ST. THERESA’S CATHOLIC CHURCH BUILDING IBAGWA-AKA IS GRADUALLY RISING TO THE HEAVENS EMBRACE LIKE A COLOSSUS
By Nkem Ossai
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
Growing up in the village and later travelled all around the country, I have seen good men and women. I have had several opportunities of meeting great men and great women. I have also met great intellectuals and great businessmen and businesswomen. I confess, I have never seen anything or anybody near JRB. As such, I want to describe him as a phenomenon, one of God’s greatest beautiful creation, and a mystery which nobody has yet been able to decode.
Today, let me just talk about the architectural beauty that has changed the way I look at Ndioke Ibagwa-Aka. Thanks to this great son of Ibagwa-Aka, an extraordinary philanthropist that has redesigned the landscape in the firmament of Ibagwa-Aka – His Eminence, Alhaji Jimo Badamosi (Kusel) popularly called JRB. How can one begin to discuss this personality? Where should I begin?
This reminds me of the words of philosopher Jeremy Bethany who lived between (15th February, 1748 and 6th June, 1832). I think he must have had people like JRB in mind when he wrote his famous utilitarianism which if put in another way, means the concept of being good, increasing pleasure and reducing pain.
It was Jeremy Bethany, the philosopher, that expounded the theory of “the greatest good to the greatest number.” He was an English man described as a philosopher, jurist, and social reformer and regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism.
His “fundamental axiom” forms the angling nexus on which his philosophy and principles rests. He believed that “it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.”
He was asked: How was good to be recognized? He said, anything that increased pleasure and reduced suffering is good.
In simple terms, that is what JRB represents. He has taken away, so much pain from thousands of people, communities, and even the establishment. He has equally brought pleasure and happiness to many. This peace is meant to say: Thank you JRB for this magnificent Church that is rising in my village like the Basilica in Rome. Your generation and generations after you will never lack. At the right time, we will revisit this great man and his works..
‘N’agode Allah. Allah keimu lafia sosei’
