SIR: This letter is dedicated to Rev. Fr. Dr. Benedict Etafo, an Afemai, Edo State. When I was a seminarian in Rome, he introduced me to a parish priest in an Italian village. There I was spending my holidays, 1983-84. There the wife of Dr. De Bei Ugo incorporated me into the family. I got a room. She would phone Fr. Giorgio: “Pio is not coming back to the parish tonight.” Pio is the Italian for Pius.

Later in life, Fr. Etafo became the Rector of our Alma Mater, SS Peter and Paul Catholic Major Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan. At that time in 1994, I obtained master’s degree in Christian theology, Catholic Institute of West Africa, Port Harcourt, in affiliation with University of Calabar. The Seminary needed somebody in that area, and my Bishop, Most Rev. Dr. Julius Babatunde Adelakun, seconded me there.

Rosemary Curcio came from USA to visit the Rector, and she was going with me to attend my mass at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. The following year, I started going to her parish in Brooklyn, New York, USA, during summer holidays. If I write autobiography, the Afemai man cannot be forgotten for all I benefitted from him, along with others, such as Frs. (Drs.) Anacletus Nnamdi Odoemene and Luke Nnamdi Mbefo, who supervised my Master and PhD projects, respectively. Fr. (Dr.) Justin Ukpong who died as a Professor guided me to choose my PhD thesis topic.

In the parish in Brooklyn, there were three resident priests. I heard the death of Fr. Dr. Anthony Casey. The parish priest, Fr. Edward Kiernan, attained retirement age and retired. The third priest was indicted for sexually-related offences and was relieved of his clerical office. In all of that, why should I be persecuted for voluntary resignation, when I could not handle celibacy and certain doctrines forever? Many Africans need redemption from myopic perception.

On Boko Haram, adopt dialogue and respect Nigeria’s secularity for religious sanity.

• Pius Abioje,
University of Ilorin.