Interview: Watertown-Based Nurse Helps Patients In Onitsha Nigeria

By Julie Fay, Milton Patch

Vinieta Lawrence is the Director of Nursing at Emerson Village, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation center in Watertown. She recently volunteered on a medical mission with Onitsha America, Inc., bringing medical care and supplies to Onitsha, Nigeria. The Milton resident spoke with Milton Patch columnist Julie Fay about the vast differences and surprising similarities between health care in Nigeria and in the United States.

How did you come to participate in a medical mission to Nigeria?

One of my nurses knew of this group in Texas that was using telemedicine to treat patients in Nigeria. These physicians (originally from the coastal area of Nigeria) were using the Internet to log in, consult with doctors there and treat the patients. There’s a brain drain (in that) doctors from Nigeria settle in England or Canada or the U.S., but with twelve million people (in Onitsha), the need is great. So this group of physicians has been bringing free medicine and doing free health screenings there. I’ve been in contact with the group for the past four years, and earlier this year they asked me if I would like to be their guest and come.

What was your reaction when they asked you?

I jumped at the opportunity. I’ve always wanted to do missionary work, but as a single mother, I couldn’t commit to the extended time requirements, such as fifteen months for the Peace Corps, or even three months through church. But this was going to be ten days; to turn it down would have been unacceptable to me. I’d supported the missions in the past, but the physical going was much more of a commitment.

What kinds of situations did you encounter there?

I saw the same problems as in the U.S. People had no access to medical care, or the medical care they had was of poor quality, including the medicines. Also, people there, just like some people here, have to make a conscious decision about whether to buy medicine or buy food to put on their tables. It’s ridiculous, and just more ‘in your face’ there than here.

And the health conditions were similar, as well?

There’s a lot of hypertension and diabetes. One patient was so sick, with her blood pressure at 230/110 (normal is 120/80), I picked up my cell phone to dial 911 for an ambulance, but there’s no ambulance to call! I was waiting for her to stroke out on me, but we were able to give her medicines to bring her blood pressure down.

There was this twenty-something kid who was complaining about his eyes. He worked for the Red Cross, helping out his community with an immunization program for children through five years old. We saw him, and he had advanced glaucoma. Here’s this intelligent young man, doing something positive with his life, and he’s going blind. (Blindness is preventable with proper treatment of glaucoma.)

What was the most satisfying thing about the mission?

It was using my opportunities and expertise in a much bigger way than I can do locally. We saw 300 people in those few days, and they were so appreciative. They sang a song for me, and blessed me! Here, you don’t get a thank you when you do your job; people are ready to sue in a hot little minute. There, it was immediate gratification. I saw the results of a dramatic intervention for people who were really sick. It was overwhelming in a good way. It grounded me.

What was your favorite memory you brought back?

One of the doctors gave me a new name: Ada Di Ora Mma. It means “daughter to be appreciated that does good for the community,” or “daughter of the area.” I told (people) I’d see them next year, and I meant it.

NIGERIA: Boko Haram Threatens To Bomb UI, UNIBEN, 18 Others

Screening of vehicles at University of Ibadan following a bomb scare in the institution, Photo; Kehinde Gbadamosi
By Ola Ajayi & Gabriel Enogholase, Vanguard

IBADAN – DISSATISFIED with its unchallenged bombing activities in the North, Boko Haram has threatened to extend the reign of terror to southern parts of the country.

Leaders of the sect said yesterday that their radar was now on University of Ibadan (UI), University of Benin (UNIBEN) and 18 other universities, which they said they would bomb between yesterday (September 12) and September 17.

Boko Haram sent an e-mail last Thursday to the mail box of UNIBEN Registrar, notifying the institution of its resolve to bomb the university as part of its agenda to stop western education in the country. Last week, there was a bomb scare at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa.A deadly bomb explosions detonated by the dreaded Islamic Sect, Boko Haram, in many Northern cities including Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

For about a year now, counting from the October 1, 2010 Independence Day twin bomb explosions in Abuja, Boko Haram had stepped up its campaign to stop western education in Nigeria with a series of bomb blasts including a recent car-bombing of the Police Headquarters, Abuja and the bombing of the United Nations office in Abuja, which claimed scores of lives and with property worth millions of Naira destroyed.

