MC ASUZU

 

In 1986 some Catholic medical doctors at the University College Hospital Ibadan decided to form a guild of Catholic doctors for the then Diocese of Ibadan, which they called the Catholic Association of Medical Doctors (CAMP). A few years later, it was noticed that the trainee specialist resident doctors were not participating properly in the diocesan guild. So, in keeping with the practice worldwide, a separate (lower level) branch of the association was formed and to be led by these resident doctors, even if the consultant doctors there also joined in it. This diocesan guild and eventual archdiocesan guild from 1992, made efforts to have the similar guilds organized in the other dioceses and major hospitals in Nigeria. Only Ilorin Diocese, Benin Archdiocese and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) succeeded in doing this; but none of those lasted for very long due to varying reasons.

In 1992, the Ibadan guild organized a very successful international conference at the University of Ibadan in the name of the yet to be formed national guild, and for which they received international organizational and national personal participation. We also had the proceedings published in newspapers as well as a book of that name. The conference was on “Family Planning, Birth Control and Western Imperialism”.

In 2006 one Catholic doctor from outside Ibadan insisted with the doctors in Ibadan that as the obvious one that can do so, they should call for a national conference which should this time get a national guild formed thereof. That conference was eventually called and held at the Church hall of the Family Church of the Ascencion in Bodija. That doctor who insisted on the calling of the conference eventually underwrote the remainder of the bill of the conference that could not be met from the conference registration fees. That conference insisted that the 2007 conference be hosted again by Ibadan; which happened in the UCH, Ibadan. At that time, the Holy Trinity Cathedral at Onitsha was raised to the first Basilica in Nigeria and the doctors from Onitsha at this 2007 conference requested that the 2008 conference be held in Onitsha, precisely at the Basilica, “so that we will join them to launch and to celebrate the elevation”. So, the Catholic doctors’ national guild has held its annual conferences without let in the different dioceses and archdioceses in the country continuously till date; the Archdioceses of Lagos, Abuja, Benin and Jos having like Ibadan also hosted it two times each, but no other dioceses. The annual conferences hold in the FIRST FULL WEEKEND, THURSDAY TO SUNDAY INCLUSIVELY, of July every year, so that no genuine Catholic doctor needs to be reminded of those dates in any year whatsoever!

In 2024, the annual conference that held in Nnewi Diocese decided that this 20th anniversary conference should return to Ibadan, to the roots, for a real celebration. This conference will therefore be holding from Thursday evening the 2nd to Sunday morning the 5th of July 2026 at the UCH, Ibadan.

In 2012, the guild was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of the Federal Government with the government accepted official name of the Association of Catholic Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (ACMPN). ACMPN has long been registered with the International Federation of the National Catholic Medical Associations headquartered in Rome; and tries to be represented as possible at its annual conferences. We have also tried to activate the Africa-wide regional branch of the guild.

The guild of Catholic medical doctors and dentists is organized to help Catholic doctors come to the full knowledge, understanding and practice in themselves as well as for mutual cooperation and solidarity with themselves and all men and women of goodwill in the world, with the utmost (Catholic) ethical standards of antiquity. This is in the face of the understandably huge ethical challenges that their practices face that necessitates the admission to the professions only after a solemn oath to not apply their practices to these abuses – abortion and the other anti-life practices, money-making as a primary objective, sexual immoralities, political and tribal abuses, etc – as even the non-Catholic Hippocrates as the father of the medical profession had established for the professions.

In this regard, in the face of all these temptations to the contrary, it is not only the doctors who should be encouraging all their other colleagues to do this, primarily in their personal interest but also for the Church and for humanity; but should be recognized as a duty for every faithful Catholic.

So, as this conference comes to Ibadan for this said 20th anniversary celebration, the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) headed by Dr. Mary Ugalahi who is also the President of the Ibadan Archdiocesan Guild, the LOC desires to let the entire Archdiocese be aware of this privilege and honour. It will therefore be appreciated that everybody in the Archdiocese is involved with this celebration as would be appropriate and possible for them to do: motivate every doctor or dentist that we know, especially in our parishes or work places to join the association and be part of this conference. The various pious associations and sodalities in the Church in the Archdiocese – the nurses and midwives, pharmacists, knighthood societies, other Catholic professional associations, hospitals, the Catholic media outfits, etc – will do well to cooperate with us in these regards. All the Catholic professional associations (including politicians, should they get together to form such an association across party lines and in spite of them) should do this. The doctors in return should do so, would any of these associations organize such events similarly.

Let us all hope and pray that this conference achieves all its intended objectives, locally, nationally and internationally; and that it forms a springboard for future events like it! Amen.