Follow Us On:
1) In 1910, in Arondizuogu, there was a visually impaired young man named Akweke. Akweke’s elder brother, who incidentally was the village head, learned about the Iyienu Hospital at Ogidi (45 miles away from Arondizuogu) that was run by the Church Missionary Society missionaries from Britain. The village head encouraged his younger brother Akweke to go and try his luck at Iyienu since all local efforts had proved abortive. He agreed.
2) Eight hefty men carried Akweke on their heads to undertake the 45-mile journey. In their company was the youngest of his three wives. She took with her some food stuff and few clothes. They traveled only at night and rested during the day. In two and a half days, they reached their destination.
3) Upon reaching the hospital, Akweke was immediately admitted while the men returned. He was diagnosed with myopia. Treatment began. As a rule, all patients were required to assemble at the hospital chapel every morning for morning prayer, after which they proceeded to see their individual doctors for treatment.
4) Akweke and his wife memorized the Lord’s Prayer, the Decalogue, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Catechism. He learned about Jesus, who was said to have given sight to the blind. In 1912, after two years of sojourn and after series of medical treatment, Akweke regained his sight.
5) Akweke also learned the Igbo alphabet and how to read and write. A pair of glasses was also given to him. Buttressing this experience, Mbonu Ojike said: “He (Akweke) went to Iyienu blind, illiterate, and led; he returned in two years able to see, to read, and to move about independently. I marveled when I saw his spectacles in 1918.”
6) When he returned to the village, he was welcomed with disbelief. His compound was filled with visitors who came to see him with their own eyes. Akweke’s story, just like that of Constantine, became a turning point in the history of Christianity in Arondizuogu. Without delay, Akweke invited the CMS missionaries to establish a mission in Arondizuogu. In 1913, the first CMS mission church station was established in Arondizuogu.
7) The majority of all the young men from Arondizuogu who went to witness Akweke’s healing converted to Christianity.
For further reading, scroll down to see our post on this that was made on August 8, 2023, with the title “The Coming of Christianity in Arondizuogu”.
References:
1. Mbonu Ojike, _My Africa_ (London: Blandford Press, 1955), 40 – 43.
2. Elisabeth Isichei, _A History of the Igbo People_ (London: Macmillan, 1977), 168.
3 .Raphael Chijioke Njoku, _African Cultural Values: Igbo Political Leadership in Colonial Nigeria, 1900 -1966_ (London: Routledge, 2012), 106.
Last published (posted) November 13, 2023