Ngeria: 7 Feared Dead As Militants Bomb Bank, Police Station In Bauchi

The Misau Police Station, Bauchi. Source: Sahara Reporters
By Susan Edeh, Vanguard

BAUCHI – NO fewer than six policemen and one civilian have been reportedly killed by suspected Islamic militants, Monday afternoon in Misau, Bauchi State following simultaneous attacks on a commercial bank and a police station in the area.

Vanguard gathered that the gunmen hurled a bomb at the station leading to explosion and deaths of the five policemen on duty before successfully breaking into the bank and carting away large sum of money.

It could be recalled that Misau local Government which has been attacked for the second time by gunmen in less than two months, is located 160 kilometres north of Bauchi, the state capital.

According to an official of Misau Local Government Council, the gunmen stormed Afribank and the police station in the town at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon and started shooting sporadically, resulting in the deaths of the policemen and the civilian and many injured.

The Misau attack would be the sixth attacks on police stations and banks in the state, prompting the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mr Hafiz Ringim to order the Force Criminal Investigation Department, FCID, Abuja to carry out full and thorough investigation into the series of attacks.

The witness who pleaded anonymity said that the five policemen were killed at the station while the sixth policeman and the civilian were killed at the bank premises during the attack.

“We started hearing gunshots all of a sudden and then the bomb explosion at the police station. They later set the station ablaze and freed all the detainees. Everybody was confused and running helter-skelter as shooting continues. The gunmen later entered the bank and stole money”, he said

The Misau council official, who witnessed the incident, said many people sustained injuries as a result of the attacks which caused panic in the town.

Reacting, the Bauchi State Commissioner of Police, Mr Ayo Ikechuwkwu Aduba, who confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with newsmen, stated that the command was still trying to get the full details of the attacks and the number of casualties involved.

Nd'Igbo Do Not Need Leaders; They Need Opportunities

By Chris Aniedobe, Business Day

Many have billed the lack of a transcendent Igbo political leader as the Igbo albatross. Those who say that do not understand the Igbos. The Igbos are economically efficient, individualistic, non-ideological, rational, resourceful, and always have been and always will be politically risk averse. The average Igbo man feels that he has the skill, dexterity, perseverance, and luck to dare his own failure or his own success, sometimes in spite of the incipient odds of failure. That is why the Igbos are dispersed throughout Nigeria and the world with each person daring his own failure or success. But that which makes us successful as individuals fails us as a group because group dynamics is not always the sum of the parts that make it up.

Ndigbo are yet to evolve a group leadership model that will work for us. Until we attain such a model, we will not be successful in party politics because politics is a game of platforms. We see political parties as platforms for individual opportunities and not platforms for collective tribal political actions. This attitude has so far characterized our attitude towards politics particularly since 1999.

Although Ndigbo may come together during times of crisis, it probably is best at this point to acknowledge that Igbos do not need leaders, and do not believe in leaders in so far as those leaders do not create economic opportunities for them. That transcendent Igbo political leader may still come about but only in the context of a firm belief that tangible economic opportunities may come from his leadership.

Unfortunately, in the minds of a people that tend not to anchor their fate on their leaders, the failure of our political leaders have tended to reaffirm the belief in the Igbo mindset that so called leaders are really of no tangible consequence in their lives. Many of our so called leaders have shamefacedly exploited their offices for opportunities. Until then, a distributed leadership model, where the average Igbo man is in fact given a material leadership role in a highly coordinated system of known risks and guaranteed rewards may be the best leadership model for Ndigbo at this point in time.

While our political theorists deal with the issue of appropriate leadership models for Ndigbo, it stands as a purely elementary proposition that we do better as wealth creators than as politicians and rather than pursuing illusory political goals, we should expend our efforts at utilizing our superior economic skills for rapid regional economic resurgence of our Region.

But Let Us Just Stop Being Naïve about Nigerian Politics, Power Concedes Nothing without a Demand. It Never Did and it Never Will

The talk of Igbo Presidency 2015 is a distraction by people who have not taken a close qualitative look at Igbo assets. Those who believe that Ndigbo should be President in 2015 on moral grounds alone are offering up cheap political blackmail that rings hollow. To paraphrase Frederick Douglass, if NdiIgbo are not prepared to vigorously struggle for it, there is no point talking about it. Those who profess to favor Nigerian presidency of Igbo extraction and yet depreciate the need for deep agitation on a common political platform are people who want crops without plowing up the ground. They must commit to the struggle all the way with the zeal of the Zikist boys who were prepared for either freedom or death.

