History
OUR BROTHER’S ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY DAYS
THE EARLY MANIFESTATION
If you like, you can call it the wharehouse-Maths-Series outreach. The extra lessons in Mathematics for 100,200 and in some cases, 300 level served as an opportunity to fill the learning gap that existed at the time our brother finished his final exams. This was also to help interested students get over the difficulty faced in these courses that unfortunately were compulsory for everyone (even for those that have been running way from them). He also used this as an opportunity to keep close to brethren in campus after his graduation.
Even after he had left the campus and returned to the coal city where he had gotten a small job with one of the hotels in Enugu, this attraction still kept him coming back to school campus most weekends to continue the wharehouse and lecture room Mathematics ministration. This was for him, both fun and refreshing to see relief and confidence on the faces of those that participated in these classes.
He was Inspired by the possibility and fancy of having more of the old brethren who had left the school come together, draw strength from past victories/lessons from the ‘good old days’ and share ideas on how to face life. Our brother started discussing this Idea with Bro Vitalis Ozor, who was the then coordinator of the mother prayer Group. Bro Vitalis’ support fueled the passion and we mutted the idea of using the graduating brethren of 1995/96 as the foundation members of the alumni fellowship, the day of their send forth fellowship as the birthday of the alumni fellowship. This was the unofficial birthday though, the official inauguration of the body was to come on a later date, not yet determined at this time.
Then came May 24th 1997
Then came May 24lh 1997, this was the date of the first official meeting of the Group, Alumni Fellowship of Christ the king Charismatic Renewal of St Joseph the worker Catholic Chaplaincy Unizik Awka. At this maiden meeting, eleven members were registered. I am not sure whether to take this as a design or a mere coincidence that the first set of registered members of the group was eleven in number, 12 apostles minus Judas?!!. Well, let me leave the interpretation for now, so I do not lose track of this story. The Group thus started with these eleven foundation members.
At this maiden meeting, only a few things were clear;
- Determination to set out on this journey,
- wanted to achieve
- Hope they will come alive
- next steps.
and the new bom Group of old members were enthusiastic about the future. In their minds, they were clear what they wasted to achieve, they were clear that the future was bright and promising. They sure did not see far into now, 20 years down the line, that the reality of this dream was going to have become this big.
Fishing for men (and women of course)
The first set of graduated members who were brought on board was fished from Enugu, This was not unconnected to the fact that our brother was in Enugu and while he nursed this ambition of an alumni fellowship, he was keeping track of members as he bumped into them in Enugu. These formed bulk of the first eleven in the maiden meeting. Some names like, Bro Basil Ogbuefi, who eventually became our secretary in the protemp 2-man coordinating team that anchored our meetings in the early days before our first election. He too was doing some post graduate programme in Awka and also had reasons to be visiting the campus regularly. In addition, were Sis Rita (Nee Agu), Sister Cecilia (Nee Nnamani), Sis Cecilia (Nee Eloka).
Then the missionary journeys to Lagos and Port-Harcourt
In preparation for the official Inauguration of the Group, which had been planned for August, the same year, 1997, there is need to bring more of the graduated brethren on board. While in his National Youth service corp (NYSC) programme at Ekpoma Edo state, our brother set out in search for a few names he learnt were in Lagos.
This was his first time ever thinking of going to Lagos, and his first time actually setting out to Lagos, Decked in his ‘copershon’ uniform and without any travelling bag except his usual Aba-made, black leather caged Holy Bible, off he went in search of brethren. There was no Telephone which was a serious luxury at that time, not to talk of GSM. Our brother therefore could not have had any means to confirm if the people he was going to see were actually going to be seen at the addresses he collected. There was also no fall back plan as he did not even have any person m Lagos he was to visit and stay with if his mission failed. So why would someone take such a risk? I don’t know. Did he know how far Lagos was from Ekpoma? How could he, he has not gone before. Did he think that he would be able to go to Lagos and come back the same day? I don’t know. So why was he not making arrangement for where to sleep? Well, you need to see him and ask him all these questions, just allow me to continue. God had no choice but to become his pillar of cloud in the day and pillar of fire in the night.
