By Ike Abonyi
Today, June 21, 2025, is the 70th Birthday Anniversary of His Lordship, Bishop William Avenya, the Catholic Bishop of Gboko, Benue State. Born 21 June 1955. Bishop Avenya is the first Bishop of the Gboko Diocese since its creation on 29 December 2012.
Before then he was the Auxiliary Bishop of Makurdi Catholic Diocese. He is recorded to have served as a Bishop in the three Dioceses of Makurdi, Gboko and Katsina-Ala.
Before becoming Bishop, he served as secretary general of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa (AECAWA), headquartered in Abuja from where I was privileged to meet this deep intellectual man of God.
He continues to oil the relationship with his regular prayers for the family, and on two instances in 2010 and 2013, he travelled from Gboko to my village in Obollo Etiti, Udenu Local government area of Enugu state to preside over the funeral mass for my parents’ father in 2010 and mother in 2013.
His Diocese was actually planning to celebrate this great man of God on his 70th birthday today, after 44 years of soldiering in the Lord’s vineyard, but had to curtail it in respect for the over 200 Benue citizens killed by faceless herders. Everyone is mourning in our state, we can’t celebrate, but we still give God the glory for all things, the Shepherd of the Catholic Diocese of Gboko said when contacted.
William Amove Avenya was born on 21 June 1955 in Ishangev Tiev, Konshisha Local Government Area, Benue State, Nigeria.
He attended Mount Saint Gabriel’s Secondary School in Makurdi and completed ecclesiastical studies at St Augustine’s Major Seminary Jos (1975–1981).
He studied at the University of Manchester (1989–1990), pursuing a master’s degree in education and a PhD. In 2000, he earned a diploma in management and development of non-governmental organisations at Galilee International Management Institute, Israel.
Avenya was ordained a priest on 30 May 1981. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Makurdi, Nigeria, on 28 November 2008.
He was appointed titular bishop of Thucca in Mauretania on 28 November 2008 and ordained a bishop on 24 January 2009 in Makurdi, Benue. He was appointed bishop of the diocese of Gboko on 29 December 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI and installed on 24 February 2013.]
On 17 February 2020, after the death of Peter Iorzuul Adoboh, the bishop of the diocese of Katsina-Ala, Avenya was appointed apostolic administrator of Katsina-Ala. He served in that role until a new bishop, appointed by Pope Francis, was installed in July 2022.
Late Chief Michael and Angelina Odo Abonyi of Obollo continue to cherish this wonderful man of God and wish him, many more fruitful years ahead as he continues to soldier in the Lord’s vineyard. Happy birthday, Your Lordship.
