The dying days of 2019 saw my passage to the East, Onitsha, in Anambra State, precisely.
Was I looking for the wise men from the East, who had brought gifts to the baby Jesus born few days earlier? Date was December 30, and I had set forth at dawn, headed for the commercial city, to partake in the dedication of a Catholic Church, St Francis of Assisi Parish, Inland Town, built, furnished and donated by my friend, Sir Francis Okechukwu Anyakwo.
The Air Peace flight I boarded from Lagos to Asaba was filled to the brim. The airport in Enugu is under reconstruction, till Easter, and passengers naturally gravitated to the nearest gateway: Asaba.
I was fortunate to be onboard with the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, Agbogidi. I paid him royal courtesies, and he asked what was taking me to Onitsha. After I told him, he said he would be at the event, too.
The Obi is a happy man, very happy. And the greatest cause of joy is the Second Niger Bridge, being built by the Muhammadu Buhari government (or regime, if you like. Lol) after many decades of playing politics with the project by previous governments.
As we alighted at that beautiful airport built by former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in Asaba, Delta State capital, the Agbogidi told me to look at my right when travelling across the River Niger, and I would see the emerging second bridge, in all its splendor.
The maiden bridge was built in 1965, and has been crying for a sibling for years. It turned to a tool for political advantage, as President after President promised to build the bridge, got the votes of the people, and showed a clean pair of heels thereafter. Goodbye basket, I’ve carried all my apples, they simply said. What Napoleon could not do, however, President Buhari is now doing, despite getting negligible number of votes from the area in the two elections he has won.
But that is not the main purpose of this write up. Rather, it is to talk about the homecoming of a backslidden Catholic boy, now a full Pentecostal. Yes, I was born and nurtured a Catholic, in the finest traditions of that church. Begin the Greater Doxology in Latin, and I will complete it for you.
Gloria in Excelsis Deo,
et in terra pax hominibus,
bona voluntatis
Laudamus te,
bendicimus te,
adoramus te,
glorificamus te,
gratias agimus tibi propter magnam….
I loved and still love the Catholic Church, so I was quite glad to break my holiday, fly to Onitsha, to be part of a sanctuary dedication.
On the River Niger, I looked right as instructed by the Obi of Onitsha, and saw it with infinite pleasure, the Second Niger Bridge, rising up in all its glory and effulgence , promising comfort and succour for people of the East, and all those traveling through that region. Again, I say: President Buhari has done what Napoleon couldn’t do, and the bridge will be completed before he exits office in 2023. Hallelujah somebody!
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