THE MAN REV. MSGR.
PROF. UDOIDEM
By Ignatius Ibanga, Writer/Blogger
I find myself seriously
defective and limited to write about a man, a priest, a teacher and a
philosopher whose profile and accomplishment is absolutely overwhelming and
intimidating.
For several weeks, I
did not know where to start and how to start the chronicle of this outstanding
personality when Prof. (Mrs.) Margaret-Mary Okon, Deputy Dean, Post Graduate
School, University of Calabar asked me to write about Rev. Fr. Prof. Sylvanus Iniobong
Udoidem for ‘The Mothers Magazine’, a
publication of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women Organisation – DCCWO, Uyo
Diocese. Not because I have not written before or perhaps do not know him a
little, but I was simply intimidated by his records and the trajectory of his
life is one big frog I obviously find it difficult to eat. But I had to eat it.
How? From the genesis of course.
The book of Genesis
chapter one, verse one tells us that “in
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”, the earth though
formless, empty and covered with darkness was illuminated by the light God
ordered upon this creation. The beauty of sunrise, the beauty of the ocean, the
mystery of a new born baby is all God’s unique creation. We ourselves are part
of this creation. Everything we can see and everything we cannot see, they all
came from God. Same could be said of little Iniobong Udoidem who in 1951 came
as light into the world to illuminate certain aspect of human philosophy and
reshape formless and empty things and bring these ashes to beauty and make them
exceptional creation with his charism and philosophical ideas.
Periods abound in human
history when God in His benevolence and grace created exceptional and extraordinary
people in different fields and in different times who defiled indices of other
normal creation and human beings of their time. From Jesus Christ to Mohammed,
Aristotle, Socrates, William Shakespeare, Mikhail Gorbachev, Martin Lurther
King, George Washington, Sir Isaac Newton, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, John
Paul 11, Cardinal Dominic Ignatius Ekandem, Franklin Roosevelt, G.F. Handel,
Mozart, Beethoven, Kofi Annan, Pele, Barack Obama, Messi, etc, all justified
the generosity of God. And our own, Rev. Fr. Msgr. Prof. Sylvanus Iniobong
Udoidem perfectly fits this class when you look at his background,
circumstances and strides in his field and career.
His
Root
In 1951, the process of
his taking human nature and being born of a woman was consummated in March of
that year and thus Rev. Fr. Prof. Sylvanus Iniobong Udoidem was born in
December 15th, 1951 to the family of Alexis and Cecilia Obot Udoidem
of Ekpọk Nung Nde in Ikot Abasi Akpan,
Mkpat Enin Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. His father, Alexis
was a teacher and his mother Cecilia, a farmer. Though he never grew up to know
her as he lost her two months after his birth, Fr. Iniobong Udoidem like a self
made man experienced very challenging and pathetic circumstances in life as he
grew up. Born without the fortune and luxury of life, but the labour of early
life confronted him throughout childhood and adolescence when his age could
barely cope. Yet he had to do this responsibility to contribute to family
survival: the responsibility of going to farm after school routinely to bring
food items for domestic use and for sale; the responsibility of tending his
younger ones; the responsibility of waking up very early in the morning and
going to the stream about 2 to 3 miles away from home to fetch water; the
responsibility of cleaning and keeping the house; the responsibility of
protecting the family from danger even at tender age as his father was some
miles away from home at St. Joseph School in Anua. These, he did without
crumbling and with the help of his younger sister Bernadette who often go with
him to the farm and stream. It was an enshrined culture of the early time by
parents to mould their wards through demanding hard work, discipline and
diligence so that they will grow to be good leaders and parent as well.
His village Ikot Abasi
Akpan is a community with five (5) family unit structures with his family Nung Nde as the royal family that
produces kingship in the community and the present village head, Eteidung Cletus
George Udoidem, a brother to his late father Alexis Obot Udoidem comes from the
same dynasty. The village at that time was a community with unique communal
bond where everybody plough the land to bring in abundant yield to feed their
family, sponsor them at school and feed the community too. They fear and
believe strongly in God, and love education. A predominantly farming and petty
trade village, Ikot Abasi Akpan could be described as the seat of Christianity
in northern Mkpat Enin. The village though first conquered for Christ by the
Roman Catholic Church, has since witnessed the presence of other Christian
denomination, some of which like African Church have produced a Bishop, while
other churches have their headquarteres in the village. Rev. Msgr. Prof.
