Testimonials & Goodwill Messages for an Outstanding Service

“It is with deep gratitude and a profound sense of appreciation that I, on behalf of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), issue this testimonial to Rev. Fr. Michael Nsikak Umoh upon the successful completion of his six-year tenure as the National Director of Social Communications at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Abuja. During his period of service, Fr. Umoh spearheaded a transformative era for the communication apostolate in Nigeria. His visionary leadership brought the Church into the forefront of the digital age, most notably through the establishment of the Nigeria Catholic Network (NCN), which has significantly enhanced the visibility of our mission in the public domain. His commitment to grassroots engagement is best exemplified by the Communications Week (ComWEEK) initiative. This program has become a cornerstone of media literacy across Nigerian parishes and has rightfully earned accolades and endorsements from the Vatican Dicastery for Communication. Furthermore, his efforts to institutionalise media education in our Major Seminaries and the unification of various communication bodies, including CAMPAN, CAEAN, and SIGNIS Nigeria, under a synergised organogram, have laid a solid foundation for the future of the apostolate. Fr. Umoh is a priest of exceptional dedication, intellectual rigour, and administrative acumen. The CBCN Administrative Board is immensely grateful for his astounding performance and his unwavering commitment to the mission of the Church. We highly recommend him for any future ecclesiastical or professional assignments, confident that he will bring the same level of excellence and pastoral zeal to any endeavour he undertakes. We wish him God’s abundant blessings and success in his future assignments.”

“Dear Padre Umoh, please accept my deepest appreciation for your exceptional service and leadership during your tenure as the National Director of Social Communications at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN). Your visionary leadership, dedication, and tireless efforts have significantly advanced the communication apostolate of the Church in Nigeria. Through your commitment to truth, professional excellence, and media literacy, you have built bridges, amplified the voice of the Church, and inspired many within and outside the Catholic community. Thank you for your selfless service, structural innovations, and pastoral guidance. May God bless you abundantly and grant you continued success, joy, and fulfillment in your future pastoral assignments. It was indeed an honour and a privilege to have worked with you. I was greatly enriched by your knowledge and dedicated to the communications apostolate.”

“We thank God for your life and what God has used to do in last six years. It has been extremely fascinating and great job you did. I love your command and the use of English language. I am so proud of you especially when you tease out points from stories or writings. You are very are really very good. May God who has granted you such knowledge continue to inspire you more and more and lead you into the future with great success. We keep you in our prayers for God's special blessings and protection on you as you return to your Diocese and Province. May the blessed Virgin Mother intercede for you always. Thanking you for your precious collaboration and support, I send you cordial greetings in the Lord.”

“This month of August, 2026 brings to a graceful close your six-year tenure as the National Director of Social Communications at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria. I write to congratulate you and to express deep sentiments of gratitude for the wonderful contributions you have made to the communication apostolate of the Church. Your appointment as the National Director by the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria was based on both your academic qualifications and practical experiences in the field of communication. You brought these to bear in the discharge of your duties as you ensured that the means of communication were appropriately and efficiently used to project the image of Church and disseminate the teachings of the bishops. Your dogged effort which birthed the operational organogram defining the relationships of all the sectors of the communication apostolate in Nigeria will be a lasting legacy in your honour. I wish to thank you especially for your contributions to SIGNIS. You served as the pioneer secretary of SIGNIS Nigeria and helped in laying the foundation of the association in the country. As the President of SIGNIS Africa, you gave me your maximum support and attended all our key activities. You also worked tirelessly towards my emergence as the first African President of SIGNIS World. Please remember that leaving the post of National Director does not mean exiting the communication apostolate. Be prepared to apply the experiences you have gained in these six years to the service of the Church and society. As we celebrate today the Solemnity of Assumption, I commend you to the maternal care of our Mother Mary and pray that the future may bring you greater success, growth, and accomplishments in the Lord’s vineyard.”

