The Child Is Becoming the Man

By Jude Atupulazi

The first day he stepped into Fides to commence his apostolic work, one of the first questions Mr Timothy Chetachukwu Nwankwo asked the seminarian he was replacing was whether Mr Jude Atupulazi was still with Fides to which he was told I was. Why did he ask?

Way back in 2014 when he was still a primary school pupil at St Mary’s Primary School, Nimo, Timothy was among the pupils who benefitted from my little effort to encourage scholarship. Although not from Nimo, he lived with the then parish priest, Rev Fr Uzor. I was then an elected councilor representing my ward and I had made it a point of duty to be giving money to the best performing pupils in the English Language in each class each term. Mr Nwankwo, as I noted, happened to be one of them. He would eventually finish and enter the seminary and nine long years later, our paths would be crossing as people working in the same establishment. This time, he has become a seminarian doing his apostolic work at Fides.

One evening as I was about going home he walked up to me and told me he was among the pupils that benefitted from my gesture then in 2014. I looked at him in amazement and asked why it had taken him almost a month to tell me that since we were always seeing daily. Anyway, I guessed he was that kind of person who takes time to open up.

But the kernel of the story is that the little boy has grown into a young man and it pleased me that I contributed in a small way to his progress. It just shows how any little act of humanity can make a difference in one’s life.

I wish Mr Nwankwo a happy and fruitful stay at Fides and pray that his desire to be a priest is realized.