Until the will is there to stamp our foot on the ground and be willing to lay down our lives for it, talking about Nigerian Presidency of Igbo extraction in the face of the considerable structural limitations that constrain us is a distraction. The political diffidence of Ndigbo is self-evident. Others have found out what Ndigbo will quietly submit to and know the exact measure of political injustice which can be imposed on Ndigbo and it will continue until they are resisted with carefully orchestrated struggle. Right now the will is not there. Ndigbo are happily foraging for opportunities in a platform independent manner and are engaged in anything but platform oriented struggle. There is nothing wrong with that. There is however, everything wrong with thinking that the Presidency will be conceded to us purely on moral grounds.

Not that Ndigbo do not need political power; it is that we cannot attain political power without a road map and that road map must take into account the structural defects of the Nigerian entity in so far as it has constrained Ndigbo, its largest ethnic group, to less than one sixth of the Federation. That road map must be drawn on the fabrics of true federation and true federalism. The execution of the road map will involve both words and blows; words in the sense that we must be willing to mount consistent and sustained assault on the anomalies in the practice of the Nigerian Constitution that preclude Ndigbo from attaining full rights and benefits of citizenship in their States of domicile; blows in the sense that Ndigbo must be prepared to assert their legal rights of Nigerian citizenship in any manner legal or necessarily legal to ensure that their fundamental rights remain inviolate. In fact, in any well conducted election, Ndigbo have the numbers to vote in an outcome determinative power in States outside Igbo land. This is a bargaining chip that other ethnic groups do not have but it is also a chip that must be well-guarded.

Classic Celebrity Shots

Mami Van Doren in '3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt.' Date: Ca. 1964. Image: Bettmann.

Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu. Date: July 2004. Location: France. Image: Mbane Navizet.

Priest Combines Mass, Matches

Fr. Paul Ugo Arinze
Cath News/New York Times

A Catholic priest officiating a tennis match is quite a rare picture. But Fr. Paul Arinze does it everyday at the United States Open.

The priest climbs into the chair as a certified bronze badge umpire and officiates serves, not church services, matches instead of Mass.

At tournaments, he trades his robes for the polo shirts worn by the officials, his altar for the chair. Some of his fellow umpires address him as Father Paul, or F.P., and on Sundays some follow him to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.

“Sometimes, I’m tempted to say, ‘You know, you have a Catholic priest sitting here,’ but it’s O.K. being a priest, you’re trained to forgive,” Fr. Arinze said of misbehaving players.

Upon arrival at different tournaments, he first finds the nearest Catholic church. There, his twin passions intersect, again.

The two are more similar than at first glance as in church and on the court, he witnesses the extremes of human emotion, the best events of people’s lives and careers (baptisms and weddings, victories and championships) and also the worst (funerals and losses).

The priest in no way believes that sporting events hold the same importance as many other events in life, but he does see similarities, because to the participants, matches often take on oversize importance.

“It’s not one size fits all. It’s, O.K., who is this person? How can I reach them? It helps that while they have their perspective on the match, I have the bigger perspective on life beyond,” he said.

Fr. Arinze does not pray for particularly unruly players, but he does say a prayer before each match, hoping that it will go smoothly, without incident.

The priest does not believe God takes a rooting interest in sports but he sees nothing wrong with players who cross themselves, or pray on the court. If that calms them, he said, so be it.

By day, Arinze works as director of vocations for the Diocese of Madison, Wis.

Arinze grew up in eastern Nigeria, in a town called Waka, an area filled with soccer fans and coal mines. His father, Michael, worked as a lawyer but played tennis in his spare time. Arinze served as ball boy for the matches, but when they ended, while the parents drank beer, the children picked up rackets and swung away.

Migrants In Libya Claim Rape

By Evan Hill, English Al Jazeera

Migrant workers living in a squatter settlement outside Tripoli have claimed that nearly two dozen women in the camp have been raped since opposition forces began their final push on the capital two weeks ago.

At the abandoned fishing harbour about 27km west of Tripoli, Nigerian maids Rose Johnson and Darcy Ikibueka said on Monday they are two of more than 20 women in the camp who have been raped by armed men whose identities and affiliations remain unknown.