Udoidem was the first catholic priest of Ikot Abasi Akpan and the first for old
Essene Deanery.
Interestingly, this
proverbial child was the boy who in March, 1961 stunned the entire community
and the surrounding villages when he majestically and boldly as plotted by his
Headmaster Mr. Vincent Akpan Umana of St. Augustine Primary School, Ikot Ntot, stood
tall to present the Community address for the first time by a child to Bishop
James Moynagh who came all the way from Calabar to visit Ikot Abasi Akpan. This
act, gave the boy Sylvanus Udoidem a new feat and invincibility that announced
him among his peers and contemporary. His name and firm grew but never entered
his head nor derailed his destiny.
The
Call to Vocation
In his work, PhilosoPoetry Rev. Fr. Prof. Udoidem in
chapter two, stanza four opined:
“Nature unfolds but at the same time it
hides,
The unfolding is exactly what hides
nature.
One cannot really have access to what it
is,
All that we know are the unnatural.
And that in itself is nature’s critiques
of itself in its desire to be known.”
The above- asserted
philosophy of Prof. Udoidem is not unconnected with the philosophy of Aristotle
on nature. In his book Phusis,
Aristotle defined nature as that which makes a thing what it is. Thus, we can
vehemently say that nature had predestined a priest into the family of Udoidem
long before Rev. Fr. Prof. Udoidem was born in 1951. Put differently, nature
had hid a priest even before creation in the lineage of Udoidem dynasty. It was
not an accident or coincident that his father Alexis Obot Udoidem went to St.
Joseph School, Anua. It was made so by nature and nurtured out by human agent.
Alexis Obot Udoidem on graduation from St. Joseph, Anua in 1932 had desired to
proceed for priesthood with his classmate and friend late Dominic Cardinal
Ekandem, with whom he muted and expressed the interest but had serious resistance
and pressure from his family who wanted him the first and only educated member
of the family to work and support the family.
31 years later,
precisely 1963, nature culled Alexis Obot Udoidem to bid his will as he took
his son Sylvanus then a boy of 12 years to meet his friend and classmate late
Dominic Cardinal Ekandem, then Bishop of Ikot Ekpene Diocese and the privilege
of sharing on table with his Lordship that faithful day, ignited and propelled
an unparallel desire in little Sylvanus Udoidem to become a priest. This was
the prayers and human nurture of Msgr’s father to have his first son become the
priest he could not.
The process of seminary
admission, training and subsequently ordination are better told by Rev. Fr.
Prof. Udoidem himself. In the fifties, sixties and even seventies, it was like
perhaps preparing to heaven now. It was very rigorous, it was very intense and
it was very sanctimonious. However, Fr. Sylvanus Udoidem along with 6 others
were adjudged worthy for the sacred order of priesthood in the order of Melchizedek.
Thus in December 10th, 1977 (25 years after his birth), his dream
came true. The venue was the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Calabar and the presiding
prelate was His Eminence, Dominic Cardinal Ekandem. Fr. Udoidem became the
first priest of Essene and divinely opens the floodgates of successive priest
in the area.
His
Pastoral, Academic Work and other Feats
Rt. Rev. Msgr. S. Inibong
Udoidem started his first pastoral assignment at the Assumption Parish, Ndon
Ebom in January 1978 as assistant and also served at the girls’ school –
Juniorate as the principal and a tutor. His presence among women religious within
the school stirred some sort of jealousy especially with his unreserved
enthusiasm to the irresistible sumptuous morning breakfast of the Rev. Sisters.
In January, 1980, he left for the Minor Seminary, Mfamosing. In 1982, he left
for US where he studied and also served. He is a priest of Uyo Diocese in
Calabar Ecclesiastical province, serving in the Diocese of Port Harcourt for 29 years, 15 of which as the Chaplain at
the University of Part Harcourt. He is an alumnus of the Catholic University of
America, where he obtained an M.A (1983) and Ph.D in Philosophy (1985). He has
authored twenty Books and over Fifty Journal articles. He is a Professor of
Philosophy and a former two-term Dean of Humanities at the University of Port
Harcourt and now Rector, Catholic institute of West Africa.
