By Peter Ajayi Dada
Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos and Bishop John Oyejola, of the Catholic Diocese of Osogbo led over 150 Catholic priests from various dioceses across Nigeria to celebrate the funeral Mass for the late Very Rev. Msgr. Gabriel Sunday Osu, on May 28, 2026 at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos.
He died on May 8, 2026 after a prolonged illness.
The Holy Mass which started at 10 .00a.m had in attendance Religious. Sisters from the various congregations, Papa Knights and medalists, parishioners from various Catholic parishes across the archdiocese and other neighbouring dioceses , friends, members of the Osu family led by Mr Paul Osu from Ubulu-Uku in Delta State, the representatives of the Boy’s and Girl’s Brigade, and well wishers alike. The weather on that day was clement after the early morning downpour that confirmed that the heavenlies welcomed the late Msgr. Osu’s soul into their midst. 
Very striking and worthy of note at the Mass were the gentlemen of the press led by the CAMPAN Chairman for Lagos Archdiocese, Mr Philip Nwosu. Majority of them had arrived the Cathedral as early as possible to pay their last respect to a great friend of the pen profession for almost 45 years. After the priesthood which was Msgr Osu’s primary vocation and ministry, his second constituency must have been the Social Communications Apostolate of the Catholic Church which afforded him the unique opportunities to have interacted with many old and young journalists .
I shall return to his oddysey in this apostolate very shortly in this piece.
To the glory of God, almost all the pews inside the Cathedral were filled with congregants who participated actively in the Mass as the programmes for the events containing Order of funeral rites in the proper Catholic Church tradition were freely distributed before the Mass began. The choir were not left out as they rendered spiritually and meditatively inspiring hymns in English, Látìn and other Nigerians languages.
Very Rev. Fr. Paul Ijasan, the administrator of Holy Cross Cathedral led in the chanting of the Sequence in Látìn, the official language of the Church, to the spiritual edification of all present. I had thought the Sequence is usually chanted or sung during Easter time. The more one attends the activities of the Catholic Church, the deeper one continues to understand the Catholic faith.
Representatives of the various parishes where Msgr.Osu had served God and humanity during his lifetime mobilised themselves in large numbers to pay their last respect to an anointed man of God who impacted their lives spiritually and in other social strata of life. They also distributed Catholic Church approved prayer cards embossed with the picture of the deceased which further demonstrated that he was indeed a man of faith while in life. Most of them adorned their parish fabrics with their Parish Patron Saint pictures conspicuously printed on them. Indeed, it was a solemn occasion and I guess Msgr. Osu would be happy in heaven that he was given a befitting burial.
To God be the glory for that bright day and being a public holiday also when traffic was extremely light on Lagos roads. Indeed, all things worked for good. It would not be out of place to say the Holy Spirit was and is still at work and guided the actions of the Fathers of the Faith to have chosen May 28, 2026 as the day the remains of Msgr. Osu should be committed to mother earth. May his soul and the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.
The Episcopal Vicar for Lekki Region, Very Rev. Fr. Paschal Nwaezeapu , delivered a touching and spiritually deepening homily where he described the late Msgr. Osu as a charitable man who helped the needy and the less privileged during his life time. Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins in his post-communion remarks also dwelt on Msgr. Osu’s life as a believer in human rights, equity, fairness and justice for the downtrodden through his public commentaries and condemnation of ill-treatment to the less privileged.
The Archbishop recalled that if Msgr. Osu was to be alive that day he would have condemned the coordinated raiding of schools in Ahoro-Esin-Ile, Yawota and Alawusa rural communities in Oriire Local Government Area Oyo State by suspected kidnappers, where they kidnapped about 45 children and teachers on May 15 respectively.
Thanks to our professional colleagues from the print and the electronic media as well as those from the Online publications for doing adequate reportorial justice to the homily and the post- Communion remarks in their outfits.