The names of the women have been changed to protect their identities.

The claims were bolstered by aid workers from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) who gained access to the camp on Saturday. Simon Burroughs, MSF emergency coordinator, said women had approached the staff with claims of rape and had received counselling.

Burroughs declined to say how many women had alleged rape or to discuss their testimony, specifically the women’s accusations about who was responsible.

"They're not free to talk about it. It’s the situation they're in," Burroughs said. "[But] we have to take the allegations seriously, we can’t discount them. This is not the environment for the kind of care and attention they need."

Gunmen attack

Sitting on plastic chairs in an unfinished, rubbish-filled concrete room inside the decrepit harbour headquarters, Johnson, 25, and Ikibueka, 22, told Al Jazeera of how they worked together in the same Tripoli household. They had lived in Libya for two years and came to the port in June.

Like hundreds of other migrants from Nigeria, Chad, Senegal and other impoverished African countries, they had fled to the camp to escape NATO bombings and impending street battles.

The port had in recent months become a hub for human traffickers whose business of smuggling migrants into Europe, usually by way of the Italian island of Lampedusa, boomed when Gaddafi opened the illegal immigration floodgates.

In an interview with the Italian radio station Rai, Hafez Gaddour, Libyan ambassador to Italy, said Gaddafi controlled illegal immigration "in person". The ambassador, who defected to the National Transitional Council (NTC) earlier this year, added that the flood of immigrants was meant to punish NATO nations for its bombing campaign.

These days, hundreds of men and women live in the shade of tilting fishing boats. On Monday, the migrants were cooking goat heads over small wood fires, braiding each other’s hair, and playing draughts with water bottle caps. Many speculated on the whereabouts of friends and family lost in the chaos of Tripoli.

On the night of August 19, gunmen entered the harbour camp. They fired their guns in the air, shouting "God is great". That night, Johnson and Ikibueka said, they were raped at gunpoint.

Anthony Ogiexeri , a 37-year-old Nigerian pastor who lives in the camp, gave Al Jazeera this account:

"The came in, some of them they were shooting all around, and they ordered girls to come out. [When] they came out, they laid them down. Some of them were saying they should allow the girls [to] go, and some of them said, 'No, they were going to rape them'. And at the end they submitted to the men, and they raped them. And after they left."

'Dark places'

Johnson, Ikibueka and several male refugees alleged the attackers were rebels who shouted slurs against Gaddafi. At the time of the alleged rapes, the camp lay in contested territory.

But Ogiexeri said he could not tell who had carried out the attacks. It is possible that forces on either side in the conflict, or even unallied gunmen, could have stormed the harbour camp.

Rebel forces do not obey one single line of command, making it difficult to determine what units where in the camp's vicinity at the time. Efforts to reach representatives of the National Transitional Council on Monday night were unsuccessful.

Regular visits from armed gangs have slowed in the three days since the MSF team arrived, Burroughs said. Yet he was still concerned about the security at the port and worried that publicising the women's testimony could lead to reprisals.

Johnson and Ikibueka estimated that 25 to 30 women had been raped in the camp. It was impossible to verify that number during Al Jazeera’s visit, but an aid worker who declined to be named said it was close to the organisation’s estimate.

Migrants and aid workers said the threat of violence still remains.

Some Libyans have donated food and supplies to the camp, but in recent days, groups of armed men and boys have regularly entered the camp at night, robbing the refugees of food and money.

They also take women away to use them for sex, Ogiexeri said.

"We try to connect lights so we can see ourselves at night, but they take them to the dark places."

Suffering Amid Libya's Growing Human Disaster

Ahmed Ali, set alight during an apparent racist attack near his home, had been held in a Tripoli jail without access to treatment
A Farm Weekly Report

BEHIND 2.4-metre iron gates, along a sandy path and up concrete stairs, there is a glimpse into the humanitarian disaster that is unfolding in newly liberated Libya.

About 300 prisoners, some crowded into cells housing 26 men at once, are being held in Maftuh Jail in Fernaj, a district of Tripoli.

According to the police officer who took over the prison from rebel soldiers on Tuesday, the men were swept up in the rebels' August 20 push to take Tripoli. Most are accused of being mercenaries fighting for Muammar Gaddafi. Most deny the allegations.