He was not spared all the challenges associated with being in Lagos for the first time. Not knowing which bus-stop leads to where you are going, not knowing when the bus
you are waiting for comes and goes because you are waiting for the conductor to call ‘Ikeja’ and he is calling ‘geja’, and so on. The story is long. But God is faithful; He met 5fcl he planned to meet. When you hear all, I mean all the 2 brethren he had their addresses. James Eze and Jessica (Nee Opara). God gave him ‘jara’, one of the sisters that Jessica (nee Opara) gave him a reference to, making it 3 brethren in Lagos. The brethren eventually could not come to the August convention (then called reunion) out they supported financially.
Similarly, our brother made a journey to Port-Harcourt. Again, the first time, without any plan of where to sleep and or assurance that he would meet those he had gone to meet. Thank God, he met all the one person he planned to meet, Sister Tochi Iwunze who gave him a reference to our Brother Gilbert Esso. That is another ‘jara’ in Port-Harcourt, making it 2 in Port-Harcourt.
And the Group was inaugurated
As planned on the 9th of August, 1997, the group was officially inaugurated. Bishop Solomon Amatu, then Monsignor Amatu led in the Inauguration Mass and officially gave birth to the Alumni Fellowship of the Christ the King Catholic Renewal.
With a motto which was later chosen as “Let Brotherly Love Continue”, the Bible as our first constitution, the main objectives of the group set forth for herself include:
- To increase mutual recognition and love among members of the prayer group, those that are graduating and those that have graduated.
- To be able to know and solve each other’s problems according to available resources both as individuals and as a group To Assist the mother Prayer Group in certain specified areas To help in preparing each other here on earth to make heaven hereafter.
Lately the Vision and Mission
About half way into our journey so far, the family came up with a vision and Mission statement in line with the over-arching objectives enumerated above. Vision: To build a community of leaders who lacks no basic needs.
Some of the early challenges
The millennium year 2000 came with a proposal for joint alumni fellowship by the NFCS alumni. Following the difficulty in achieving a joint program that does not compromise the foundational values, the merger was difficult to achieve. This eventually snowballed into a bigger challenge where the St Chaplaincy Parish Priest decided that only one alumni convention would hold and that every other alumni fellowship has only one option to take a slot in the NFCS alumni convention. While we were trying to resolve this, we temporarily held our annual convention at Arch Bishop Kelly’s Retreat center in Benin City. God intervened, this was resolved and the family’s annual convention came back to the Chaplaincy. We celebrate the many victories God has given to us. As for challenges, we had a hand full of them.
And On a lighter note
Now we sleep in Hotels, but then, Bro Malachy Okolie’s room in Okpuno was the first– Alumni convention hotel. Now we use buses and flashy cars to retire to our sleeping place, then we trekked back to sleeping places that are scattered across the temp site. Now we spend more than half a million to feed ourselves when we gather, then we shared light refreshment together. Not as heavy as what we use today for a breakfast. Now we charter buses, private cars and some use flight to convention, before it was not so! We managed public transport and for some of us, like our brother who have, slept in police cell in Agbor, Delta State for travelling in the night for the convention, challenges of life have not succeeded in stopping us. We have instead become stronger.
The Co-coordinating genealogy
Tobechukwu Odezue 1997 – 2001
Peter Ezeimo 2001 – 2003
Chike Emebo 2003 – 2004
Ausit Nnoli 2004 – 2009
Tobechukwu Odezue 2009 – 2016
Damian Odimegwu 2016 – date
In Conclusion
This is surely not the end of the story. We have just started and will have more opportunity to collate from these past executives experiences on this our journey so far. But let me allow you to do something else for now. 20 years down the line, we have so much songs of Praise and testimonies to the Glory of God, so much so that it does not look as if it has ever been difficult. Thanks be to God!