His Eminence Cardinal Onaiyekan visited two Diocese of the Czech Republic: Praha (Prague) Archdiocese where he was hosted by His Eminence Dominik Cardinal Duka, Archbishop of Prague and Primate of the Czech Lands, who also invited him to the country, and Plzeň Diocese where he was received by His Excellency Tomáš Holub, Bishop of Plzeň. The main part of the trip took place in the capital of the Czech Republic Prague. His Eminence was, among others, received by His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Mr. Martin Stropnický, His Excellency Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, Mr. Ilja Šmíd and Ambassador Rudolf Jindrák, Director of Foreign Relations Department of the Office of the President of the Czech Republic on behalf of His Excellency the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman.

He visited most important historical monuments of Prague such as Prague Castle and St. Peter and Paul Basilica and Royal Collegial Chapter at Vyšehrad. Royal Collegial Chapter was founded by the first Czech king, Vratislav II in 1083. Church was elevated to the level of Basilica Minor in 2000 by His Eminence Francis Cardinal Arinze, Nigerian cardinal priest. Onaiyekan celebrated several masses in different churches, including the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbertus in Prague where he gave also main speech on the Mene Tekel Ecumenical Memorial Service in memory of the victims of totalitarian regimes and wars.

In his lecture, he touched issues like corruption, migration or climate change in Africa, but he also pointed out that: “Interreligious relationship is a constant challenge. We have to move from competition to cooperation seeking common grounds while remaining firmly convinced of our religious values. We are aware of the natural rivalries for dominance. And fanatics on both sides are sowing seeds of discord.” After speech Rev Sr Agatha Chikelue sang the song of Thanks giving in Igbo language: Sorom Too Chukwu. Service was covered live by the main national public TV channel ČT1. Mene Tekel is the annual international festival of events against totality, evil and violence, held under patronage of the Confederation of Political Prisoners, Senate of the Czech Republic, Mayor of Prague, Archbishop of Prague and Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic.

Cardinal later specified his words about the interreligious relationship between the Muslims and Christians: "We have a hundred and ninety millions of citizens in Nigeria and ninety millions of them are Muslims. I dare say that we know the Muslims better than you, and so we know that the mutual coexistence can be trouble-free. In our country, it is common that even in one family there are people of different faiths, so Muslim is not a foreigner to us but an uncle, cousin or nephew. We can therefore distinguish between Muslims and Islamic terrorists, and we are not afraid that our neighbors, friends or collaborators confessing Islam will shoot and throw us into the air."

One of the important outcomes of the visit was an agreement concluded with the Bishop of Plzeň, His Excelleny Tomáš Holub that two Nigerian priests might start studies of Slavonic languages (one of them is also Czech language) and martyrology of Central Europe. 

Cardinal’s visit became an important chapter in the history of bilateral relations between Czech Republic and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He presented to public not so known Nigeria and the current challenges and interests of Nigerians. “Cardinal Onaiyekan radiates the natural authority and the genuine warm-heartedness at first glance,” said Dr. Petr Markvart who organized the entire program of the trip of His Eminency. “His energy is endless and admirable, his perception and memory are phenomenal. He got the heart of those who met him in the Czech Republic. He is the great son of his nation,” added Mr. Markvart. The visit was also realized thanks to a great effort of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Abuja and His Excellency Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Nigeria, Mr. Pavel Mikeš.