Ebonyi govt to return all missionary schools to original owners

Tamarauemi Ebimini

The Ebonyi State Government has announced plans to return all missionary schools to their original owners before Sunday, December 31.

Governor Francis Nwifuru made the announcement on Sunday during a pastoral visit to him by Bishop Peter Nworie of the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki.

Nwifuru directed the Commissioner for Primary and Secondary Education, the Attorney-General and the Commissioner for Justice to begin the process of returning the schools to the missions.

“We won’t hesitate if the Catholic Church or other missions are ready to take back their schools that were taken over by the government,’’ Nwifuru said.

He acknowledged that the Catholic Church and other missions play a vital role in improving the quality of education in the state.

The governor also announced that the state government will sponsor 100 First Class and 2nd Class Upper Division graduates to study abroad and 300 people to study for their Masters degrees in Nigerian universities.

Bishop Nworie, in his response, welcomed the governor’s promise to return the mission schools and expressed the readiness of the Church under his leadership to support the governor in achieving his goals for the state.

“Those schools were forcefully taken away from us after the Civil War. The governor knows our feelings about this,’’ he said.

The bishop also called on the state cabinet members of the government to give their full support to the governor.

“If there is a failure in your area, there is a failure in the whole government because the success of any member of the cabinet is the success of the governor and that of the whole government,” the cleric added.