ERIN WO ... AJANAKU SUN BI OKE ... BABA ONI INU RE LO - NIGERIAN OLDEST CATHOLIC PRIEST DIES AT 103 YEARS. MSGR (COL[RTD]) PEDRO AYODELE MARTINS GOES HOME Born on November 16, 1910 at Scale Square, Tinubu, Lagos, Rev Msgr. (Col Rtd) Ayodele Pedro Martins (OON) would have been 104 by November 16. His parents spoke Portuguese and were among the Brazilian returnees at the time. While his father, Marcellus Domingo Jose hailed from Lagos, his mother, Regina Martins, was an Egba from Abeokuta in Ogun State. He was ordained a Catholic priest on August 8, 1943 and joined the Army in 1960. He retired in 1976 and in the 80s he gradually began to disengage from public sphere. He was the first Nigerian Catholic Military Chaplain. It was gathered that while in Congo, the Late Gen. Johnson Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi was the General Commander of all the forces and Rev. Pedro also doubled as document translator and interpreter for the Nigerian and Congolese soldiers because of his good knowledge of French language. Upon return from Congo, he became the Director of Chaplain Services of the Nigerian Army. He served as Chaplain to the former military heads of state such as Aguiyi Ironsi and Olusegun Obasanjo. Some key government appointments Monsignor Pedro held included; Chairman Review Committee into the 1975 purge of the Nigerian Civil Service; Member of Justice Aguda-headed panel for the creation of the new Federal Capital Territory, Abuja between 1977 and 1976; assigned with Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle to clear the Apapa Wharf of the cement armada in 1977; and member of Chef Rotimi Williams-headed Constitution Drafting Committee in 1977.
Posted on: Sat, 17 May 2014 22:21:20 +0000
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