Rivers State Deputy Governor, Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo has described Rt. Rev. Ralph Cornelius Ebirien as a great missionary and lover of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Banigo stated this during the Retirement/ 70th Birthday Thanksgiving Service in honour of Rt. Rev. Ralph Cornelius Ebirien, the 6th Bishop, Niger Delta Diocese at St Cyprian’s Anglican Church in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
Banigo, who said the Bishop lives a very modest and humble life style, stressed that he is a great Apostle of Jesus Christ.
The Deputy Governor, expressed gratitude to the Almighty God for the 12th day of May 2022, which she disclosed, was the 12th year of Rt. Rev. Ralph Cornelius Ebirien’s enthronement as a Bishop and the 70th Birthday of his life.
“I just want to thank the Almighty God for the things he has used him to do, when he was Dean, of the Diocese, he was a Chairman of the Sunday School Board and I worked with him closely, that was when I started to know him for his sheer humility, his love for the work of God and how he has been able to disciple the children of God, how he has been able to send the word of God along the length and breadth of this diocese and beyond, and when he ascended to be a bishop, I knew that God has chosen, a man after his heart to the Diocese and he never stopped working for the improvement of the ministry and the word of God”.
In his remarks, Archbishop of the Niger Delta Province, Most Rev. Blessing Enyindah, said the Primate of All Nigeria Anglican Communion Most Rev. Henry Chukwudum Ndukuba has approved the appointment of Rt. Rev Wisdom Budu Ihunwo as Overseer of the Niger Delta Diocese pending when a new bishop would be enthroned.
In his Sermon Bishop, Diocese of Niger Delta North, Rt. Rev. Wisdom Budu Ihunwo said one of the best things that could happen to man is to retire when you are still alive, stressing that when you have worked and God keeps you alive until your retirement date, it calls for thanksgiving.
He said Bishop Ebirien is known for his humility and patience, adding that he has learnt a lot from the life style of the bishop who was ever ready to learn, does not take anything for granted and expressed gratitude to the Almighty God that Bishop Ebirien is alive and retiring.
Earlier the Out-going Bishop of the Niger Delta Diocese, Rt. Rev. Ralph Cornelius Ebirien expressed gratitude to the Almighty God for his blessings, mercy and love for making him attain the age of 70 and to retire after forty years of serving in the Lord’s vineyard out of which he served as a Bishop for twelve years.
