Order of St Augustine Province of Nigeria

ABOUT THE ORDER IN NIGERIA

The Order of St Augustine is traced to the life and writings of St Augustine, the renowned Bishop of Hippo (354-430), who graced the Church in North Africa in a time of strife and division. Son of Patricius and Monica, he was born in the village of Tagaste on the border of present-day Algeria and Tunisia and, apart from some years in Italy - where he became a disciple of St. Ambrose and surrendered to the grace of the Gospel - he spent all his life in that region. It was there too that he wrote a simple Rule of Life for his followers, men and women, and this has constituted their ID card throughout the course of Christian history.
The Order, as we know it today, took shape through an amalgamation of many autonomous groups who based their lives on that Rule. They were brought together, as an apostolic fraternity, through the Great Unions of 1244 and 1256 and since then they have served the needs of the Church in small communities according to the demands of the time and the directives of the Gospel and their Rule of Life. Missionary work is one such directive and it is not surprising to learn that Augustinian missionaries were involved in the early evangelization of both east and west Africa. They were sent to Elmina, in present-day Ghana, as early as 1572 and to Mombasa (Kenya) in 1597. In both cases, some of their number - four in Mombasa, five in Elmina - gave the ultimate witness to the Gospel and were, it would seem, martyred for their faith. Augustinians at this time also established the first Catholic community in Nigeria, in Old Warri -- which for a time was known as the City of St Augustine.
Augustinian missionaries were again to the fore in the revived missionary impetus of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which reached out to Africa. They were, in fact, the first of the old religious orders in the Church to come to Nigeria, in the year 1938. The Irish Province of the Order had been entrusted with the evangelisation of Adamawa Province, which then formed part of the Prefecture of Jos. The first three priests came to Jos, however, not in order to establish a branch of the Augustinian Order. They came, in answer to the call of successive popes, to establish the Church in an area where it did not exist, in the present Adamawa, Borno and Taraba states. Their work led to the erection of the Prefectures of Yola (1950) and Maiduguri (1953), and to the dioceses of Yola in 1962 and Maiduguri in 1966.
This area remained the focus of Augustinian endeavours until 1967, when the Irish Province was asked to establish and staff a major seminary in Jos. It was a time of crisis in the country and, in particular, for the young indigenous Church in the north. The establishment of St. Augustine's Major Seminary is probably the single most important factor in the extraordinary growth of the Church there over the past 30 years. It was the seed-bed of the local Church, a nursery for future priests and bishops and the spiritual and intellectual matrix of a new Christendom.
THE BIRTH OF THE AUGUSTINIAN ORDER IN NIGERIA 
Although Augustinian houses had been established in Mubi (1965) and Iwaro-Oka in Ondo State (1966), it was not until the Irish Provincial Chapter of 1974 that a firm commitment was made to the establishment of the Order in Nigeria. A site for a monastery, adjoining the Major Seminary in Jos, was acquired and Fr. Vincent Hickey was appointed to supervise the project and to act as Novice Master. When the distinctive small round chalets and large community rooms were occupied in 1976, the incipient Vice Province had a home and thereafter, as in the case of the Major Seminary, progress was sure and steady.
A year later, at the General Chapter of 1977, Nigeria was made a Vice Province of the Order and Fr. Declan Brosnan became the first Vice Provincial. He presided over the growth of the Order for the next twelve years, during which time houses were opened in Benin City (31.12.1977), Yola (31.12.1981), Lagos (31.12.1987) and Kaduna (31.12.1988). The first two Nigerian Augustinians Joseph Ekwu and Barth. Chidili, were ordained to the priesthood in 1980 and they have been followed by some 100 others to date.
During the Chapter of 1989, Fr Declan Brosnan’s long tenure as Vice Provincial came to an end and Fr Vincent B. Hickey became the Vice Provincial, the office held for eight (8) years until handing over to Fr James Daman at the Chapter of 1997 who served as the Vice Provincial till he was appointed the Bishop of Jalingo Diocese in December 2000.
As the number of Nigerian Augustinians increased, the number of their ageing Irish confreres decreased, there was a corresponding increase in number of houses across Nigeria: Zing, Kano and near Abuja. As a consequence of the appointment to the episcopate of Fr James Daman (Later Bishop James Daman) another election was held and this time, Fr. Patrick Akinrimisi, was the choice of a clear majority of the brethren. He had the honour of attending the recent General Chapter of the Order in Rome, during which a new Prior General was elected and the Order in Nigeria was accorded full Provincial status. This development made Fr Akinrimisi the first Provincial to pilot over the affairs of the young and prospective province of Nigeria from 2001-2005.
Fr Niyiring John succeeded Fr Patrick Akinrimisi, as the Provincial during the 2005 Provincial Chapter in Jos. He remained in office until his appointment as the Bishop of Kano in 2007. As a consequence, Fr McDonnell Brendan served as the Vicar Provincial from 2007-2008. And at the General Chapter of 2008, Fr Hyacinth Kangyep was elected the Prior Provincial and served till 2012.
During the Provincial Chapter of 2012, the 4th Ordinary Chapter of the Province, held from 20th – 24th August at the Augustinian Monastery, Jos, Fr John A. Abubakar, became the Prior Provincial of the Order of St Augustine of Nigeria. His commitment like those before him opened new frontiers for rapid expansion of the Province at home and at abroad. And in 2013, the Province of St Augustine of Nigeria celebrated her diamond Jubilee (75th anniversary) in Nigeria: it was a celebration of the goodness of God, of the heroic sacrifices of the Anglo-Scottish and Irish Augustinians, of the faith-response of our pioneer indigenous Augustinians and of our collective commitment to continue building on the foundation laid by our Augustinian ancestors.
The 5th General Chapter of the Province of Nigeria was once again convoked by the Prior Provincial Fr John A. Abubakar who was again given the nod to a second term as the Prior Provincial of the Order of St Augustine, Nigeria Province. The Chapter was declared open on the 5th September, 2016 by the Prior General, Most Rev. Fr. Alejandro Moral Aton, OSA and was closed on 9th September, 2016. The last day of the Chapter witnessed the commissioning/opening ceremony of St Augustine College, DU, Jos by the Prior General to admiration of the Chapter Fathers.
Shortly after the Provincial Chapter was over, the Province for the first time was given the opportunity to host the Intermediate General Chapter, a meeting of Prior General, members of the General Council, all the superiors of the various Augustinian circumscriptions in the world and other invited Augustinian personalities. The meeting was well attended and took place from on the 18th – 30th September, 2016. The Intermediate General Chapter came to a close with notes of appreciation tinged with surprise at the homely atmosphere and warmth all felt during their short stay in Nigeria.
The above gives us more of a linear chronicle of our journey so far, it is not exhaustive of when other communities and institutions were acquired and established respectively. But suffice it to state that at present, we can boast of eighteen (18) Parishes in Nigeria and four (4) Parishes abroad, three (3) School communities, three (3) Formation houses with an institute of Philosophy and we now number a hundred plus. In the words of Fr Ikechukwu Kanu, “A cursory glance at the miles already covered (till date) reveals tremendous strides” and with hope in God, we look to the future with confidence believing that He who began this good work will bring it to completion in accordance to his will, for He is the author and finisher... to Him be glory and honour forever. Amen