Posted by By SAMOD BIOBAKU on
'I will share it with my parents. I'll give part to charity, and also people that helped me, like my teacher. I'll use the rest to buy something for myself, I don't know exactly what yet."
'I will share it with my parents. I'll give part to charity, and also people that helped me, like my teacher. I'll use the rest to buy something for myself, I don't know exactly what yet."
Those were the words of Chuks Eche, a JSS 3 student of Topgrade Secondary School, in Surulere, Lagos, after his art work, ‘Different, Yet the Same' won 150 Pounds and clinched the star prize at last year's edition of the Commonwealth Poster Competition organised by the Commonwealth Clubs Project. The competition took place in all Commonwealth countries and a 14-year-old Nigerian, Chuks Eche emerged winner.
At 14, when Chuks Eche made a grand entry into the art world, he was not only 150 Pounds richer, he was set to take on the world!
However, a month before he could receive his award, he succumbed to pneumonia and passed on, leaving behind unfulfilled dreams and a broken heart family.
Speaking to Sunday Sun, his mum, Mrs. Ifeoma Eche Ally, recosaid: 'We were elated by the award but his death took away our joy. He was a lovely child. He never bothered us. He was very comfortable with whatever we gave him. He was hard working, did his home work after school and was level-headed. He is the type that every parent would want to have.
He came home with good grades and was very popular among his friends. He started drawing at a very tender age. He won an award at age three, during a children's competition at Holy Cross Cathedral. It was of picture of Jesus, Joseph and Mary."
According to Ifeoma, when Chuks was born, she didn't know that he had the dreaded sickle cell anaemia: 'I later knew that he was a Sickler and it came as a shock to me. He never fell sick. For eight years, I never treated him for the common cold. I was saying that ‘my child's sickle cell was different."
Taken unawares
However, when he took ill after winning the award, his parents felt it would only be a matter of time before he bounced back on his feet.
'It is a year since he passed on. He was a strong child who never bothered us. He kept to himself and never complained or bothered us so when he took ill, he was always in his room. We thought it was his normal self. Whenever we asked him questions, he said that he was all right. But now I know that he was just trying to be strong."
However, it dawned on them that his condition was serious and he was taken to hospital but doctors only gave him palliatives rather than treat the condition. His condition aggravated and he eventually gave up the ghost.
Devastated
'We were devastated. My husband and I could not believe that he was gone. We were overwhelmed with grief. His sickle cell anaemia deceived me. He hardly fell sick. If you have a child with the condition,
monitor his health closely. Chuks hardly ever fell sick and that was what deceived me."
Unfulfilled dreams
The lad died with his dreams. In his mum's words: 'He told me that because he was talented in this area, he want to be a creative artist and fashion designer. He said that he would like people to wear his own clothes someday."
One of Chuks' drawing of his street currently adorns the walls of his school's art studio. He once did a drawing of our street, ' said his mum, 'with the houses and cars. The work was so beautiful that people used to stop to admire it. One person even gave him a gift of N20. He likes drawing comics, caricatures and people. I took him seriously when he told me his dream was to excel in the arts."
His award-winning artwork depicts people of different races holding hands, with two faithful of the world's two most popular religions - Christianity and Islam - performing their acts of worship.
At the time he was announced winner of the Commonwealth prize, he had spoken to The Sun, and said: 'I was very excited when I learnt that I had won in the competition. It confirmed to me that my talent is for real. I like drawing and my mother said I've been doing that since I was a child, maybe two or three years old. When I'm alone, the first thing I think of doing is drawing to express my thoughts. The Commonwealth drawing was inspired by my dad. I drew lots of people hugging each other in a row. This depicts peace despite our differences and I gave it the title, ‘Different, yet the Same."
Appeal
In fact, after her son's death, she had expected that the award would be presented to his family but that has not been done: 'They were supposed to bring the award to us since he died before the presentation. A week before he died, he called me and said that I should give the cash prize to charity.
I don't know if the school later collected the award. I was so heart- broken I never talked about it. But I think it is only right that the award be presented to his family post-humously. It is not about the money, it is about the award itself."
The competition requested posters on the theme Respecting Difference, Promoting Understanding.' Chuks' poster was incorporated into a poster and calendar for Commonwealth Day 2007.