I came to Nigeria by boat, says 86-yr-old Irish priest...

Date: 13-04-2010 10:38 am (13 years ago) | Author: Sheenor
- at 13-04-2010 10:38 AM (13 years ago)
(m)
 I came to Nigeria by boat, says 86-yr-old Irish priest who has lived in Nigeria for 60 years

Ever seen an 86-year-old man who is also the last child of his parents, has no wife, no child of his, yet he is very strong, happy and fulfilled? Perhaps not. Well, this is the case of Irish born Reverend Father James Joseph Higgins of the Society of African Missions(SMA), a celibate Catholic Priest who clocked 86 years recently.

Reverend Father Higgins told Daily Sun, “I was born in February, my mother died in August of the same year. So, I didn’t know my mother.”
Even the devil would be touched,hearing the above testimony. But as if the above is not touching enough, Father Higgins goes further,

“My brother was just two years older than I was. My sister was about four years older. So, we lived together quite happily with our father. We had a governess, we had to be in her care and that was how we survived our youth. My brother died 50 years back. My sister died before that time. So, I’m alone. But I’m old.I cannot complain. God is in control. My father died before I was ordained a priest. He died in 1947. I was ordained in 1949, so that was a very sad occasion in my life, the death of my father because he didn’t live to see me ordained a priest. And he would have loved to have been there that day. That’s one very sad occasion in my life. I overcame it by God’s grace.”

He recounts his journey by sea to Africa in the 1950s as he says, first, we came by boat for the first two times coming into Nigeria. 14 days from Liverpool to Lagos by boat. That time, aeroplanes were very scarce. So, we came by boat for the first two times in 1950 and again in 1955. After that, we came by plane. And coming by boat, the experience I had during the journey was terrible. Going from Lagos to Liverpool, the boat nearly capsized.Afterwards, I came following the boat to Lagos, spending 14 days at sea. No major problem. Aeroplanes afterwards, could be generally good but sometimes,you will be fighting in the planes because the storms came,sometimes tornadoes or strong winds, the planes shook a lot in the sky.It doesn’t shake so much nowadays, I think, because it has improved a lot. The plane used to shake so much in the air during storms.We survived all that. I thank God.

Inspite of all these,Father Higgins feels happy and fulfilled. He gets on well with the flock. A man whose vocation is teaching, he had brought up many having before now taught at the Saint Thomas’ College, Ibusa, producing many teachers then. His products here, he includes as his legacies.”I have been 60 years in Nigeria now and out of that, I put in 30 years teaching.I think I have been away 60 years in Nigeria now. During my teaching days, I was very contented and very happy. Teaching is my vocation. I got on well with the staff and students.I never any day got into trouble. I still like my past students. Two days ago, during this my 86th birthday anniversary, two of my former students came to see me and they were very old. They told me I taught them in 1961. They were very happy to see me again, after all these years.

There are many cases of that nature. The many past students come to see me and greet me, and I’m always very happy to see them. I recognise some. When you are the Principal of a school, you are incharge of teaching,you remember the students who were very bright and you remember the students who were very troublesome. They are the ones you remember most. And those who are troublesome are not very nice academically. The bright ones you recognise them easily. And there are so many of them.” Presently, Reverend Father Higgins is retired and still functions actively at Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church, Cable Point, Asaba, Delta State. Any one who sees him, would really know he is blessed being the only person in his lineage who has lived upto this age, and still working as if he is less than 70 years old.

 


Posted: at 13-04-2010 10:38 AM (13 years ago) | Hero
- Sheenor at 13-04-2010 10:39 AM (13 years ago)
(m)
diz is serious...

Posted: at 13-04-2010 10:39 AM (13 years ago) | Hero
Reply
- solid_solid at 13-04-2010 11:53 AM (13 years ago)
(m)
NICE TO HAVE PEOPLE LIKE HIM IN NAIJA
Posted: at 13-04-2010 11:53 AM (13 years ago) | Gistmaniac
Reply
- irule at 13-04-2010 12:45 PM (13 years ago)
(m)
eya

Posted: at 13-04-2010 12:45 PM (13 years ago) | Gistmaniac
Reply
- kison at 13-04-2016 04:46 PM (7 years ago)
(m)
NEXT TIME BE careful, be very very careful, CAREFULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL……………………………….
Posted: at 13-04-2016 04:46 PM (7 years ago) | Hero
Reply

fire TRENDING GISTS fire

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