Born on October 29, 1931, Bishop Gbuji was ordained a priest in Rome on November 23, 1958. He became the pioneer Bishop of Issele-Uku in 1973 and later served as Bishop of Enugu from 1997 until his retirement in 2009.

But his story is not simply about titles.

When he became the first Bishop of Issele-Uku, he had the difficult task of building a young diocese almost from the ground up. He established schools, seminaries, hospitals, evangelisation projects and encouraged vocations to the priesthood.

He later founded the St. Paul International Institute of Evangelisation, which eventually developed into the Faculty of Religious Studies at Godfrey Okoye University.

He has also been described as a man of hard work, selflessness, scholarship and evangelisation.

In 2023, when he celebrated 50 years as a bishop, Cardinal John Onaiyekan described his journey as that of a man called and prepared to bring the Good News to God’s people.

Today, at 95 years old, his life gives us something worth thinking about:
What will remain after our titles, positions and achievements are gone?

For Bishop Gbuji, much of the answer can be seen in the people he formed, the institutions he built, the vocations he encouraged and the faith he spent his life spreading.

53 years a bishop. More than 67 years a priest. 95 years of life.

What a testimony of a life given in service to God and humanity.