Rev. Msgr. Prof.
Udoidem has served and worked at St. John’s Okobo, Immaculate Conception
Seminary Mfamosing, St. Michael, Oban, Calabar, St. John, Asong, as well as in various
Diocesan Committees in Calabar, Uyo and Port Harcourt Dioceses.
In America he had the
following pastoral assignments:
Chaplain, Holy
Cross Brothers Community, Washington DC, (1982-1985)
Parochial Vicar,
St. Francis de Sales, Kilmarnock, Virginia (1982-1985)
Parochial Vicar,
St. Augustine’s Church, Washington DC (1985-1986)
Parochial Vicar,
St. Andrew’s Myrtle Beach, SC (1995-1996)
Parochial Vicar,
St. Hegwig, South Bend, Indiana (1996-1997)
Director of
Campus Ministry, Diocese of Charleston, SC (2006-2008)
Chaplain to
three Universities and Administrator of Sacred Heart Church and Our Lady of
Good Counsel, Folly Beach, SC
In his academic life,
Msgr. Sylvanus Iniobong Udoidem is a professor of philosophy for 18 years; a
former Head of Department and a former two –term Dean of Humanities at the
University, Washington DC(1985-1986); Research fellow, Centre for Research in
values and philosophy, Washington DC (1995-1996); Visiting Professor,
University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA (1996-98), Visitng Research Professor at
the citadel, the South Carolina Military College (2006-2008). He has authored 20
books and over 50 journal articles in internationally reputed journals. He has
presented many public lectures in various fora in Nigeria, Europe and in the
Americas.
Monsignor Professor Udoidem
is a poet and music composer. He demonstrated his genius in composing both the
lyrics and the music of the University of Port Harcourt Anthem (2011). In recognition
of his intellectual prowess and contribution to the body of knowledge in the
academic world, he was honoured as a Fellow of the Nigerian Philosophical
Association (FNPA) (2012). He has served as the external examiner and professorial
Assessor to many Nigerian Universities and University of Zimbabwe. He has also
served as the External Examiner to the Catholic Institute of West Africa for 18
years.
In recognition of his
personal spirituality as a Catholic priest and his contribution to the
development of the Christian faith both in Nigeria and in the Americas, he was
conferred with Papal Honours- Chaplain to His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI with
the title of a Monsignor (2008). In recognition of his academic excellence he
was appointed a consultant to the UNESCO Committee on the Teaching of Bioethics
to English Speaking African countries (2009). In recognition of his contribution
to the development of Akwa Ibom Community in Rivers State and service to Rivers
State, the Rivers State Government honoured him as a justice of peace. (2009).
The Traditional Rulers Council of Mkpat Enin honoured him as the Ata Ifiok 1 of
Mkpat Enin Local Government Area (2005). He has been the Director, Local
Affiliations and University- wide Local Accreditation., University of Port
Harcourt. On February 4, 2016, His Holiness, Pope Francis appointed him Rector,
Catholic Institute of West Africa.
From the above, it
would not be out of fact if I assert that the person at the centre of this
discourse is a self made man. A person who comes from uncompromising
circumstances, a person who was not born into privilege and wealth, but yet by
his own efforts, dreams, determination, manages to become a great success in
life in his called vocation and profession. He harnesses and utilizes the most
important masculine qualities: hard work, perseverance, personal responsibility
and most of all trust and faith in God to become and grow.
Although typically
associated with the rags to riches story, Msgr. Prof. S. I. Udoidem is a man
who attains far greater success than his original circumstances would have
indicated was possible. He had to overcome great obstacles to achieve his
goals. His presence height in life is made possible through education (credit
to the Catholic Church), hard work and sheer willpower.
Behold the man, the
priest, the teacher and the philosopher - Rev. Msgr. Prof. Sylvanus Iniobong Udoidem.