I was privileged to be present at then John Paul the second mass Center when the Bishop John Onaiyekan announced that he has decided to open a new parish in Maitama. He called the new parish Holy Trinity Maitama and appointed fr. Ojukwu as the first parish priest who was concelebrating with him at the same Mass.
We continued worshiping at the Catholic Centre. Fr. O. moved quickly to the site and put up a wooden batcher.
Mrs Kate Osemeke of blessed memory now, was elected the president of CWO and Barr. Mrs Chinyere Ufere as the vice president.
I was elected the treasure and the chairman of the spiritual committee. It was at this point that some of us started working very closely with him on trying to build up the new parish.
The formation of the young priests was very dear to him. It was at this point that he appointed me as one of the person to work on the ordination planning committee. A committee that I served on for 14 years.
When the CWO decided to build a Grotto for the parish, I had to work with him very closely. This was because the Grotto was a CWO project and I was both the treasurer and also the Chairman of the spiritual committee.
When he chose the Qur Lady of Sorrows for us, I didn’t agree with him. I wanted Our Lady Of Perpetual Help. But, he refused and stood his grounds. He used to argue that we all don’t have to be the be the same in the Archdiocese of Abuja. At that time the thought of losing a child was so far from me even though I was already a mother. Until I lost one of my children that I started to appreciate fr. O on why he believed that the CWO and in fact the whole parish needed that ‘ our Lady Of Sorrows’ he used to call me ‘BLACK’
His love for holy trinity church Maitama was just too much. When he decided to set up an Association for Widows in the parish, which he called Saint Monica and appealed with Barr Mrs Chinyere Ufere as the pioneer president of saint Monica Assassination in holy trinity church Maitama. Sir Paul Okeleke and myself were appointed as patron and metron respectively to work with them.
At that time the only status he had approved to be in side the church apart from our lord and Mother Mary was the Saint Anthony.
It was impossible to sleep on the altar in side the church because he wouldn’t allow you. He went a head and built A Chapel of Perpetual Adoration and even fixed carpet on the floor for us where we can do all our prahiny and crying out to our lord and our mother Mary.
We operated as one family. If one person have thanksgiving in the church or mass at the time we will all join he/she for the procession. He thought us to greet each other as Trinitarian family
Fr. O, you left too soon!! But continue to intercede for us until we meet again.
Remain blessed.
Mrs Alu Dim.