“I wish to congratulate you on your successful completion of your tenure as the National Director of Social Communications in the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria. I have served my diocese as the director of communications for thirty-two years and I have worked under many national directors including you. Your services were very excellent as you perfected on the good jobs of your predecessors. In your leadership style, we perceived high organisational acumen and sincerity. You exuded maturity, wisdom during our meetings as you had listening ears and allowed dialogue and active participation of all. In you, we saw a leader who was focused, strategic, hardworking, just and interested in making things work. Part of your achievements included, timely dissemination of news and information to all directors. Secondly, you helped in making sure that news about the Church were given priority in secular media because of your unconditional love for God and the Church. You appointed directors on provincial levels of the Nigerian Church for easier administration and you constantly held online meetings with them. During your tenure you excellently reorganized the diocesan directors and gave them a new constitution for effective performance and service delivery. You organized training and workshops for all media men and women in Nigeria. You gave Nigerian church a laudable model of celebrating World Communications Day making it a one -week event and requested that each diocese submit a written report of the event. By this singular action, the celebrations were more result oriented for the good of the Nigerian Church. You were very approachable and carried all along in your decision making. These virtues in you made your tenure successful. Once again, congratulations!”

“Each generation of the Catholic age is blessed with astute reformers, great preachers, fantastic administrators and intellectuals. This is a fact witnessed by the church for the past 2000 years. The history of Nigeria's Catholic Church is also replete with a quantum of human resources, within the clergy, religious and laity. These individuals have contributed immensely to the growth of the Church in Nigeria. Century and millennium came with its challenges due to the rapidity of Innovations of communication technologies. The church was in danger of being an analogue entity but speaking to a digital congregation. The situation presented a real paradox. However, Rev. Fr. Dr. Michael Nsikak Umoh took up the challenge of being part of the solution. Firstly, he delved into communication studies; earning Master and Doctorate Degrees in communication respectively. After his Master Degree, Fr. Umoh established the Centre for Media Development (CMD) for the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos. The centre revolutionized the art of communication in the Archdiocese, by training the youth and children in the special art of communication, drama, public speaking, and oration. Many of those trained at the Centre are now celebrated actors and film makers. The Centre coordinated the production of Catholic musicals from its brand-new audio and music studio. Fr. Umoh's creativity and endless energy, shaped the philosophy of the centre and ensured that it was self-sustaining and dynamic. CMD raised money for the seminarians of All Saints Seminary, Uhiele, by recording, mass producing and marketing Christmas carols put together by the seminarians and recorded in the CMD studio. Fr. Umoh is a survivor, who has had his own path of the cross. But in all his trials and tribulations, he bounced back because of his trust in God. This same trust was what led him to embrace the sojourn to the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria in Abuja. As one who does not run away when faced with challenges, Fr. Umoh plunged into his duty as the Director of Communication in the Catholic Secretariat with intense vigour and commitment as usual. He elevated the department of communication in CSN and updated it to a digital entity. The news and information blog run by this department and the timely delivery of news and information to Catholics in Nigeria and globally, are testaments to his success story at the CSN. Rev. Fr. Dr. Mike Umoh put the icing on the cake by gifting the Catholic Church in Nigeria his intellectual reservoir through the publication of his book entitled ENHANCING COMMUNICATION IN THE PARISH COMMUNITY, which was published in 2025. The book is a Magna Carta on pastoral communication. Fr. Umoh dedicated 6 solid years of his priestly vocation to serving at the CSN. We appreciate you Padre for this commitment and the evolution you brought to bear in discharging your duties. I celebrate your service, your persona and the high level of professionalism that you brought to bear in Catholic Communication in Nigeria. We look forward to your rendering of more services in the Lord's Vineyard. Congratulations my Egbon!”

