The Most Revd. Prof. E. O. Chukwuma (OON) was born into the Anglican family of late Sir Nathaniel and Lady Theresa Chukwuma Mgbeze, of Umuonaje Quarters in Asaba, the capital of Delta State of Nigeria, on the 15th day of January, 1954. Archbishop Chukwuma is both the second child and the second son of the family.

His primary and secondary education traversed several towns and regions of Nigeria – Asaba, Oshogbo, Akure etc. After his secondary education he became a teacher at St. Louis Grammar School Owo, prior to his Grade II Teachers certification in Ife. He then proceeded to teach at Ayanbeku Grammar School Ile-Ife, and Olode Grammar School Olode-Ife.

His desire was to become a lawyer, but his father wanted him to be a priest instead, possibly because of the way the Archbishop was miraculously saved from death during the Nigerian Civil War. So, instead of utilising the admission he got to study Law at the University of Ife, he changed his focus by attending Immanuel College of Theology lbadan, in 1978, where he obtained Diplomas in Theology (Dip.Th.) and Religious Studies (Dip.Rs.) University of Ibadan.

He was called into the ordained ministry in 1980 as a Deacon, and priested in 1981 by late Archbishop Timothy O. Olufosoye. He was at Christ Church Mepo Ibadan as a curate till 1984, when he left for St. John’s College Nottingham, England, on CMS Scholarship, and graduated with L.Th. (Licentiate in Theology).

On his return to Nigeria, then Rev. Chukwuma was posted to St. James Cathedral Okebola Ibadan, as Chaplain to the Archbishop of Nigeria, the Most Rev. Timothy Omotayo Olufosoye. In 1989, he became the Vicar of St. Paul’s Church Okebola, Ibadan – the only Igbo church at the time. This was his station when he was preferred a Canon in 1989.

On 29th of April, 1990, at St. Michael’s Cathedral Kaduna, then Rev. Canon E. O. Chukwuma was consecrated as the first Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of Bauchi (which was carved out from Kano Diocese), by the Most Rev. Abiodun Adetiloye, the then Primate and Archbishop of Nigeria. He was already studying a degree course in Education (Religous Studies) in the University of Lagos when he became a Bishop. This necessitated his transfer of studies to ¬¬ the University of Jos, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education, B.A. (Hons) Ed, (second class upper division). He also got the award of Doctor of Divinity (DD) from the Golden State (Honolulu) University, USA. In line with his passion for knowledge, Bishop Chukwuma went back to the University of Jos for further studies, and graduated with a Masters Degree in Educational Psychology/Guidance and Counseling, M.ED. (Distinction).

Among many of his development thrusts in Bauchi Diocese, he constructed the Bishop’s Court and the Cathedral in Bauchi, midwived the birth of Gombe Diocese, completed the Cathedral of St. Peter’s Gombe, established schools, hospitals, and planted many churches. While in Bauchi, he was the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Chairman for 7 years. He was translated to Enugu Diocese in 1998 as her second Bishop.

Bishop Chukwuma hails from a church that is bible-based, spiritually dynamic, united, disciplined, self-supporting, committed to pragmatic evangelism/social welfare and one that epitomizes the genuine love of Christ. His work is succinctly defined by St. Augustine of Hippo (354- 430AD ) to include, “to rebuke agitators, to comfort the faint hearted, to take care of the weak, to confront the enemies, to take heed of the snares, to teach the uneducated, to waken the sluggish, to hold back the quarrelsome, to put the self conceited in their place, to appease the militant, to give help to the poor, to liberate the oppressed, to encourage the good and to endure the evil, and Oh! To love them all.”

He was the man that came, saw, and conquered the then pluralized Enugu Diocese, whose problem arose out of sectionalism of indigenes and non-indigenes – “the Agbaenu and Wawa dichotomy,” such that today, the ugly malady is no more. The man in whose heart we find a harmonious convergence of the vision, to saturate the entire Nation with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to establish a strong relationship among all Christian brethren irrespective of tribe and denomination. The Bishop that believes that knighthood investiture should be a thing of merit and not for money making.

On societal ills, Bishop Chukwuma was one of the African/Asian Bishops that in 1998, at the Lambeth Conference, insisted on a strict biblical understanding of sexual morality. ¬¬With the support of Europeans and North American conservatives, they pushed through several amendments that strengthened the language condemning several expressions by homosexuals, declaring abstinence as the only aacceptable alternative to marriage.

The Most Rev. Dr. E. O. Chukwuma (OON) was elected the second Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Enugu, by the House of Bishops, at Iburu Centre, Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, on 8th April 2014. His Presentation took place in Minna, Niger State on 25th May 2014. He was re-elected as Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Enugu in 2019, and his Presentation took place at Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral Ikeja, Lagos, on 3rd July 2019.