Baba Waf, we’re proud of you

Time proved you, when you brought sunshine to me your beloved daughter. My hero! A man full of wisdom, a rare kind of wisdom! Incomparable, a peacemaker, and a symbol of hospitality! An intelligent engineer without university education! A rallying point and a pillar of strength for the weak! You taught me to be strong, […]

Time proved you, when you brought sunshine to me your beloved daughter.

My hero! A man full of wisdom, a rare kind of wisdom!

Incomparable, a peacemaker, and a symbol of hospitality!

An intelligent engineer without university education!

A rallying point and a pillar of strength for the weak!

You taught me to be strong, reliable and confident.

You showed me the rudiments to fight my way to greatness, even as a widow. The stronger I was becoming, the shorter your time. I thought we were going to be together a bit longer, but no, I was wrong.

At your peak, you left without notice.

Baba Waf, my best friend, my confidant, my hero, I will forever be grateful to God and you for giving me the courage to dare life! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be there for you till the end!

He died a prince, a man of the people, loved by many. People marveled at his legendary personality and charisma. Those who stop to think may also wonder at the magnitude of the man’s achievements within his lifespan of 62 years, but they know little or nothing about how he started or how he lived his very eventful life.

The boy Fidelis Wafari was born 1949, the third child of Ptil Asamai and Masu Chukwutu Chagwa. He was born into royalty, as his father was the Village Head (Lawan) of Kopa in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State

As a child, his positive attitude, disposition and his good character traits endeared him to his parents. Family oral history has it that Wafari was clearly his parents’ favourite. This was demonstrated in an unusual manner when the little boy started school. He was very reliable, so he was a great asset to his hardworking parents. (At that time the value of western education was not appreciable. Only “dispensable” children were allowed to go to school and “waste their time with the white man”).

Therefore, young Wafari could not finish primary school, he was withdrawn, for “more useful ventures” on the home front, while his siblings continued school.

The coming of the early Catholic missionaries to Kopa brought a ray of hope into Baba’s future. Reverend Father B. Coleman of blessed memory was the first missionary who discovered the young talented boy who had the zeal and all it takes to be in school. For weeks, Rev. Fr. Coleman pleaded with Fidelis’ father to allow him join the missionaries and resume school, to no avail. After several pleas were made and ignored, seeing that the lad loved God and desired to work for him, Rev. Fr.Coleman, in a dramatic move, whisked him away from his father’s house and disappeared with Fidelis to an unknown place. At the end of the “kidnap drama”, the boy’s father conceded and released him to the Catholic missionaries.

The young boy happily started work with the missionaries under the supervision of his mentor Rev. Fr. Coleman and it was during one of Wafari’s missionary tours to a little village in Dzurok in Lassa town that he met his heart throb Elizabeth Adiya Idawai (JP). He later married her in 1968. The young couple settled in St. Dennis Catholic Church Madagali with Father Coleman when the parish was first established.

As he sleeps in the Lord, his children among whom are Regina Josiah Dimlong of NDIC, Abuja, Dr. Bitrus F. Chagwa of F.M.C Yola,  Mr. Ijiptil F. Chagwa of GLOBACOM and Mrs. Noleen Ameh of the NTA Channel 5 Abuja with the grandchildren say: “Baba, you were an accomplished man, and we’re proud of you. For your rare virtues and the way you combined them to achieve greatness, you will be greatly remembered and cherished.

Rest in the bosom of Abraham. Adieu, sweet, loving and lively Baba Waf!

Regina Dimlong writes from Abuja