 He was installed as the diocesan bishop in Sokoto on October 1, 1967, and continued to serve there until his resignation was accepted by Pope John Paul II on December 3, 1984.Prior to his appointment as bishop there were anti-Igbo and anti-Christian riots in 1966 that left the diocese of Sokoto without most of its people, its only indigenous priest fled, and many of its church buildings were destroyed.He focused on the northern part of his diocese where the people remained, and opened the first secondary school in Gusau in 1968.