Mission from Retirement

Though retired, Bishop Gbuji was not yet tired. Hence, when there was a great need in the Archdiocese of Benin-City, he got a Decree from the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples on May 31, 2010 appointing him the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Benin-City. He formally resumed this office after presenting the Decree to the College of Consultors of the Archdiocese on June 7, 2010. He would spend about 10 months there. Within these 10 months, he was able to speed up the process of grassroot evangelisation in the Archdiocese.

He created a lot of Independent Stations and Mass Centers and borrowed priests (Fidei Donum) from the Dioceses of Enugu, Issele-Uku and Uromi to take care of the insufficient number of priests. He reorganized the Curia to become more effective and efficient and reorganized the minor to engender more vocations. Today, the Archdiocese can look to the future with hope; thanks to the efforts of Bishop Gbuji in his little time there. With the installation of Most Rev. Dr. Augustine Akubeze as the substantive Archbishop of Benin-City, Bishop Gbuji retired once more happily to his retirement home in Enugu.

In Bishop Gbuji, we see a man who is all things to all men for the sake of Christ. We already have identified him as a great evangelizer. More than that, he is a builder, a horticulturist, a youth administrator, marriage counselor, vocation animator, among other great virtues. He has a special daily devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to our Lady, which is seen clearly in his episcopal motto, Ad Jesum Per Mariam – To Jesus through Mary.

He has received the following awards: Canon Law Award by the Canon Law Society of Nigeria (1996); Appreciation Award from Akwukwu-Igbo Community (1996); Doctorate Degree of Letters Honoris Causa from Caritas University, Enugu (July 19, 2008); Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) by President Umar Musa Yar’adua (22 December, 2008).