What is unfolding at Tansian University in Anambra State is not just a crisis of governance. It is a spiritual tragedy, a moral reckoning, and perhaps, if left unchallenged, the beginning of the end for Catholic education as we once knew it in Nigeria.
I have watched with growing alarm as the university—founded as a beacon of Catholic values, academic excellence, and missionary purpose—slides into chaos. Rev. Fr. Barr. Edwin Obiorah, SAN: a priest of the Awka Diocese, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is now, according to many, the architect of one of the boldest institutional takeovers in Nigerian higher education history.
What began as legal consultation has metastasized into near-absolute control. And the Church, shamefully, has watched in silence.
Tansian University was never just an academic venture—it was the life’s mission of the late Msgr. Prof. John Bosco Akam, a priest, theologian, educator, and visionary. He founded the university not as a private enterprise, but as a living embodiment of Catholic social teaching and in blessed memory of his spiritual benefactor, Blessed Iwene Tansi. He devoted his entire life to it—body, mind, and soul—and even in death, left clear and unambiguous instructions in his Last Will and Testament regarding its future on how it should be governed: the Missionary Sons of Tansi, the Tansian Missionaries, were to inherit and steward it.
But that transition never happened.
Instead, what followed Msgr. Akam’s passing in 2021 was what I can only describe as illegal and administrative coup. A systematic effort to seize control—slowly, quietly, and methodically—while the Church hierarchy stood still.
Fr Obiorah was officially contracted by Tansian University in 2017 to provide legal services to the institution, following the involvement of the Bishop of Awka Diocese, the Most Rev Dr Paulinus Ezeokafor, who had co-opted him as Diocesan Lawyer to serve in an advisory capacity during an unsuccessful attempt to grant the Missionary Sons of Tansi (MST) diocesan status within the Awka Diocese.
Prior before then, Fr. Obiorah was among the few priests known to have harboured personal dislike for the late Msgr. Prof. John Bosco Akam. As legal counsel to the estranged daughter of the late Chief Mrs Juliana Onuorah—founder of Our Lady Bread—in 2010, Fr. Obiorah rudely questioned why Msgr Akam had not vacated all his belongings from the Our Lady’s Complex in Nkpor. Fr Obiorah went too far, allowing himself to speak with jealousy and bitterness, voicing open disapproval and contempt for his brother priest. His words, steeped in envy, betrayed a deeper vexation and personal grievance that should have been tempered with charity and restraint.
Chief Mrs Onuorah’s daughter had returned from the United States and took possession of the property, including the Missionary Servants of the Church (MSC) novitiate, which Msgr Akam had built on a portion of land granted to him by the late Chief Mrs Onuorah within the premises. Following the issuance of an eviction notice by the Onuorah family, Msgr Akam tasked me with the responsibility of evacuating his personal belongings. He assigned me three Mercedes-Benz 911 trucks for the operation, with particular emphasis on ensuring that the books in his library were handled with the utmost care. The items were to be transported to Villa Misericordiae Dei, Uga, where he was residing at the time with the physically challenged, orphans, and the poor.
In accordance with his instructions, I was also directed to first visit Fr Obiorah at his chambers in Awka, who was acting as the Onuorah family’s legal counsel. After a prolonged wait, Fr. Obiorah informed me that Msgr Akam MUST appear in person at his office to resolve the matter, including the settlement of legal fees and compensation to Chief Mrs Onuorah’s daughter. His tone and manner in referring to my superior deeply offended me. The late Msgr Akam was neither his contemporary in age nor in ecclesiastical hierarchy. What audacity it was to summon him to his then modest law office. Rather, it would have been more appropriate and respectful for Fr. Obiorah to meet Msgr Akam at his residence in Uga. He refused to allow me to vacate my principal’s property, even when I offered to put him in contact with the principal over the phone. He vehemently declined.
Subsequently, I submitted a petition to the Inspector-General of Police, arguing that one cannot eject a person and simultaneously demand legal fees and compensation. Although the police invited both the woman in question and her uncle—whom she referred to as “Captain”—they refused to attend. Instead, I was allowed to proceed with the evacuation of Msgr Akam’s personal effects. However, his water factory equipment, the novitiate’s library, and furniture remain seized to this day.
After the incident, Msgr Akam never encountered Fr. Obiorah in person until 2015, when he began meeting with the Bishop of the Awka Diocese to seek diocesan status for the Missionary Sons of Tansi (MST). The Bishop involved Fr. Obiorah to provide legal guidance. Although the effort to incorporate MST into the Awka Diocese was ultimately unsuccessful, perhaps in a bid to demonstrate cooperation, Msgr Akam instructed that all university-related legal matters be transferred to the diocesan lawyer, Fr. Obiorah.
Professional valuers were engaged to assess all properties belonging to Msgr Akam—including the university, secondary schools, and other institutions—for submission to the Bishop. While this process was ongoing, news of the imminent creation of the Ekwulobia Diocese emerged, prompting Msgr Akam to pause his pursuit of diocesan status within Awka. Although there were other stringent conditions set by the Bishop, they were not convincing to Msgr Akam. He decided to await the establishment of the new diocese.
Upon the appointment of Cardinal Peter Okpaleke as the Bishop of Ekwulobia, Msgr Akam felt a renewed sense of hope that his vision could be realised. However, Cardinal Okpaleke requested additional time to settle into his new role. Sadly, before any further progress could be made, death came knocking — Very Rev. Msgr Prof. John Bosco Akam passed away — February 5, 2021.
However, as time passed following the death of Msgr Akam, that initial advisory role evolved—and eventually escalated—into something entirely different. Fr Obiorah began devising structures aimed at wresting control of governance from those to whom the founder had originally entrusted it. The Tansian Missionaries were gradually sidelined, family members were excluded, and access to financial resources was systematically restricted.
