How Onyekachi Durugbor was discovered in Umuaka.
2 min read
Father Emmanuel C Eburuaja, the famous and hyperactive Catholic priest is a page one lover of football and other sporting activities. His love for football has given birth to Fr Eburuaja FC of Umuaka and the team has been performing very well in and outside Imo State. When Eburuaja was the principal of Santa Maria Secondary School, he made sure that the best 11 team of the school FC would always be the best. To ensure this, he personally selected the team members.
Onyekachi Duruubor who was a student of the school then was already playing football at his best. Onyekachi was a well known footballer among the students but Fr Eburuaja never knew him personally.
Chidi Clinton.
On a certain day, Eburuaja was selecting the football team for the school and he had already selected 10 players and Durugbor was not among them. Durugbor was there watching things by himself but there was no way he could approach Fr Eburuaja to ask that his name be included in the team.
As Fr. Eburuaja was selecting the boys for the school FC team, a senior student came to him with a request. Chidi Clinton, the then Senior Prefect of the school approached Eburuaja while holding Onyekachi Durugbor on his hand. “Father, please take this boy…he is a very good player. Use him to complete the team.”
The moment Clinton said this, Eburuaja looked at the boy, asked him some few questions and pencilled down his name.
Fr Eburuaja.
Unknown to Chidi Clinton, the time he presented Durugbor to Eburuaja, he was invariably presenting the talented young player to the world. From that day till date, the football profile of Durugbor has been on the rise until he went professional. Thanks to Eburuaja and his student, Chidi Clinton for their quest for a formidable football team at Santa Maria.
Till date Onyekachi remains grateful to both Chidi and Eburuaja for having faith in him.
