Obi, Soludo, Obiano Meet at Cardinal Arinze’s 90th Birthday in Onitsha

David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi and the governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo yesterday met during a Catholic mass to mark the 90th birthday of Francis Cardinal Arinze.

The meeting was the second one since Soludo openly attacked Obi in a letter titled: ‘History Beckons, and I will not keep quiet.”
Both men heartily hugged each other at the event, to the admiration of many, who taught they were sworn enemies.
Also, the immediate past governor of the state, Chief Willie Obiano and his wife, Ebelechukwu also attended the event, where he also met with his successor and predecessor.

Soludo while delivering his felicitations to Arinze described him as one of the finest which Anambra has given to the world.
“You have been such a great influence and inspiration to the universal world, Anambra State, Nigeria and to me personally.

“I recount, you had a special mass for me and my predecessor, giving me a message which I will never forget. You told me, that while I am in a haste to change the world, I should always remember that the people I deal with, are children of Adam and Eve.”
Archbishop Emeritus of Archdiocese of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan delivered the homily and celebrated Arinze for his many contributions to the catholic church in Nigeria.

He described Arinze as the Archbishop Emeritus of Onitsha who stirred the church and its people out of the turbulence and ravages of the Nigerian civil war that lasted between 1967 to 1970.
He said Cardinal Arinze also distinguished himself in the service to God and humanity in his tour of duty while in Rome, noting that he was destined by God for a great mission on earth.

Describing him as one of the living ancestors of the Catholic Church, Onaiyekan recalled that Cardinal Arinze’s intellectual prowess started during his seminary days and noted that Nigerians cannot forget the prominent role he played in the Beatification of Blessed Iwene Tansi in Nigeria in the year 1998 when Pope John Paul the 2nd visited Nigeria even as he expressed hope that he will remain alive to witness the final canonisation of Tansi.

The event attracted prominent personalities, including; Obi of Onitsha; Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe (Agbogidi), Sen. Victor Umeh (Labour Party Senatorial Candidate, Anambra Central), Hon. Ikenna Iyiegbu (Ike Cubana) APGA Candidate, Idemili North and South Federal Constituency, Cardinals, Bishops, Monsignors, Rev. Fathers, Traditional Rulers, Papal Knights among others.