“Dear Fr. Mike Umoh, my son, James Suleiman, wrote in his capacity as the Senior Prefect of St. Joseph Minor Seminary, Zaria, on his Graduation Day. "It is incredibly difficult to say goodbye to people who have meant so much to you, but goodbye must be said in order for us to meet again." Fr., I am not saying goodbye; I am celebrating your great achievements because you did not just manage an institution, you single-handedly built an environment where every one of us felt truly valued and motivated. You led us with grace, worked with absolute excellence, and inspired everyone around you with your unwavering integrity. Your leadership brought total stability to the Communication Apostolate, and your incredible legacy will remain long after your exit. Fr., my prayer is that God blesses whoever steps into your shoes with the wisdom and capability to maintain the structures you have established, ensuring this great legacy of yours continues to thrive through Christ our Lord. Amen. Thank you so much Rev. Fr. Dr. Mike Umoh”

“Congratulations on a Job Well Done Padre On behalf of CAEAN National we celebrate with you as you conclude your six-year tenure as National Director of Social Communications at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria. We thank God with you for His grace that saw you through. Thank you for your sacrifice, leadership, and for the many lives you touched through the media apostolate. We pray that God will reward you abundantly, and grant your successor greater grace to build on the solid foundation you have laid. We appreciate you, and we wish you every good thing in this new season.”

“On behalf of SEB MEDIA, we join you in thanking God for His abundant grace and guidance throughout your six-year tenure as the National Director of Social Communications at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria. We celebrate the remarkable dedication, vision, and faith you brought to this apostolate, and we honor the countless ways you inspired collaboration, growth, and excellence in service to the Church and society. Your leadership has left a lasting impact, and we are deeply grateful for the love and commitment you poured into this mission. As you transition into the next chapter, we pray for continued blessings upon your Bishop, your successor, and all who will carry forward the work of communications in Nigeria. May the years ahead be filled with even greater success, grace, and divine favor.”

“Dear Fr. Michael Umoh, Congratulations for the completion of your tenure as the communications director of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria. Grateful to God for your life and all you were able to achieve in those years. Your steadfastness in service and commitment to work was so glaring that it was seen and felt by all. I am proud to be associated to you and I want you to keep the flag flying. May the Lord continue to lead and guide you in your future endeavors. Thank you, Brother.”

“Congratulations, Myke. Well done. I always knew that you would do well. I never once doubted that. You have done us all proud. We look forward to having you back home in Lagos to continue to inspire and motivate us, priests and people alike. Happy new month.”

“Congratulations my dear Very Rev. Fr. Michael UMOH. Keep up the great work you are doing and God bless you always!”

“My brother! I sing with you the praise of the Lord Jesus Christ for the successful completion of your dual tenure. I join you to offer it up to the Lord through his Blessed Mother as we celebrate St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori who is quoted to have said: let no one think that by praising the mother highly one is obscuring the glories of the Son; the more the mother is honoured, the more the Son is honoured. Knowing you to be in alignment with those Alphonsian thoughts, I commit you and the achievements you have made to the Blessed Mother and may St Michael the Angel of Peace guard your next steps. Bravo my brother!”

“Dear Fr. Umoh, we thank God for his grace and inspiration as you successfully complete your tenure as the National Director of Social Communications at the CNS. You have no doubt left footprints of great achievements in your 6 years of dutiful service and stewardship. We are proud of you as a class, and you truly represent a significant feather in the cap of the class of '92. We are looking forward to more success for you, and we pray that you may receive grace for greater achievements as you move to another phase of your Priestly Ministry. God bless you my brother!”

“Congratulations dear Fr. for having a very successful mission and apostolate. Welcome back home. God be with you always. Cheers.”

“Congratulations, dear Fr. Mike! Thank you for your inspiring and selfless service over the past six years. Your dedication, humility, and commitment have touched countless lives and strengthened the Church's communications apostolate in Nigeria. As you begin a new chapter, may the Lord continue to bless you with good health, greater wisdom, renewed joy, and even more fruitful ministry. Be assured of my prayers. God bless you always!”

“Congratulations dear Fr. We are grateful for your services to the Church. Blessings upon you always!”

“Congratulations, Padre Mike. The Almighty God will continue to bless your future engagements and take you to higher grounds in the vocation.”

“Wow that's a great milestone Padre. Congratulations.”

“Congratulations, dear Rev. Fr. Dr. Mike Umoh, for a remarkable, groundbreaking work you did as the National Director of Social Communications at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria. Thank you for a job well done. May the good Lord bless you abundantly in your new mission. Be assured of our prayers.”