Paul Obi writes on the centenary anniversary of St Patrick Kakwagom – Boki and the coming of Irish missionaries to the then old Ogoja Province, Cross River State
Theidea of Christian evangelization for Nigeria was first conceived by Bishop John Shanahan, in 1920 in faraway Kiltegan, Republic of Ireland. By 1921, the Irish missionaries arrived Southern Nigeria in the coast of British West Africa and commenced evangelism, spreading Catholicism in the hinterland. Within the Cross River area, made up of today Cross River and Akwa Ibom States, beyond the Malaria plaque that was a big challenge, the receptive nature in some of the towns the Irish missionaries visited will go a long way to define today’s history and the making of the new world in those locations.
Thus, by 1921 when the Irish Missionaries arrived Okem, in the Ishibori area of then old Ogoja Province, they started evangelism, and later added Western education to their missionary work. Giving a historical…
Source: Thisday Newspaper