After 11 searingly hot days held in unsanitary, overcrowded cells with no running water, the men were desperate for help. They asked for doctors, lawyers and humanitarian workers to come to the prison.

But further down the corridor, we found two young men in an even more desperate situation. His face burnt, peeling and blistered, 28-year-old Ahmed Ali from Nigeria was in need of urgent medical help.

''Nine days ago, some youth near my house got angry - they came to my place and they poured fuel on me,'' he said, bracing himself against a wave of pain.

They set him on fire in an apparent racist attack that has become increasingly common in a country harbouring so much anger against Gaddafi and his mercenaries. Anyone with dark skin - regardless of their loyalties - can find themselves a target. Ahmed has been held here without any medical care - directly across the road from one of Tripoli's largest hospitals.

Another young man in his cell, Mustafa, from Nigers, held up a badly bandaged left hand. Three of his fingers had been blown off by a bullet. He had received no medical care for his injuries.

When confronted about these two prisoners, the officer in charge, Anwar Bin Naji, told The Age: ''The whole of Tripoli is in a difficult situation - the entire system has broken down. Come back in four days, you will find a very different place.''

But why not call a doctor from Tripoli General Hospital, not 500 metres away? ''There are not enough doctors in Tripoli - they have been working around the clock for days,'' he replied.

After some convincing, he pulled his phone out and called the hospital. And he agreed that if The Age could get a doctor to the prison, he would let them in. We contacted Salama Agni, a general surgeon from the hospital, who arrived 20 minutes later. The two badly injured prisoners were brought to the jail's clinic for treatment.

''This man needs to go to a burns hospital,'' Dr Agni said. ''His burns need to be hydrated, and he needs intravenous antibiotics.''

As the doctor smoothed salve onto the wounds on his face, neck and knee, Ahmed explained he had been in Libya for two years, and worked in interior design after doing an architecture course in Nigeria. ''I am not a fighter,'' he said. ''I don't even own a knife.''

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have been warning of mounting evidence of human rights abuses against dark-skinned Libyans and sub-Saharan Africans ''who have frequently been accused of serving Gaddafi as foreign mercenaries''.

They have urged the de facto government in Libya to treat all detainees in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian law standards, including prompt review before an independent judicial panel and immediate access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to all detainees in Transitional National Council custody.

Hoha! (Pointblank): Boko Haram on U.N. Building Bomb Blast

"All over the world, the U.N. is a global partner in the oppression of believers...We are at war against infidels. In Nigeria, the federal government tries to perpetuate the agenda of the United Nations.We have told everyone that the U.N. is the bastion of the global oppression of Muslims all over the world. As such, we have warned everyone to steer clear of such places... They should steer clear of such places that we have mentioned in the past. The battle has changed."

-------Abul Qaqa, Boko Haram Spokesman

Growing Persecution Of Christians In Nigeria

By Jerry Dyksta, Open Doors USA/Christian News Wire

SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 1, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Muslim extremists, along with members of the Nigerian army, allegedly killed 24 Christians during mid-August in Nigeria's Plateau state, according to Compass Direct News. On Monday in the city of Jos, CNN reported clashes between Muslims and Christians resulted in at least 20 deaths. There were also reports of injuries and burnt vehicles and shops.

Christians in Nigeria have faced increased persecution in recent years. The forceful implementation of Sharia (Islamic law) in 12 northern states remains a great challenge for the church. Extremist Islamic groups, using violence as a means to achieving Muslim dominance, have increased their activities. Despite all of the violence, more churches are reaching Muslims with the gospel and the number deciding to follow Christ is increasing.

"As our brothers and sisters in Nigeria face increased persecution, it is vital that we pray for them," says Open Doors USA President/CEO Dr. Carl Moeller. "Christians, especially those living in the north, are living in constant fear of being attacked by extremists; they are not able to worship in peace."

Northern Nigeria holds the No. 23 spot on Open Door's 2011 World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. Christians in the conflict areas of Nigeria request prayer above anything else.

Please pray for:

* Comfort for Christians who have lost loved ones or have been made homeless through violence

* Thank God that the church is becoming more united as a result of persecution

* Wisdom and courage for church leaders reaching out to their Muslim neighbors and caring for converts.

Nigerian Christians are hardly the only believers facing persecution. Over 70 percent of the world's 6.8 billion people live in countries with restrictions on religion.

