St. Anthony Catholic Church, Gbaja, Lagos

The early parishioners were mainly Catholics from various parts of Lagos Island, from Parishes such as Ho­ly Cross Cathedral, St. Michael's (Lafiaji), St. Joseph's (Elegbata), etc. They were people who had been displaced by development works in Lagos Island and who had just moved into Surulere to take advantage of the new houses in the newly developing Surulere. Surulere as a whole, before the bui

lding of the church, was only an ex­panse of sandy land until the Lagos Executive Development Board (LEDB) decided to develop the area. The plan for development was divided into several schemes - the estate for low-income workers, middle and top-level officers, and houses for those displac­ed from the slum areas of Lagos to make allowance for development in Lagos Island. The LEDB scheme was made popular by the Government which granted loans to civil servants who were interested in having houses/homes of their own. Many of the houses were built between 1958 and 1960 and the successful landlords had started to move in immediately. The Catholics from various parts of Lagos Island were among the lucky landlords moving to their new, but who had to contend with the problem of not having a church in Surulere. As a result, most of them had to bear the strain of distance and the lack of regular and adequate transportation system to at­tend masses at their different Lagos Island parishes. At some point, most of them changed to attend masses at the nearest Catholic Church - St. Dominic's at Yaba. The Dominican Fathers, under the able administration of Rev. Dempsey, were not only very understanding and accommodating but also very encouraging. This led to an arrangement whereby masses were said for the Surulere Catholics in one of the classrooms at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School on Atunrase Street, Surulere, just behind St. Joseph's Teacher Training College. This continued until Ar­chbishop Taylor took upon himself to acquire a piece of land (from the LEDB) in the heart of Surulere for the building of a church for the Catholic Community aimed at reducing their trekking long distances to Yaba, and went to far away America to borrow money. He then com­missioned Rev. Brainiff to design and build the church, to be call­ed "St. Anthony's Catholic Church, Gbaja, Surulere. One of the available LEDB houses at 1 Olufemi Road, off Ogunlana Drive, was purchased outright for the resident Priest-builder. The building of the church was completed in record time, though at the time of the opening, the church had not a Kobo of its own. It is perti­nent to record the joy and enthusiasm of the Catholic Community in this area to see that, after all, they were going to have a church, a parish of their own. At the dedication and opening ceremony, the first mass was said by Archbishop Taylor, at which Rev. Dempsey was present. His Grace, in his homily, expressed his joy at the comple­tion of the building. He appealed to the congregation to endeavour to repay the loan taken "in trust" on behalf of the Parishioners, and that they should not let him down. He then formally handed over the Parish to Rev. Dempsey who then became the first Pastor of St. Anthony's Catholic Church, Gbaja Street, Surulere. The Dominican Fathers, with their Parish at Yaba, took good care of St. An­thony's and nurtured it from its infancy. At this juncture, special mention need to be made of Mr. Obinkwo who was staying near the church and who had the responsibility of keeping the keys to the church - opening same in the mornings and locking up in the evenings for safety. He, together with Mr. Linus Umoh, must not be forgotten for their moral contributions. The in­defatigable Sacristan, Mr. Umoh, was trained in Calabar and he worked and trained altar servers at St. Anthony's for several years. At some point, Mr. Obinkwo left Lagos for home town, and, many years later, Mr. Umoh relocated to Badagry. The Parish is proud to place on record the hard work and zeal of the first resident Priest, in the person of Rev. D.J. Daly, and later, Rev. Michael Omisesan who was the indigenous Priest to administer St. Anthony's. Rev. Omisesan lived at 27 Yesufu Sanusi Street, off Adeniran Ogunsanya Street, a house that was bought during the development period of the Parish. Considering that the house of the Parish Priest was far from the church as a result of which parishioners had difficulty reaching the Priest for emergency calls, the parishioners decided to build a house for the Priest within the