By Motunrayo J Adetola
It was Tuesday 15th September 2026 and in my own backyard at the Our Saviors Anglican Church in the idyllic town of Ikenne, Ogun State, Nigeria,
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) gathered for her 15th General Synod hosted by the Remo Diocese with the Archbishop of the Lagos ecclesiastical province (and Diocesan Bishop of Remo) as the chief host. It was also an opportunity to consecrate 4 newly elected bishops of the Church.
The beautiful church building had 142 Bishops in attendance with 199 clergy, 145 laity and notable politicians and civil leaders. ACNN TV, the Church of Nigeria TV/Social Media outlet was on hand to livestream the event.
The consecration service was beautiful. The procession, carefully chosen hymns and bible readings, the excellent charge by the retiring Archbishop of Ibadan and even the oath taking was proceeding well from the lawyers and the Dean of the Communion until the inappropriate anger of the Primate reared its head.
Moments earlier, the Dean had led the Bishops elect on an oath which in part had read “..will you for Christ’s sake be gentle and merciful to all and defend those who have no helper”? The Bishop elects had answered in the affirmative. Then came the moment to take the Oath of Canonical Obedience with the Primate.
Archbishop Henry Ndukuba suddenly lashed out at the bishops-elect, roared at them under the glare of live audience and transmission, “I will ask you to repeat that! Keep your Bible in your right hand, keep it up.., start again!” These are bishop colleagues and he could not speak softly to them at their own consecration service?
This however is not an isolated behavior, it is a pattern, most unbecoming of a bishop, an ecclesiastical leader and it is time to give it some serious consideration in my opinion.
Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. I would think Bishops (even Bishops undergoing consecration) qualify as older men in this context and gentleness to all, both young and old is desirable, 1 Timothy 5:1, Galatians 5:22-23
A few days ago (16th October 2026), the internet and media suddenly erupted with the perturbing news that the Primate had instructed Archbishop Ibezim of Awka Diocese to proceed on a 6 month leave. Archbishop Ibezim responded immediately with a lawsuit challenging the Primate, asserting that the Primate has not followed the constitution and canons of the Anglican Church (of Nigeria) for disciplining a serving bishop as provided for under sections 55 and 75 to 76 of the church’s 2020 Constitution, as well as sections 22 to 28 of Canon XVI.
The Primate to all intents appears to be on the losing side because Archbishop Ibezim appears to “have circled the wagons” in his own diocese and have the necessary support of his Diocesan Board at this point given a communique released and signed by their Chancellor and Synod Secretary.
Primate Ndukuba entered this role 7 years ago and has another 3 years to go. He has had disciplinary / suspensions issues with at least 5 Bishops all which he has badly managed in addition to causing lots of unnecessary “bad blood” with many other Bishops and clergy. These calls to question his administrative and leadership style. Will the communion survive ++Ndukuba?
The Diocese of Awka is threatening to leave the communion, The Anglican Diocese of The Trinity (ADOTT) is still in Court with The Church of Nigeria in an Indiana (USA) Court for the unprecedented dissolution of that diocese undertaken by Bishop Ndukuba etc.
Bishop Felix Orji elected to leave the Church of Nigeria and aligned with the Anglican Church in North America when he could no longer stand Archbishop Ndukuba. Bishops Adepoju and Okuyelu’s disciplinary measures were unnecessarily, even maliciously delayed, Bishop Adebogun sought relief in a Nigerian court with Mr Femi Falana (SAN) as his lawyer all because the Primate just does not appear to have regards for process stipulated in the same Canons of the Church he wants others to swear allegiance and adhere to.
After the unsavoury dissolution of the dioceses in North America under his watch which he mendaciously attempted to explain away by saying it was done at the request of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) which the Primate of ACNA immediately denied, he then tried to ram through the elevation of the suffragan Bishops located in North America to Missionary Bishops to fit the new designation of the North American mission (CONNAM).
The Constitution of the Church provides for this to be done by election and not by appointment or acclamation of Bishops but the primate really does not appear to care for process. Thankfully, the House of Bishops resisted.
Primate Ndukuba blocked Archbishop Akhanya from coming to preach at the synod of the Anglican Diocese of All Nations (ACNA) presided over by Bishop Felix Orji a few years ago, then prevented 2 bishops (Ezeofor & Okeke) from preaching at a Revival service of one of our sister churches in Edmonton a couple of years back. Acrimony between brethren who used to belong in the same diocese and parish continues to exist because the one who should bring unity and heal wounds brought disunity and opened wounds.
Pray tell us, which Primate forbids the proclamation of the gospel in churches that are still in the communion over which he presides? The answer is Primate Ndukuba. I seek to understand how a Bishop and Archbishop who served faithfully in episcopal office and was well respected and sought after everywhere retired and the next impulse of Archbishop Ndukuba was to have him probed and isolated. It had to take a foreign nation to give new responsibilities to this faithful retired Archbishop when there are lots of things we can have him do in Nigeria.
The Global Anglicans Future Conference (GAFCON) recently agreed to site her headquarters in Abuja with the Church of Nigeria given our numerical strength of about 20 million people. Are we planning to lead an alternative Anglican movement with fidelity to scripture with a leader whose primary impulse is anger and has a chronic allergy for process?
I took a break, a long break from discussing the effete leadership style of the current primacy for a solid year in the hope that things may just improve but has it? The news and social media space is filled with negative media of the Nigerian Anglican church and 2 Archbishops pitted against one another and dragging one another to court again. Poor and struggling dioceses do not have funding secured, lawyers are feeding fat on either sides of Anglicans litigating against one another with our Primate right in the middle as usual!
It was 2 months ago that news broke that a criminally minded Anglican priest previously defrocked in a Diocese of Northern Nigeria was restored in a nearby diocese and even promoted. He however soon returned to his criminal enterprise but this time, was planning to kidnap the wives of 2 bishops for ransom money.
Again, if the primate does not like or follow laid out canonical process, why should the bishops or priests under him? What rights do we have to challenge the Liberals and heterodoxy of Canterbury..? That we make our Bishops and Knights swear some redundant oaths which say they are not “homosexuals, bisexuals…” as the epitome of sins in Nigerian Anglican eyes? How about looking inwards to our pride, wickedness, anger, malice and the sort and becoming truly penitent rending our hearts and not our coats Joel 2:13.
I have brought up some of these concerns with people who really like the primate but rather than acknowledge the obvious, they come up with excuses like “the primate is very powerful o..”, “the constitution of the church gives the primate a lot of power..” and similar pathetic excuses. Every single time however that a Bishop has stood up to the primate or threatened, the primate retreats. I know of another Archbishop whom he sent another punitive type letter to but who responded by threatening legal action and he just backed down.
Surely the leader of God’s people is called upon to be strong and courageous. Joshua 1:7. A Christian leader should be deliberative and then take decisive, bold and courageous action prayerfully.
Adetola, Anglican is a medical doctor based in Canada
