The apex socio-cultural igbo group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide on thursday, congratulated Archbishop Fortunatus Osigbo Nwachukwu on his well-deserved appointment by His Holiness, Pope Francis as the Holy See Permanent Observer to the United Nations and Specialised Institutions in Geneva and at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The group who made this known in a press statement made available to the press by Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, the National Publicity Secretary of the group commended him adding that in his assignment is the Holy See Representative at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

“Ohanaeze Ndigbo has followed with immense admiration how Archbishop Nwachukwu discharged his duties most creditably as the Apostolic Nuncio to Saint Lucia, Grenada, and the Bahamas; Apostolic Nuncio to Suriname; Apostolic Nuncio to Belize; Papal Nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago, among others.

“In all his previous appointments, Archbishop Nwachukwu has proved himself a quintessential Igbo with umbilical linkages. On Saturday, September 4, 2021, at the Owerri Archdiocesan Day Celebration, the Papal Nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago, Archbishop Nwachukwu, delivered an incisive and captivating lecture with the theme -Isi Okwu– “Otu Chukwu, Otu Obara: Mbikozi Umu Mmadu.

“We have known our son, Fortunatus, as a hardworking, unassuming, conscientious man with an incredible apostolic audacity, purity of mind and ecclesiastical mien.

“The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Ambassador Professor George Obiozor is highly elated with the enviable roles of our illustrious sons at the highest echelon of the Catholic Church in the Vatican.

“He pointed out that Cardinal Francis Arinze is the first African to teach in the Major Seminary; the first Nigerian Cardinal to work in the Vatican Rome; the one of the Six Cardinal-Bishops in the entire world; an Emeritus Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments; the Cardinal-Bishop of Vellectri-Segni among others”, Ogbonnia said.

Expressing gratitude to His Holiness, Pope Francis for the confidence the Papacy reposed on Nwachukwu, Ogbonnis said “Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide offers assurances that the Igbo creativity, resourcefulness, integrity and character will add enormous values to the desired global peace, unity and progress.