The ancient and beautiful city of Calabar was agog recently with scintillating and colourful display of various cultural dances and masquerades recently as the Treaty King and Natural Ruler of the Efik Kingdom, Edidem Ekpo Okonabasi Otu V and his entire Elders in Council conferred on their son, Rt. Reverend Monsignor (Dr) John Kanebi Asuquo Aniagwu the title of Ada Idaha Ke Efik Eburutu.At the mostly prayerful ceremony at the Obong's Palace, the grand patriarch of the Efik Kingdom, through the Chairman of the Etubom's Traditional Council, Etubom Bob Duke, explained that the Efik nation took the unanimous decision 'with every pleasure and pride' to honour Monsignor Aniagwu, having 'monitored, over the years, his stewardship and progress in the Lord's vineyard.'In order to dispel the fears usually associated with a Christian accepting a chieftaincy title, the Chief Protocol Officer of the palace recalled the history of the strong ties between the throne of Calabar Kingdom and Christianity.By his conferment, Monsignor Aniagwu, a prince of Efio-Ekong Royal House (Eyamba), becomes a member of the Elders in Council. It also makes 'Fr. John', as he is still fondly called, 'a double Chief' because on the previous day, his royal Efio-Ekong family honoured him with a chieftaincy title. He is the present substantive Parish Priest of St. Leo's Catholic Church, Ikeja and the Episcopal Vicar of Ikeja Region of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos. He spoke with OBIKE ONAKEMU on the conferment of the title.MONSIGNOR, just recently you were conferred with the title of 'Ada Idaha Ke Efik Eburutu' by the Treaty King and Natural Ruler of the Efik Kingdom, Edidem Ekpo Okonabasi Otu V and his entire Elders in Council. How do you feel'Well, I really cannot describe my feeling because the honour came to me totally by surprise. It wasn't anything that I bargained for. When I received the letter from the Elders in Otubom's Council of the Efik Kingdom that I was to be conferred with a title; I never knew that I deserved such an honour but then, of course, there was a reason for it and the reason was that on the 15th of August, 2011, I celebrated the 40th anniversary of my ordination as a Catholic Priest.What I came to understand was that the Etubom Royal Council of the Efik Kingdom were giving me that honour in recognition of my 40th year as a Catholic Priest and also because of the fact that I happened to be the first person from Efikland to be ordained a Catholic Priest. So, I think that was just the justification the council decided to confer the honour on me.Do you really feel challenged over it'Yes, certainly, I feel challenged over it! And one of the challenges that I had was that I needed to be closer to my Efik roots. And one thing is that I was born and bred in the Western part of Nigeria. I studied both here and abroad. And I was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Lagos; so, I haven't had much contact with Calabar and Efik Kingdom as such.So, with this title, actually, there were two titles given to me. One was by my home branch of the Royal Family in Calabar and the other was by the Efik Kingom itself. With these titles, I felt challenged to identify more with my Efik roots and then show a lot of great interest in what is going on in Calabar and Efikland as a whole.As a Catholic Priest, are there no fears associated with Christians accepting chieftaincy titles'Well, I think there are different kinds of titles. There are some titles that are associated with the traditional religions of our people; there are other titles that are purely honorary. No Christian, much less say a Catholic Priest, would accept a title that is associated with traditional religion but when it has to do with a purely honourary title, there can be no fear to be entertained.Mine is not the first of such cases. I have known many cases like that before and in my case, I accepted this honour! I sought and obtained the approval of my superiors that are here in Lagos State. The Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie gave his approval and then, the Catholic Archbishop of Calabar, Most Rev. Joseph Ukpo also gave his approval. Without those approvals, I wouldn't have accepted the titles to begin with.Does the throne of Calabar have any ties with Christianity'Yes, before the title was conferred on me, the history of the Calabar Kingdom was read and presented. And from the history, it emerged that the Calabar throne has been connected with Christianity for over 500 years. And as a result, the very crowning of Calabar King ' Obong ' usually takes place in a Christian church.Now, as a Prince of Efio-Ekong Royal House (Eyamba) who has now become a member of the Elders in Council, what are now your responsibilities'Well, I honestly don't know in full what my responsibilities are but I would assume that any time that my own particular royal family is doing anything of any significance, I would be informed and be expected to take my proper place within the family or maybe, join other titled members of the family in marking or celebrating whatever event is to be celebrated.So, I expect that from time to time, the elders of the family would reach out to me to let me know what to do in the event of any occasion arising within the family.I would liken myself to the Israelites who journeyed for 40 years to get to the Promised Land and I thank God for reconnecting me with my roots 40 years after my ordination.The titles have not changed me in any way; quite honestly, I am still who I have been. In fact, most people around me don't even know anything about these titles; it is those who are close to me or those who have read about it in the newspapers or heard about it in other ways that are aware.So, I have remained the same person I have always been and going about my business. In fact, most of the times I don't even remember that I have titles at all. And I have to be reminded before it comes into my consciousness that I have anything to do with honorary titles.If Anthony Cardinal Okogie hadn't approved, I wouldn't have been able to accept the title to begin with. So, I am grateful to him that he gave me his approval to start with. In the case of the Archbishop of Calabar, Most Rev. Joseph Ukpo, he didn't only approve but physically attended the conferment ceremony which put to rest any doubts that a Catholic Priest could accept such a title.Then, the Bishop of Nnewi Diocese, Most Rev. Hilary Okeke happens to be very dear friend and brother of mine. I commend him for travelling all the way from Nnewi, which is about five hours to Calabar for the conferment. He took me completely by surprise. He didn't tell me that he was coming but he really impressed me so much and I deeply feel grateful to him that he made that sacrifice on my behalf.You are 68 years old. How do you feel'I don't feel any way different from the way I felt yesterday, but I have to say that I am deeply grateful to God that He has given me reasonably good health. I really don't feel 68 years in any way. I feel more or less like 50 years old because I am still able to go about my normal business, my regular activities. Today, to the glory of God, I have never had any serious health issue. I am still very active. For instance, this morning I played a full game of golf which I do from time to time.
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