The first Salesian presence to arise in Abuja is Gaduwa. This is a residential area that has developed enormously in recent decades. The start of the religious presence dates back to 1992, when three Catholic families met every Sunday under a mango plant to pray together: it was the only option, since there was no Catholic church nearby.
Gradually other families joined and the small community grew. In 1993 they bought a piece of land and erected a small church dedicated to St Muchael. A priest began to celebrate Mass for them on Sunday. The community continued to grow and in 2003 it was elevated to the status of "mission" or "quasi-parish". At the end of the same year it incorporated two other small communities and was renamed the Church of the Archangels.
In 2012 the parish was entrusted to the Salesians: thus the first community was born in Abuja, with the Italian Salesian missionary Fr Vincenzo Marrone as its first parish priest, from 2012 to 2014. In 2016 Fr Ambrose Anene began construction work on the new church and in 8 years he transformed it into "one of the most beautiful churches in the Archdiocese", as the Archbishop described it on 8 December, when the Salesian parish of the Church of the Archangels was officially consecrated.
Today the Salesian centre is a hive of activity: catechesis, social promotion activities, care for the last. Special attention is given to young people: they are followed in catechesis, in parish life and accompanied on their journey of growth. For them, in the limited space available, there are small facilities for recreational, social and cultural activities, after-school activities and opportunities to acquire manual skills.
The second Salesian presence in Abuja is the St John Mary Vianney parish in Kubua. It is located in a populous suburb 15 km from the centre, characterised by a wide variety of ethnic groups from all over Nigeria. The parish was entrusted to the Salesians in 2017, and is well established and growing, so much so that it did not take long to see the church become increasingly narrow for the pastoral needs of the community.
The new church is under construction, slowly, according to the flow of financial resources. The large spaces available allow you to open the doors to the children for the oratory, which becomes a meeting point for the whole neighbourhood. Recreational, cultural and educational activities help to create a spirit of peaceful coexistence, which breaks down ethnic barriers and makes social integration difficult.
On 8 December, the Parish celebrated the Festival of Cultures, the occasion on which each ethnic group expresses the values of its culture: "it was a phantasmagoria of colors, sounds, costumes, songs, dances and typical dishes", said Italian Salesian missionary in Abuja, Fr Riccardo Castellino.
The flagship of the work is the Don Bosco Technical Institute, an impressive facility that offers a variety of courses for boys and girls: electricity, solar technology, construction, plumbing, tailoring, aesthetics, catering, IT and communication. It was opened in 2023 and is already in heavy demand.
Faced with the difficulty of obtaining a degree, a growing number of graduates without employment, and industrial complexes in search of skilled workers, young people are leaning increasingly towards the acquisition of a technical qualification that allows them immediate access to a job, and the Salesian technical institute fully responds to this new growing need.
For more information, visit: www.missionidonbosco.org
