When l entered Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu, in January 1960, the name, Peter Mbanugo, who was to become a distinguished architecture professor and the first architect from Ihiala Local Government Area in Anambra State, fondly called Pemba by all who knew him, was a household word.
Even though at that time, he was no longer a seminarian, everybody spoke of him with admiration and respect. Little wonder that the name made an impact on me in my young impressionable years, especially when I learnt that he hailed from Ihiala, as the neighbouring towns of Ozubulu, Nnewi and Ihiala in today’s Anambra State were praying for their first Catholic priests.
I looked forward to meeting ‘that man’, and my dream was fulfilled much later, in 1972, 12 years later, when I became a formator at our Alma Mater, Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu. By then he was already a highly-respected and well-renowned architect, and was working hand in hand with the then seminary rector, Msgr. John Ogbonna of blessed memory; Bigard was in its reconstruction period after the Nigeria/Biafra war.
I had little contact with him for as a formator and because my responsibilities were primarily in academics, I did not have much to do with administration. But the picture changed in 1978, when I was appointed rector of the seminary.
Also, I had worked very closely with His Lordship, Most Rev. Godfrey Mary Paul Okoye, of blessed memory, the then Bishop of the Enugu Diocese, with Mr. Robert Odinkenmelu, and with Peter when the latter two invited Knights of St. John International to begin a foundation in Nigeria. During my tenure in office, as Bigard Major needed many new structures, I immediately called onMbanugo, who responded promptly to my cry for help.
He designed and supervised all the structures at Bigard during that period, and suffered a lot and in silence from misunderstanding and ingratitude at the hands of those who should have known better.
It is of utmost importance to put on record that for most of the buildings, he did not charge any professional fee as the architect. 1 vividly remember in my first year as rector, I submitted a plan for a building to a funding agency in Austria but did not include the architect’s fee. When the local director of the Pontifical Mission Aid Society told me that I needed more money for the building because I did not include the architect’s fee, in my innocence I told him that I did not pay any fee to the architect because he charged none. The reaction of the director came to me as a shock. He said: ‘Don’t be naive: the architect’s fee is 20%-30% of the cost of the structure. How could anyone forego such an amount”? But that was what happened not once, not twice but over and over again.
Despite age difference, Peter permitted me to call him Pemba, especially when he realized I liked the neologism, and as he was very proud of his days in the seminary; the neologism, coined from his first name Peter and surname Mbanugo, always brought him back memories of his days in the seminary. It was not only the seminary that he worked for: he was known throughout the then Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province comprising the Catholic Church in today’s Anambra, Enugu and Imo states, and he charged next to nothing for his professional fees. Peter, though not a priest, could compete with any priest in his devotion, dedication, generosity and self-sacrifice in the service of the church and of humanity.
The services he rendered to the church while I was Rector of Bigard paled in comparison to what he did for the Church at the Catholic Institute of West Africa, Port Harcourt, both before and during the construction of the new site at Obehie in Abia State.
He designed and supervised 22 massive, impressive and immortal structures, which invite respect and admiration for his craftsmanship and ingenuity.
His weekly trips to Port Harcourt for which I paid neither for his fuel nor for loss of a day’s job, his supervision of the buildings almost pro-bono, his unflinching support in times of misunderstanding and sabotage, all these things endeared him to me, as he proved to be a friend indeed when I was in need. I was not the lone beneficiary of these sterling virtues of Pemba: all who came in contact with him experienced them as well.
I am aware of all his efforts and all that he suffered to make the Knights of Sant John International take a solid footing in Nigeria.
Were Peter to charge the church 50% of his professional fees, he would have been a multi-billionaire! But with his modesty, he taught us all that money is not everything, and he did not try to perpetuate his name on the buildings he designed. God saw them all and that was all that Peter needed.
As long as he was able to keep his family comfortable, he was generous and kind to a fault. I do praise his wife, Grace, a retired High Court Judge, and his family for putting up with his extravagant largesse to Bigard and to the Church: they could have made life a living hell for him; this they did not do, and we thank them immensely for permitting Peter to be Pemba.
Peter is one of unsung heroes of our time, and those of us privileged to know him closely should tell the world what a great personality that he was before God and humanity. Even though it is not possible to dwarf a giant, as some tried and obviously failed, we shall keep his legacy alive and encourage future generations to emulate him.
No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on a lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that. seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in Heaven. (Mau. 5: 15-16).
My bosom friend and benefactor, Pemba; I truly miss you as well as all you truly know you. With a heavy heart, I bid you farewell. You lived a happy and fulfilled life. At 90, no one can say that you that died prematurely, but we could have had you a little longer. We love you dearly but God loves you more, hence he called you to himself; happy and pleased that, like Jesus as St. Peter tells us.
You spent your life on earth doing good (cf. Acts 10:37). The Lord gave you five talents, you gave him billions in return, hence the Lord Jesus will not hesitate to say to you: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown that you can be faithful in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and Join in your Masters happiness. (Matt. 25:21’).
I can find no better conclusion to this parting message than to write down for all who will read this tribute a beautiful prayer of the fourth century from the Sacramentary of Serapion, which I have prayed severally every day for my dear Peter since I learnt of his demise: ‘0 God, who has authority of life and death, God of spirits and Master of all flesh, we beseech you for the repose and rest of this your servant (Peter): give rest to his soul, his spirit, in green places, in chambers of rest with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all your saints: and raise up his body on the day which you have ordained, according to your promises.
Remember not his transgressions and sins: and cause his going forth to be peaceable and blessed. Heal the sorrow of those who belong to him, and grant to us a good end through your Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ’.
Fr. Akpunonu, an internationally recognised theologian and Professor of Biblical Languages, sent in this tribute from Iwene Tansi Major Seminary, Onitsha, Anambra State