Nov. 13 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) in the United States. This year Open Doors USA is encouraging Christians in the West to be "One With Them" through a special on-going campaign.

"According to the Bible, when one part of the body suffers, we all suffer," says Kenny Luck, founder of Every Man Ministries. "This is why it is so important for us to be One With Them in prayer."

One With Them is a call to action to unite with persecuted believers, not just on IDOP but during the months leading up to that special day. Through prayer and advocacy, Christians in the United States are urged to join millions who share our faith but not our freedom.

One way Christians in the United States can show their support for the persecuted is through One With Them wristbands. Wearing the black, flexible silicone wristband that looks like barbed wire is a great conversation starter. The wristbands provide an opportunity to explain to others about the plight of persecuted believers. Kenny Luck says he is wearing a wristband as a show of solidarity. In the last month, 25,000 wristbands have been sent out to churches, church leaders, small groups and individuals.

To order the wristbands, visit www.OneWithThem.com. Two of them will be free of charge -- one extra to share with a friend. Additional wristbands can be ordered for a fee with 100 percent of the funds going to support persecuted Christians.

As one of the lead agencies promoting the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, Open Doors is focusing on providing materials for Christians to use for the Nov. 13 event that will be observed by millions of Christians in the United States and around the globe. Materials in the free online kit include bulletin inserts, a pastor’s guide, videos, prayer points, testimonies from persecuted Christians, Bible passages on persecution and lessons learned from suffering believers.

An estimated 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with millions more facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers in the world's most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers. To partner with Open Doors USA, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (888-524-2535) or go to our Website at www.OpenDoorsUSA.org.

(For more information or to set up an interview, contact Jerry Dykstra at 616-915-4117 or email JerryD@odusa.org)

Former child soldier from Nigeria celebrates 25 years serving as priest

Image: Stephen D. Cannerelli/The Post Standard

By Sarah Moses/The Post Standard/Syracus

Salina, NY -- The Rev. Ejike Innocent Onyenagubo was 12 years old when he made a life-changing promise to God.

“There was a civil war for three years in Nigeria, and I was fighting the war at the age of 12,” he said. “I prayed, promising if I survived the war I would give my life to service God and his people. I prayed for my family to survive, too.”

Onyenagubo, who is known by many as Father Innocent, said about 2 million people died in the war. His family survived and he kept his promise. Earlier this month, Father Innocent celebrated 25 years as an ordained Catholic priest.

Father Innocent, 57, was born and raised in Nigeria. The civil war lasted from 1967 to 1970, and he fought for about two years in the conflict. After the war was over, he was reunited with his family and went back to school. “There was the temptation not to continue with education,” he said.

But he did, and while he was in secondary school, which is similar to high school, he said he remembered his promise to God. “I went to the pastor of my parish and I asked him to show me the way to get to the seminary,” he said.

After 10 years in the seminary, he was ordained in the Diocese of Owerri as a priest in 1986. He served for a number of years as a priest and pastor in several different parishes in Nigeria. “Then one day the bishop called me and told me I was going on a mission,” Father Innocent said. “He told me I was going to Syracuse and I said, ‘Where is it?’”

In 1999, Father Innocent arrived in Syracuse to serve as the parochial vicar at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, in Salina. His journey from Ahiazu Mbaise in southeast Nigeria to Central New York was part of Bishop James Moynihan’s international recruitment effort for the Syracuse Catholic Diocese in the late 1990’s.

He served seven years at the church and has been the Chaplain of Upstate University Hospital since 2006. Father Innocent said working in the hospital reminds him of his childhood in Nigeria. “Here there is pain and agony that goes with death and suffering,” he said. “It’s the same pain as there was in wartime in Nigeria.”

He said he saw many people die of hunger and die in battle during the war. He said he sought comfort in God. In the hospital people seek their chaplain. “They seek comfort in God through me,” he said. “And that is the job satisfaction I have here. The people get that comfort when I tell them that the Lord is with us.”

Father Innocent recently celebrated his quarter century as a priest with a celebration of his life at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. “They brought my sister from Nigeria, without me knowing it,” he said. “It was the surprise of my life. When I saw my sister, I had tears of joy. I never expected it.”

Father Innocent became a United States citizen in 2008. He said Syracuse is a home for him, but he will go wherever the church needs him. “I’m happy here,” he said. “But I’ll go anywhere God sends me.”