By Chuks Eke
Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra state and his predecessors, Peter Obi and Willie Obiano yesterday eulogized Cardinal Francis Arinze, former Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments in the Vatican City, for attaining 90 years of age.
Also the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe; former National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Senator Victor Umeh and Dr. A. B. C. Orjiako described Cardinal Arinze as a gift of God to the church in Nigeria and Africa.
Speaking during a Thanksgiving mass organized for at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha, Soludo, Obi, Obiano, Umeh, Obi of Onitsha prayed God to give Cardinal Arinze many more years of life and good health.
Specifically, Soludo prayed God to extend Cardinal Arinze as life span to 150 years with good health and urged other priests to emulate an exemplary manner of the Cardinal.
In his brief remarks, the chief host and Metropolitan Archbishop of Onitsha Catholic Archdiocese, His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Valerian Maduka Okeke thanked God the the great Cardinal Arinze is from the Archdiocese.
Bishop Denis Isizoh, the Auxiliary Bishop of Onitsha Diocese, who served Cardinal Arinze as Secretary in in the Vatican City, said he tapped so much from Arinze’s wealth of experience, adding that Arinze lived a holy life.
Responding, Cardinal Arinze thanked the participants for finding time to grace his 90th birthday ceremony and reminded them that in the the next 10 years when he would click 100 years, they would all gather like this and thank God, if he is still alive.
