Rev Fr Raymond Arazu, translated the psalms in the Holy Bible into Igbo and set them to music played entirely with African instruments
By Kehinde Okeowo
The government of Anambra State on behalf of the people of the state has announced the passing away of Reverend Father Raymond Chukwunyerugwu Arazu, C.s.Sp, whose death occurred on December 26, 2021.
The clergy who was born in 1939, and hailed from Ihembosi in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State, died after a battle with prostrate cancer and diabetes.
Rev Fr Raymond Arazu was described by the state as a good priest and an amazing gift to Anambra State, ndi Igbo, and the world of scholarship.
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He studied in Nigeria, Italy, and the United Kingdom where he excelled in academics and sports, before embarking on a lifelong campaign for African cultural Renaissance through psalm translation, music, scholarship, and herbal medicine.
According to the Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba, in a statement released today in Awka. “He translated the psalms in the Holy Bible into Igbo and set them to music played entirely with African instruments like do, or thumb piano.
“At a time when many educated Africans considered it infra dig to speak an African language”, Adinuba observed,
He added, “Fr Arazu, who received a doctorate in moral science in Italy with distinction and emerged the best student at the University of Southampton in England, started wholesome African cultural revival.
“He was the first researcher to establish that the language of divination in Igbo and Bini is exactly the same.
“He began a scientific study of African plants and herbs and their curative properties which led to his establishment of centers of herbal medicine in Enugu and Awka, with the Anambra State government appointing him chairman of the state’s traditional medicine board.
“There are thousands of people in different parts of Nigeria who have over the decades depended entirely on his medicines, regardless of their faiths, because they believe passionately in their efficacies”.
The statement further eulogised Rev Fr Raymond Arazu, the Spiritan priest as a man who led his life entirely for society.
While in the service of the old Anambra State Ministry of Youth Development and Social Services in Enugu, he had farms in places like Abakaliki in Ebonyi State where he worked alongside his workers on the farm.
The produce was either sold or used to feed the numerous indigent people he was training without making a show of it in public.
Fr Arazu fervently believed that a priest was, ipso facto, a servant of the people, and not just of God. He drew inspiration from the life of the great Father (later Bishop) Michael Eneja who, as parish priest of the church at Fegge, Onitsha.
Arazu saw in Eneja a perfect example of humility and a servant leader, a trait he later imbibed and was known for across the globe
Rev Fr Raymond Arazu was an engaging scholar who wrote numerous research articles and books on various subjects and spoke six international languages fluently.
His research work on the place of kabbalah in ancient Jewish mystic tradition and work on comparative religious systems which include oriental religious drew global attention.
When his rural Ihembosi community was in crisis, he accepted to lead the town union and quickly brought peace and tranquility to the place.
The state government also expressed its condolences to the family, his diocese, and the Ihembosi community, while also offering prayers for the repose of his soul.
