Sustain your role in education, Chukwuma urges the church

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By Madu Obi

The Pro-Chancellor of Olivia University, Burundi, Sir Paul Chukwuma has encouraged the church to continue to sustain its legacy in education, noting that the history of education in Nigeria cannot be written without acknowledging the huge contributions of the church.

Chukwuma made the remark when he paid a visit to the permanent site of the Archbishop Shanahan Catholic University, Onitsha, to see the level of infrastructure and to undertake a primarily NEED assessment of the school to determine where further value could be added.

While congratulating the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke and the Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha for undertaking such an ambitious project, observed that the Catholic Church has always treasured education and, for centuries, led in the establishment of educational institutions across the globe.

He said: "Human history cannot be written without the contributions of the Catholic Church to the advancement of education. In Nigeria, it was the church that ensured that a large number of Nigerians got educated in record time.

"I am glad that the Onitsha Archdiocese has continued in the vision of the founding fathers of the church. The church has a big role to play in our society.

They are not only the gatekeepers of morality, but that of education as morality and education are inseparable

"I desire that the university grows to become one of the best in the country. I am particularly excited that the university also has a medical faculty with a state-of-the-art hospital that I believe will help increase accessibility to medical care by improving the doctors-to-patient ratio and that of other health workers."

"On my part, I will continue to support the course of education in Nigeria and Your Grace should be assured of my support and prayers at all times."

Receiving the visitor, Archbishop Okeke said it is his dream to turn Onitsha and its environs into an academic environment.

According to him, graduates from the school would be grounded both in moral and academics.

He added that the first 500 students to be admitted into the school will be on scholarship.