premises of the church, soon after completing the repayment of the loan on the church. With determination and dedica­tion on the part of parishioners and after a long spell, the great mission accomplished. It was made possible by the successful returns from an earlier Annual Harvest celebration. From then on, a specific project was put in the pipeline for every Annual Harvest returns. Special mention must be made of the chairman of the very first Harvest Festival following the opening of the church in 1961. The Mr. F.O.Taiwo and his Secretaries, Messrs A.B. Falodun and P.P. Adeniyi, Secretary and Assistant Secretary respectively, both of whom, as pioneers, successfully ran the first two years' Harvest 1961 and 1962. Unfortunately, the figures are not available due to faulty records-keeping then. Omisesan was succeeded by Rev. T.J. Moran. Before this time, though, Rev. Dennis Slattery from St. Finbarr's College, Akoka and Rev. O'Connor, who was transferred from Ado-Odo Parish and was then resident at Akoka, were both regular visiting Priests who came to say Mass every Sunday at St. Anthony’s. It is on record that Rev. O'Connor, on his part, started the Yoruba Choir when the 8.30am mass in Yoruba was first introduced at St. His ex­perience from the Yoruba-speaking Ado-Odo, near Otta (on the way to Badagry) and his tape recording of the mass and songs in Yoruba, assisted greatly in paving the way for the founding of the nucleus of the present 9.45am (Yoruba) arm of the Choir. It was at this time that the first hymn book in Yoruba was compiled for exclusive use in St. Anthony's Parish. The original members of this choir were children of members of the parish, together with some of their parents and some elders who were interested in music and keen on singing. There were many other Priests who have also, at one time or the other, work­ed at St. Anthony's Parish, especially in its formative years. They include Rev. Frs. Canol, H. Casey, Y. Birmingham, D. Murphy, P. Sexton, and Coakley, (who was later transferred to S.S. Mulumba and David, Lawanson). P.A. Adeyemi, (who was ordained a Priest in November, 1975, at St. Anthony's Catholic Church, Gbaja) came to be appointed the Parish Priest. He had as his assistant, Rev. Ford, who was later transferred to St. Leo's in Ikeja. In the interim, Rev. Ikeguonu was transferred here and did a brief period. He will always be remembered by the choir because of his interest in music. He was always around to lend a helping hand to the choir during practices, and with word of en­couragement at all times. As Rev. Adeyemi was billed to go overseas for further studies, Rev. Vincent Ade. Pratt was transferred to St. Anthony's, and this was around May, 1980. About this time also Rev. John Burke had replaced Rev. Ford who had earlier gone to Ikeja. Burke stayed for a brief period before he too was transferred t'o S.S. Mulum-ba & David, and was replaced by Rev. Hoteyin. Hoteyin left for overseas early in 1982, and Rev. Bola Adebayo, then at St. Joseph's Catholic Church Imeko replaced him. Father G.K. Amolegbe replaced him while at present in 1988, Rev. Ania is the Assistant Rector. During the tenure of Rev. Adeyemi, a Parish Hall was built with an open ground floor for socials and after-wedding reception. The top floor was a long hall for meetings as well as for other after-mass social engagement. Simultaneously with the construction of the Parish Hall was the purchase and installations of a giant. Superpower electric generator to counter the irregularity in the supply of electricity by NEPA. The building of the second floor of the Parish Hall was already in progress but was discontinued just before Fr. Adeyemi left. The discon­tinuation was the idea of Rev. Pratt who felt that it would be a waste of money to continue with the second floor when the money available could be utilised in reconstructing the old church. He en­visaged that the old church could be so reconstructed and enlarged lo accommodate more worshippers who normally stayed outside, and that the new church would be elevated to create a large parking space for worshippers' cars for security purposes. This idea was acclaimed by worshippers. Some of the early achievements of St. Anthony's Parish include the building of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Aguda, which was dedicated by His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Anthony Olubunmi Okogie September 12, 1976. Archbishop Jerome Prigione, Papal Pro-Nunctio, presided at the concelebrated dedication mass of the new church.