HISTORY:

In 1973, what is today known as Abakaliki Diocese was carved out of Ogoja Diocese. The JDPC, Abakaliki is however, as old as the diocese itself. It is a diocese in the South-East geopolitical zone that existed in the old Anambra State, from which Enugu State was carved out and subsequently, Ebonyi State.

Abakaliki Diocese on its own part, is a one state diocese, unlike the other dioceses in the South East geopolitical zone of  Nigeria. This means that mentioning Abakaliki Diocese is like mentioning the State in general. Therefore, JDPC/CETJAD, Abakaliki is the diocesan outfit used in touching the lives of the people through practical Christianity. This can be seen in the different  Programmes run by the Commission.

The Commission was initially known as the Human Rights Commission(HRC), but as time went on, the name metamorphosed into Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Centre (HRCRC) under Rev. Fr. Kelvin O’Hara who was the then Chairman. Later on, the baton was handed on to Rev. Fr. Cornelius Chukwu C. and soon, due to the need to widen the scope of the Commission to meet the pressing needs of its flock,  the name metamorphosed to  Justice, Development and Peace Commission(JDPC). However, due to the need to make more impact, especially with regards to the Niger Delta Crisis, through the permission of the Local Ordinary, Rev. Fr. Kelvin O’Hara was granted permission to establish a Commission known as Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Centre as a separate registered body given his wealth of experience in the mother Commission. This however, did not mean the striking out of the Human Rights Desk from the focus areas of the mother Commission.

 Rev. Fr. Cornelius Chukwu continued his function as the Coordinator of the Mother Commission before the name was later changed to Justice, Development and Peace/ Caritas Commission (JDPC/Caritas).  In the year 2008, the need to get the Commission registered as a separate body under the Corporate Affairs Commission(CAC) arose.  The process of the registration commenced and in 2009, the success story was told. The Commission got registered as The Centre for Transparent Justice and Development(CETJAD), hence the concatenation of the two acronyms JDPC/CETJAD, Abakaliki.

JDPC/CETJAD is presently having its focus areas as Democracy and Good Governance, Poverty Alleviation, Women and Children, Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, Youth Empowerment, Prisons and Access to Justice, Research and documentation, Agriculture, Water, HIV and Environments.

JDPC/CETJAD would not have made any meaningful impact without the benevolent contributions of its foreign and local partners which include Misereor, Swisshand, Dioceses of Rottenberg and Stuttgart etc.

Promic, Abakaliki is the brainchild of one of such partners, precisely Swisshand.