Back to Fada Osu’s association with the Pen Profession. Symbolically and providentially coincidental is that, that day marked a great reunion among old and new members of the Social Communications Apostolate of the Catholic Church under the aegis of the Catholic Ecclesiastical Provinces of Lagos and Ibadan ( CEPLI) and the Catholic Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria ( CAMPAN). CAMPAN members are journalists who profess the Catholic faith and are working in both the diocesan and secular media organisations. They, through their media outlets, promote and publicise the activities and teachings of the Catholic Church within and outside the Church. CAMPAN is approved and recognised by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria and has chapters in almost all the Archdioceses and dioceses in Nigeria.
For about forty five years, Msgr.Osu or ‘Fada’ Osu as he was popularly addressed in the media industry served God and humanity meritoriously in the Social Communications Apostolate of the Catholic Church. Both Msgr.Pascal Nwaezeapu in his homily and Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins in his post-communion remarks alluded to Fada Osu’s sterling passion and commitment to the Social Communications Apostolate right from his days at Ibowon near Epe up till his years at Our Lady, Star of the Sea Parish, Northern Foreshore, Lekki , his last parish where he had to step down due to health challenges.
Very Rev.Fr. Emmanuel Adebayo Lewis, the incumbent Rector of St. Albert the Great Major Seminary at Idowu Offoran in the Catholic Diocese of Abeokuta, who in the 1990s was the Director of Social Communications for Abeokuta Diocese and Rev. Fr. Francis Femi Adetunji, a one time Director of Social Communications in the Catholic Diocese of Osogbo were among the concelebrating priests during the funeral Mass.
Dr (Mrs) Grace Achum, the AIT/Ray Power team, the Catholic Herald team, and several others media practitioners and contemporary Online publishers came in their large numbers to bid late Msgr. Osu goodbye.
In the 1990s, Msgr. Osu from the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, the late Rev. Fr. John Toyin Pinheiro from the Archdiocese of Ibadan and the late Rev. Fr Thomas Ajayi from the Catholic Diocese of Oyo were among the significant others in the Social Communications Apostolate under CEPLI under the continental umbrella of UNDA/OCIC/UCIP. Other Directors then were : Rev. Fr. now Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo (Director of Social Communications, Osogbo Diocese then and later National Director of Social Communications at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria ,CSN), Rev. Fr. now Bishop Felix Femi Ajakaye of the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti. He succeeded Bishop Badejo at the CSN, Fr Emmanuel Adebayo Lewis( Abeokuta Diocese) , Fr Ayo Abe, (Osogbo) and Fr Augustine Inwang MSP (The Ambassador Publications) at Iperu Remo respectively. Also were Rev. Fr. Paul Ade Osunyikanmi, Rev Fr John Oyewole and Rev. Fr. Andrew Ologbobo leading the team from the Catholic Diocese of Ondo. The priests would convey the lay members in their cars to meetings venues either in Lagos, Ibadan, Ede, Ado Ekiti, Akure, Ijebu-Ode or Abeokuta then depending on which diocese or archdiocese was hosting.
Rev Fr John Oyewole and Rev. Fr. Andrew Ologbobo leading the team from the Catholic Diocese of Ondo. The priests would convey the lay members in their cars to meetings venues either in Lagos, Ibadan, Ede, Ado Ekiti, Akure, Ijebu-Ode or Abeokuta then depending on which diocese or archdiocese was hosting.
Some of the lay members then were : Dr( Mrs Grace Achum) Mr Tony Agbugba, Otunba Jide Fadugba Pinheiro, Mr Foluso Adedigba, Mr Gabriel Ayodele, Prince Ade Ajiboye, Miss Folasade Osho, Miss Lucy Fadekemi Ayo,Chief Kayode Williams, Mr Segun Benco, Mr. Peter Ajayi Dada, the following members had since been called to eternity: Mr Cardoso, Prince Ìwà Oyefade, Mr Leo Olanipekun, Mr Bayo Irekiigbe, Mr Augustine Bimbo Alade, Mr Tony Esoimeme, etc. Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine on them. Amen.
Back in Lagos then and now that still serves as the melting point of the main stream journalism, Msgr Osu was fondly referred to as ‘Fada’ instead of Rev. Fr.Osu by his several editors and media executives in the electronic and print media even after his investiture as a Monsignor by the Holy Father.
