A 3-year-old boy who came from a Nigerian orphanage has been basking in the euphoria of Calgary’s snowfall after the adopted boy’s family brought him back to Canada.
Watson family travelled to Nigeria to adopt Chidi in November and travelled from Nigeria to Ghana to obtain his Canadian citizenship.
The Watsons thought the process would take them four month but discovered it would take them almost one year when they arrived. In March, coronavirus pandemic was spreading fast and the world started experiencing lockdown. The family felt it might be impossible to actualize their dream.
Despite the uncertainty, Nicole and Dave Watson started writing letters to their MP and other officials. In less than three weeks, they received the news that Chidi’s citizenship had been approved, his visa had been processed and that a repatriation flight was available.
The Watsons decided in 2016 that they needed to adopt in a bid to add to their family. The family could no longer produce another offspring after encountering fertility issues since the birth of their first son, Jake.
So they applied to adopt from in Nigeria in December 2018 and they received an email in October 2019. After receiving the email, the family travelled to Nigeria in an effort to meet their new member.
On getting to Nigeria, the Watsons interacted with Chidi for some days before Dave and Jake travelled back to Canada.
Nicole stayed back to process Chidi’s citizenship and visa but she discovered it would take more than the four months that they thought as she was told by the officials that the processin would take them one year.
Nicole said: “It’s expensive and a long time to be away from home.”
Dave and Jake travelled back to help Nicole out on March 8, a time when the COVID-19 pandemic started causing global lockdown.
Flights were being called off everywhere but the Watsons determined not to leave without Chidi. Nicole and Chidi were in Ghana that time as Ghana’s consular services process citizenship applications for West Africans.
The family rented apartment in Accra, the capital of Ghana and from there, they began to write politicians and other officials on what they needed to do.
Eventually, Nicole received an email informing her that Chidi’s citizenship had been approved.
While talking about the email, Nicole said: “It was just out of the blue, we weren’t expecting anything.… I found my husband and said, ‘Read this, what does this say?'”
After receiving the mail, things took shape and the whole process was completed in few weeks. Chidi left Nigeria for Canada with his new family on March 31 and got to his new home in Calgary two days later.
Since his arrival in Canada, Chidi has bonded well with his new family and he is loving life in Calgary. According to Nicole, Chidi loves Calgary’s snow and he had adapted well to life in Canada.
She said: “He was so excited to come home for snow … he built a snowman, he was excited to wear the hat and mitts and boots.”
She said Chidi and Jake have “bonded really well” and “I still can’t believe that we’re home and we’re a family of four.”
