By CHIDIPETERS OKORIE
Silence That Became Complicity
The silence of the Catholic Church is no longer neutral—it has become complicit.
What is unfolding at Tansian University in Anambra State is not just a crisis of governance. It is a spiritual tragedy, a moral reckoning, and perhaps, if left unchallenged, the beginning of the end for Catholic education as we once knew it in Nigeria.
I have watched with growing alarm as the university—founded as a beacon of Catholic values, academic excellence, and missionary purpose—slides into chaos. Rev. Fr. Barr. Edwin Chukwujekwu Obiorah, SAN, a priest of the Awka Diocese and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has emerged as the architect of one of the boldest institutional takeovers in Nigerian higher education history.
What began as legal consultation has metastasized into near-absolute control. And the Church, shamefully, has watched in silence.
A Founder’s Vision Betrayed
Tansian University was never just an academic venture—it was the life’s mission of the late Msgr. Prof. John Bosco Akam. A priest, theologian, educator, and visionary, he founded the university as a living embodiment of Catholic social teaching, in blessed memory of his benefactor, Blessed Iwene Tansi.
He devoted his entire life to it—body, mind, and soul—and even in death left clear and unambiguous instructions in his Will: the Missionary Sons of Tansi (Tansian Missionaries) were to inherit and steward the university.
But that transition never happened.
Instead, what followed his passing in 2021 was an illegal administrative coup—a systematic effort to seize control, slowly, quietly, and methodically—while the Church hierarchy stood still.
The Rise of Fr. Obiorah
In 2017, Tansian University contracted Fr. Obiorah as legal counsel, following the involvement of Bishop Paulinus Ezeokafor of Awka Diocese. The role was initially advisory, but his personal animosity toward Msgr. Akam had been evident years earlier.
Back in 2010, as legal counsel to the estranged daughter of Chief Mrs. Juliana Onuorah, Fr. Obiorah openly spoke with contempt against Msgr. Akam during a property dispute. His words betrayed envy and bitterness, unbecoming of a priest.
That tension simmered until 2015 when Msgr. Akam, seeking diocesan recognition for the Missionary Sons of Tansi, again encountered him through the Bishop’s intervention. Although the effort failed, Msgr. Akam—perhaps in a bid to show goodwill—directed all university legal matters to Fr. Obiorah.
This decision would later prove disastrous.
From Adviser to Usurper
After Msgr. Akam’s death in February 2021, Fr. Obiorah escalated his influence. He sidelined the Tansian Missionaries, cut off family members, and restricted access to financial resources.
The ultimate move came with the registration of a new entity—Tansian University Umunya, Anambra State Limited by Guarantee—allegedly without board approval. Under this structure, Fr. Obiorah installed himself as Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
This was not reform. It was a takeover.
Protests and Resistance
Prof. Godwin Uchenna Akam, the Pro-Chancellor and brother of the late founder, petitioned the National Universities Commission (NUC), accusing Fr. Obiorah of hijacking the university through unlawful corporate structures.
He called the move illegal, illegitimate, and immoral.
Yet, months later, the coup structure remains. The Tansian Missionaries—the rightful heirs—remain locked out. Family members are sidelined. Executors of the Will were obstructed by Fr. Obiorah himself.
Why? Because no one dares to challenge a priest who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
The Church’s Deafening Silence
This is where silence becomes betrayal.
- Cardinal Peter Okpaleke of Ekwulobia owes a debt of loyalty. During the Ahiara crisis, Msgr. Akam defended him financially, morally, and spiritually. Today, the Cardinal looks away.
- Bishop Paulinus Ezeokafor of Awka must discipline his diocesan priest. A priest is called to serve, not to rule.
- Bishop Jonas Benson Okoye of Nnewi, once Msgr. Akam’s student, has a duty to defend his teacher’s legacy.
- Archbishop Valerian Okeke of Onitsha must rise above past disagreements with Msgr. Akam to defend Catholic education in Anambra.
Yet, they remain silent.
A University in Ruins
Meanwhile, Tansian University is sinking:
- Staff unpaid or underpaid.
- Facilities decaying.
- Students disoriented.
- Donors and partners withdrawing.
Legal disputes abound. Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka has accused the university of violating a consent judgment on land. A Turkish construction firm is chasing over ₦430 million in unpaid fees.
Former Chancellor, Senator Victor Umeh, resigned in 2024, describing the takeover as a “moral collapse.”
A Warning Beyond Tansian
What is happening at Tansian is bigger than one priest, one university, or one legal battle. It is a warning sign for the Catholic Church in Nigeria.
When priests exploit silence to seize institutions, the mission of the Church suffers. When lawyers in cassocks rewrite corporate structures, faith-based legacies collapse.
Today it is Tansian. Tomorrow, it could be any Catholic-founded institution.
My Personal Witness
I do not write as a distant observer. I served Msgr. Prof. John Bosco Akam for 15 years as his Personal Assistant on Special Duties and Public Relations Officer of Tansian University.
I was with him in the hospital during his last days, at his bedside when he passed—not of COVID-19 as rumoured, but of the heartbreak and depression inflicted by betrayal.
His vision for Tansian was a miracle of Blessed Iwene Tansi. That miracle must not be reduced to rubble by clerical ambition.
Conclusion: Complicity Wears a Cassock Too
If the Church will not act, it forfeits its moral authority.
If bishops cannot rein in their priests, they have lost the capacity to lead.
If silence continues, then we must name it plainly: complicity wears a cassock too.
The Catholic Church in Nigeria must now choose—between the memory of a faithful priest and the ambition of a power-hungry lawyer; between its founding mission and its present inaction.
Because what is at stake is not just a university, but the very soul of the Church itself.
Chidipeters Okorie
Former Personal Assistant on Special Duties & Public Relations Officer, Tansian University