25/01/2026
The very first African Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos
His Grace, Most Rev John Aggey was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Lagos and was consecrated on Sunday, 4th August, 1957, by the Late Archbishop Leo Hale Taylor; whom he later succeeded as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lagos in 1965.
A great preacher in both English and Yoruba languages, Aggey was a great asset to the Church in the area of evangelization. When the Holy Cross Cathedral was under renovation, His Grace, Archbishop John Aggey was resident at Regina Mundi Catholic Church, Babaolosha-Mushin as the Archbishop of Lagos; making Regina Mundi a pro-Cathedral. It is on record, also, that he founded the Ave Maria Society that spread from Lagos to Abeokuta and Ijebu-Ode Dioceses.
The last public engagement of the late Archbishop John Aggey, after the National Episcopal Conference of 1972 was on Sunday 27th February when he performed the ceremony of the coronation of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima and the investiture of Mr. Gabriel Dotse, then Deputy Superintendent of Police as a Knight of St. Gregory the Great (Military Class), at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos Island. During the Mass, he gave a memorable homily which many people later interpreted as a foretelling of his own demise.
It was a sad day for the Catholic Church in Nigeria when Archbishop Aggey passed away at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba by 3am on Tuesday, 14th March 1972, during a brief illness. He was 64 years old. At the time of his dæth, he had served as a priest for about 28 years, and a bishop for 14 impactful years.
Source: JKA Aggey Foundation
ℹ️Ethnic African Stories