And then came the ultimate move: the registration of a new legal entity—“Tansian University Umunya, Anambra State Limited by Guarantee”—allegedly orchestrated without board approval. Under this structure, Fr. Obiorah crowned himself, Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
This wasn’t reform. It was a takeover.
To protest against this, Prof. Godwin Uchenna Akam—the Pro-Chancellor and brother of the late founder—petitioned the National Universities Commission (NUC). His claims were clear and serious: that Fr. Obiorah had hijacked the university, bypassed the board, and imposed himself through unlawful corporate structures. That the original vision—faith-based, community-led, and spiritually anchored—had been replaced with an agenda of personal control.
He called the move illegal, illegitimate, and immoral.
And yet, months later, the parallel structure remains firmly in place. The rightful inheritors—the Tansian Missionaries—continue to be locked out. The founder’s family remains marginalised. The stakeholders’ resolution, which affirmed the Missionary Sons as the legal proprietors, has been disregarded. The appointed executor of the Will, Barrister B.S. Nwankwo (now deceased), along with the late Bengood Akam and Prof. G. U. Akam, were prevented from carrying out their duties. It was Fr Obiorah who obstructed them.
Why? Because no one wants to challenge a priest with a law degree and the title of SAN.
This is where my heartbreak deepens into outrage. Because at every turn, there has been opportunity for the Church to act—and yet, it has chosen silence.
Cardinal Peter Okpalaeke of Ekwulobia, a man whose spiritual journey was defended by Msgr. Akam during the Ahiara crisis, now watches from afar. When the Cardinal was rejected in Ahiara Diocese, it was Late Msgr Akam who stood by him—financially, morally, spiritually. That bond of solidarity must now be honoured in kind. Justice delayed is not only justice denied; it is loyalty betrayed.
The Ekwulobia Diocese may have formally distanced itself from the university, but the Cardinal’s moral authority remains intact. He must speak. He must act. A peaceful handover to the rightful owners—Msgr. Akam’s religious congregation—must be demanded and enforced.
Likewise, Bishop Paulinus Ezeokafor of the Awka Diocese must break his silence. Fr. Obiorah is his diocesan priest. His conduct—aggressive, autocratic, and unbecoming of a cleric—should warrant discipline. A priest is called to serve, not to rule. If Obiorah cannot be recalled from Tansian, what message does that send about the Church’s capacity for internal accountability?
Even Bishop Jonas Benson Okoye of Diocese Nnewi, once a student of Msgr. Akam, must rise to defend his teacher’s legacy. Their personal closeness imposes a pastoral responsibility. Silence, in this case, is not humility—it is complicity.
And then there is Metropolitan Archbishop Valerian Okeke of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Provence. He was once the Bursar of Bigard Memorial Seminary Enugu when late Msgr Akam served as Rector. Their history may be complicated, but the cause is now greater than past disagreements. Catholic education in Anambra is under siege. And the Archbishop must not allow a legacy built by faith to be dismantled by ambition.
While the Church dithers, the rot deepens.
Tansian University is now at crossroads. Corporate coup structures. One fractured identity. Staff are unpaid or underpaid. Facilities are decaying. Students are disoriented. Donors and partners have pulled back.
Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, whose land houses the university’s Oba campus, has accused the institution of violating a consent judgment regarding annual land payments. A court authorized him to repossess the campus. Contractors, including a Turkish construction firm, are chasing over ₦430 million in unpaid fees.
Former Chancellor, Senator Victor Umeh, resigned in protest in 2024. He called the takeover a moral collapse. His ouster, I am told, was orchestrated by Fr. Obiorah and executed in a manner devoid of transparency or decency.
The NUC has opened an investigation. But what good is a probe if the Church—the very institution that gave birth to this university—remains mute?
What is happening at Tansian is bigger than one priest, one university, or one legal battle. It is a warning.
When spiritual authority cedes ground to manipulation, the mission of the Church suffers. When a cleric uses his collar to gain trust, and his legal title to seize control, the result is institutional cannibalism.
A lawyer’s role is to advise, not inherit. A priest’s calling is to shepherd, not seize. The breach of fiduciary duty here is glaring—and dangerous.
Today, it is Tansian. Tomorrow, it could be any Church-founded institution, taken over by a cunning insider who knows how to navigate both canon law and corporate law, and who exploits the Church’s aversion to scandal to operate unchecked.
I write this not as a casual observer, but as someone who served Msgr. Prof. John Bosco Akam for 15 years in a dual capacity—as his Personal Assistant on Special Duties and as the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Tansian University. Even in death, he remains my principal. I was with him in the hospital in Abuja during his illness, and I was at his bedside when he drew his last breath, certainly not of Covid-19 as assumed but of frustration and depression caused him by people he trusted (that is subject of another article) —a trauma I carry to this day and have never fully overcome. In my home, his memory lives on; life-sized portraits of him hang both in my bedroom and sitting room.
Tansian University was a miracle of Blessed Iwene Tansi —a vision brought to life through the selfless dedication of Msgr. Akam and the missionary order he founded. That legacy must not be reduced to a monument of clerical ambition and administrative collapse.
If the Church will not act, then it forfeits its moral standing. If bishops cannot rein in their own priests, then they have lost the capacity to lead. If silence continues, then we must say what others will not: complicity wears a cassock too.
It is time for the Catholic Church in Nigeria to choose a side—between the memory of a faithful priest and the ambitions of a power-hungry lawyer; between its founding mission and its present inaction.
Because in the end, what is at stake is not just a university, but the soul of the Church itself.
- Chidipeters Okorie, was the Personal Assistant on Special Duties and as the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Tansian University
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