The Chairman of Udenu Local Government Area, Aka Eze Aka, on Tuesday, joined the clergy and lay faithful of the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka at the burial of the pioneer bishop of the diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Francis Emmanuel Ogbonna Okobo. The solemn rites took place at St. Theresa’s Cathedral, Nsukka.
The burial ceremony, which began the previous day, with a Vigil Mass at the Cathedral, drew an unprecedented crowd of worshippers and dignitaries from across Nigeria. More than 40 bishops, countless priests and religious men and women, the Papal Nuncio to Nigeria Archbishop Michael Francis Crotty, political leaders including the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, members of the Diplomatic Corps, captains of industries, and many crème de la crème of society were in attendance.
In his final earthly journey, Bishop Okobo was laid to rest at the crypt vault of the Nsukka Diocese immediately after the Burial Mass.
Recall that the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka had been thrown into mourning following the passing of its first bishop, who died on August 29, 2025, at the Niger Foundation Hospital, Enugu, at the age of 89.
Born on November 4, 1936, in Lejja, present-day Nsukka LGA, Bishop Okobo was ordained a priest on June 4, 1966, and consecrated bishop on January 6, 1991, at St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, before his installation as the pioneer bishop of Nsukka Diocese. At the time of his assumption of office, the diocese had only 27 parishes and 70 priests.
By the time of his retirement in 2013, Bishop Okobo had transformed Nsukka Diocese into a flourishing faith community of 146 parishes, over 240 priests, 200 seminarians, and thousands of catechists and religious.
For the people of Nsukka Diocese and beyond, the burial of Bishop Okobo was more than a farewell; it was a celebration of a life of faith, service, and enduring legacy.
© AkaEzeAka Media Team.