Fada Osu as the Director of Social Communications for the Archdiocese of Lagos was a household name and any reporters’ delight as a reliable and authentic news source any day any time. His doors were always open to journalists seeking to interview him on any issues under the earth ranging from religion, politics to lifestyle. He was never caught off-guard. He would welcome any journalist with his infectious smiles into his office and cracked jokes that would make such a reporter feel at home. To the glory of God and to his credit, there was never any occasion that Fada Osu had to lodge any complaints against any reporter of quoting him out of contents or misrepresenting his views in the various publications then to either the editors back in their offices or to such ‘erring’ reporter(s)’ colleagues.
If a reporter should miss any press conference addressed by His Grace, Archbishop later His Eminence Anthony Cardinal Okogie or Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins, on any raging national issues for some reasons, the editor after tongue lashing the reporter for not being on top of his or her beat would say ‘Go and talk to Fada Osu, the Catholic Church spokesman.’
A call to Fada Osu introducing yourself and the medium you represented were all you needed then. He would ask you to come over to his parish then either at the Lay Apostolate Centre, Maryland, St John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Sogunle-Oshodi, St Paul’s Ebute Metta, St Michael’s Parish, Lafiaji or Our Lady, Star of the Sea Parish, off Cheveron Drive Lekki. Such reporters always got Indepth stories with rich contents to the delight of their editors in addition to transport fare that would take them back to their offices. Msgr Osu was, indeed, a priest of the people and one that made the job of any journalists that came across him easy.
He was a genuine lover of hardworking journalists and a good Shepherd in the field of social engineering. Despite his tight schedules as a parish priest then, he would put calls through to journalists covering the religious beat and others in the sector whom he might have not seen for awhile. For the sake of posterity, Msgr. Osu authored over six books that included: “In Service of God and Humanity”, “My Commentary on Nigeria” and “Springboard to Salvation”.
In 2018, he used his good office as the Director of Social Communications in Archdiocese of Lagos to appeal to Archbishop Adewale Martins to host the first national Congress of the Catholic Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria (CAMPAN) after its inauguration in 2017 by the then CBCN Bishop Chairman, Bishop Godfrey Onah of the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka in Port Harcourt during the tenure of Very Rev Fr Christian Anyanwu as the national Director of Social Communications Directorate at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN). After the inauguration, history was made with the election of my good friend, Patrick Osu as the national president while I, Peter Ajayi Dada, was elected the national secretary. Thank God that CAMPAN national is waxing stronger and stronger today in promoting and publicizing the activities of the Catholic Church as an arm of its Social Communucations Apostolate under a new leadership led by Sir Chimdi Oluoha from Umuahia Diocese.
It is on record that Archbishop Adewale Martins had an interactive session with the CAMPAN members during the Congress while the then CBCN Bishop Chairman, Bishop Chidi Denis Isizoh, the then Auxiliary Bishop of Onitsha Archdiocese and the current Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Aguleri was physically present as the Chief Celebrant at the opening Mass held at Saints Philips and James Catholic Church, Lekki then. We all had a spiritually fulfilling period at Lumen Christi
Also, Very Rev. Fr. Patrick Alumuku as the President of SIGNIS Nigeria, Director of Social Communications for Abuja Archdiocese and Director of Catholic Television of Nigeria CTV), Rev Fr Christian Anyanwu, the then National Director of Social Communications whose office facilitated the birth of CAMPAN alongside Fr Francis Femi Adetunji attended the historic National Congress. Patrick Osu and myself had the unique privilege of sitting at table for lunch with Msgr Osu and Fr Alumuku then. They relished with nostalgia on their infancy days as priests, recalling some of their contemporaries and how they were faring in the priestly ministry.
With the turn out of Bishops, priests, the religious, the various lay and voluntary organisations for the funeral Mass , it is indeed accurate to conclude that Msgr or ‘ Fada’ Osu was indeed a great friend of the media in his life time.
” Even in his later years, Msgr. Osu remained cheerful, warm and widely beloved -a cherished figure within both the Church and the media. Indeed, Very Rev. Msgr. Gabriel Osu was a towering figure in Church Communications who gave his all in service to God and humanity,” culled from his Biography in the Funeral Rites for his Requiem Mass.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed continue to rest in peace. Amen.