His Grace Most. Rev. Dr. Ignatius Ayau Kaigama
Archbishop of Abuja
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Address Info :Holy Rosary Civic Centre, 51 Mambolo Street, Zone 2 - Wuse, Abuja
Biography
Kaigama was born in Kona, Taraba, on 31 July 1958. He studied for the priesthood at St. Augustine’s Seminary in Jos. He was ordained a priest on 6 June 1981. At the Pontifical Gregorian University, he earned a doctorate in theology in 1991.
Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop of the newly established Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalingo on 3 February 1994. He was consecrated as bishop on 23 April 1995. The Bishop of Yola, Patrick Francis Sheehan OSA, was the principal consecrator, with co-consecrators Gregory Obinna Ochiagha, Bishop of Orlu, and Athanasius Atule Usuh, Bishop of Makurdi.
On 18 May 2000, Pope John Paul named Kaigama to succeed Gabriel Gonsum Ganaka as Archbishop of Jos.
Kaigama was President of the Nigerian Bishops Conference from 2012 to 2018 and President of the Episcopal Conference of West African Catholic Bishops. He is also chairman of the Plateau State-convened “Interreligious Committee for Peace”. Together with the late Emir of Wase, Alhaji Haruna Abdullahi, he has been involved in promoting mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims.
After the riots in Jos in January 2010, he calmed the situation and clarified the conflict in the international press.
On 25 July 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named Kaigama a member of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation.
In 2014, the Catholic Bishops Conference in Nigeria supported legislation to make participation in a same-sex marriage a crime punishable by 14 years imprisonment. It noted the move as a “courageous act” and a “step in the right direction”. Kaigama argued that the action was “in line with the moral and ethical values of the Nigerian and African cultures”, and blessed President Goodluck Jonathan for not bowing to international pressure: “To protect you and your administration against the conspiracy of the developed world to make our country and continent, the dumping ground for the promotion of immoral practices”.
Kaigama condemned foreign aid programs for a disproportionate emphasis on contraception. In 2014, he said: “In the first place, children die in infant mortality, in inter-tribal wars and diseases, but yet you come to say ‘decrease your population and we will give you economic help.’ We want food, we want education, we want good roads, healthcare. We are being given the wrong things and we are being asked to accept, simply because we are poor.”
Pope Francis named him Archbishop Coadjutor of Abuja on 11 March 2019 and he became Archbishop of Abuja when Pope Francis accepted the resignation of his predecessor, John Onaiyekan, on 9 November 2019.
WELCOME NOTE
Excerpts from Speech by Most Reverend Ignatius Ayau Kaigama during his formal taking possession as Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja on December 5, 2019.
After his very exceptional and wonderful tenure for which we remain happy and grateful to God, I respectfully salute His Eminence, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, who for nearly three decades has led the Archdiocese of Abuja with Apostolic courage and zeal as he retires after clocking the 75 years as stipulated by Canon Law. I wish him a very tranquil and restful retirement.
My own little page has now opened in the history of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja. My unexpected and unmerited journey to become a member of Abuja Archdiocese began on March 11, 2019, when the Holy Father, Pope Francis, kindly appointed me as Coadjutor Archbishop of Abuja Archdiocese. The Apostolic Nuncio in Nigeria, His Excellency, Antonio Guido Filipazzi, informed me of my appointment by Pope Francis at 9.45am in the Nunciature on Friday, February 15, 2019. Noticing my apprehension and agitation while breaking the news to me, the Nuncio used the examples of Abraham and the Blessed Virgin Mary to reassure me that all would be well. Asked, as usual, if I would accept the assignment by the Holy Father, I could not give him any definite answer as I felt slightly disoriented. With trembling and trepidation, I travelled back to Jos, my mind wandering like a wild cat. Arriving at my house in Jos and kneeling in thanksgiving for a safe journey before the Blessed Sacrament, the thought of leaving Jos suddenly dawned on me and I felt like a stranger in my house!
After troubled reflections on the implications of my appointment but knowing that it is neither an office one campaigned for nor influenced by powerful god fathers, but a doing of the Lord, I called the Apostolic Nuncio on Sunday, February 17, 2019, to pledge my obedience and humble acceptance of the appointment by the Holy Father. I wish to thank the Holy Father for the confidence reposed in me by entrusting the pastoral leadership of the Archdiocese of Abuja to me and I hereby renew my pledge of loyalty and filial devotedness. To His Excellency the Apostolic Nuncio, I express my gratitude for your generous words of encouragement and support as I count on your fraternal collaboration as well as the support of my brother Bishops in the Abuja Ecclesiastical Province and indeed all members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).
My earnest prayer is that the Lord will take control and guide the course of events in Abuja Archdiocese during my tenure. May He guide and bind in redeeming love the priests, the religious and the wonderful lay faithful of Abuja Archdiocese, moulding us more into a strongly united and indivisible family in His service, so that at the end, we shall receive the crown of glory and hear the words of Matt. 25:34, “Come and enter the kingdom of my Father”. I pray and hope that we will be able to trust one another, be friends and colleagues and be a happy family together.
With the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity of Abuja, we need to make more conscious effort to promote dialogue, harmonious coexistence, reconciliation and peace both ad intra and ad extra, through constant meetings, interactions, fervent prayers, which I believe are the antidote to disunity, polarization and fragmentation. The Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja in the Federal Capital should be a home to all and should belong to all and not be seen as a colony of a specific group or region. We must always champion the common good rather than sectional interests. Everyone living or working in the Abuja Archdiocese should find a home in our Church. Whether you are the majority or minority, whether you are many, few or alone, please, feel at home in our Church, family of God.
God has given us multiple gifts and talents, which everyone should use effectively and selflessly for the benefit of our Archdiocesan family and humanity. You have always supported the physical growth, development and expansion of parishes, schools and other socio-pastoral projects. Please, do not be tired. There is still work to be done.
As priests we know that our role is to lead the People of God after the model of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. It is about servant leadership, in simplicity, humility and holiness.
It means celebrating the Eucharist with reverence and not introducing unnecessary practices, visiting the sick at home and in the hospitals, those in prison, being attentive to the plight of the poor and empathizing with them and being the voice of the voiceless without being partisan. To my new family, please help me to be the shepherd of the flock of God that is entrusted to me, to watch over it, not simply as a duty but gladly, because God wants it; not for sordid money as 1 Peter 5:1-4 says, but because I am eager to do it.
With the words of Philippians 2:2-4, I exhort all of us to be united in our convictions and united in our love, with a common purpose and a common mind, avoiding selfish personal interests and parochial sentiments: “There must be no competition among you, no conceit; but everybody is to be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, so that nobody thinks of his own interests first, but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead”.
