The History of Abuja Archdiocese

Abuja is the Capital City of Nigeria; a status she formally assumed on December 12, 1991. Following the promulgation of Decree No. 6, on February 3, 1976, by the Federal Military Government of Nigeria, the Federal Territory was created, from parts of Niger State, which contributed 80% of the land, the old Plateau State (now Nasarawa State) which contributed 16% of the land, and the old Kwara state (now Kogi State), which contributed 4% of the land. Abuja is located in the central region of Nigeria, surrounded to the north by Kaduna State, to the east by Nasarawa State, to the south-west by Kogi State and to the west by Niger State.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja corresponds territorially with the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, which covers 7,315 square kilometres and with an estimated population of 4,184,790 (Dec 2025). Its Catholic population is about 934,863 (Dec 2024).

The Independent Mission of Abuja

Shortly after Abuja became the Capital City of Nigeria, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) expressed its desire to establish an ecclesiastical circumscription in the new civil Federal Capital Territory in late 1979. The CBCN’s wish received the approval of the Apostolic See. Consequently, the Independent Mission of Abuja was established on November 6, 1981, and Dominic Cardinal Ekandem, then Bishop of Ikot Ekpene Diocese, was appointed as its Ecclesiastical Superior (cf Acta Apostolicae Sedis ASS 70 (1982) 64).

Independent Mission to Diocese of Abuja

In the Apostolic Constitution of Pope John Paul II, the Independent Mission of Abuja was raised to the status of a diocese on June 19, 1989, with Dominic Cardinal Ekandem as its first bishop (cf. AAS 81 (1989) 1182, 1185-1186). He was given a personal title by the Roman Pontiff as the Archbishop of Abuja Diocese under the suffragan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Kaduna (cf. AAS 81 (1989) 1182).

His Eminence, Dominic Cardinal Ekandem, was installed as the first bishop by the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Nigeria, Archbishop Paul Fouad Tabet, in the company of the then Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Anthony Okogie, and the late Most Rev. Peter Jatau, Archbishop of Kaduna, on December 16, 1989.

Earlier in 1981, after His Eminence Dominic Cardinal Ekandem had been appointed the Superior of Abuja, the distance, the poor roads, and the running of his diocese in Ikot Ekpene made it impossible for him to live in Abuja frequently. He immediately appointed Father Matthew Hassan Kukah, a priest from the Archdiocese of Kaduna, as his representative in the newly created territory. A brief meeting was held between His Grace, Most Rev. Peter Jatau, Archbishop of Kaduna, Most Rev. Christopher Abba, Bishop of Minna (then) and Fr. Matthew Kukah at St Mary Catholic Church, Suleja, in January 1982 and pastoral work began in earnest. Other pioneering priests who joined the Cardinal in the Abuja mission and facilitated the development of the young mission were Very Rev. Fr. Richard Devine (late) of the Society of African Mission (SMA), who supervised the building of the National Missionary Seminary of St Paul at Gwagwalada. The Handmaids International Nursery-Primary School, Garki, and the first phase of the Pope John Paul Catholic Centre, Wuse II, started, respectively. The Holy Ghost Missionaries arrived in
1983.

The Episcopal Ordination of Mons John Oniayekan took place on January 6, 1983, by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, in the Basilica of St Peter in Rome. After serving as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Ilorin diocese and later as the residential Bishop in January 1985, on July 7, 1990, the Roman Pontiff, Pope John Paul II, appointed Most Rev. John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan as the Coadjutor Bishop of Abuja (cf. AAS 83 (1990) 1019). On September 28, 1992, Bishop Onaiyekan succeeded Dominic Cardinal Ekandem having attained age 75; the canonical age of retirement.

Dominic Cardinal Ekandem was called to eternal rest in the Lord on November 24, 1995 (cf. AAS 88 (1996) 128), but before his death, the diocese of Abuja had been elevated by the Holy See.

From Diocese to Archdiocese of Abuja

Pope John Paul II, in his Apostolic Constitution, elevated the Diocese of Abuja to a Metropolitan See on March 26, 1994, with Most Rev. John O. Onaiyekan as its Metropolitan and the Archbishop of Abuja (cf. AAS 88 (1994) 557-558; 780). As the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja developed and grew in population, Archbishop John Onaiyekan intensified his efforts to develop the young Archdiocese to serve the ever-increasing population in the capital territory. On November 8, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Reverend Father Anselm Umoren, MSP, as an Auxiliary Bishop of Abuja (cf. AAS 104 (2012) 70). On November 24, 2012, Most Reverend John Onaiyekan was created a cardinal.

On March 11, 2019, Pope Francis appointed Most Reverend Ignatius Ayau Kaigama as the Coadjutor Archbishop of Abuja. On November 9, 2019, Archbishop Kaigama (pioneer Bishop of Jalingo and former Archbishop of Jos) succeeded Cardinal Onaiyekan as Archbishop of Abuja and Metropolitan of the Abuja Ecclesiastical Province. Most Reverend Ignatius Kaigama was officially installed as the Archbishop of Abuja on December 5, 2019.