I am not on the side of any political party. I vote for performance and if you do not perform I don’t vote for you. The politicians have their goal and politics in Nigeria is money making.
Apart from that, there are those who are the so-called godfathers who feed fat on others. If we are serious about our country, people in the Senate should be seasoned lawyers, who will make laws to carry us forward. Now, the senators, how many bills have they passed in the past 15 years.
If you hadn’t been a priest, what would have been?
My plan was to be a medical doctor and then I got to the University of Ibadan and since there was no one to sponsor me, even my elder brother was also struggling at that time so I had to find a job. I then went to Umuahia where the job was. I had all the requirements to have studied medicine.
Don’t you think this line is better for you today than being a medical doctor?
Well, they say every disappointment is a blessing. God’s ways are not our ways. Humans plan and God has his own plan. I have seen people involved in terrible accidents and even without seeing a doctor they are saved while there are those who get involved in such accident and even while their rich relations are planning to take them for the best treatment, they die. God has a reason, so never blame God. Thank him in all situations.
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