By Jude Michael
A Catholic Cleric, Rev Fr Valentine Ezenduka, has appealed to the Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, to emulate a former Governor of the state, Mr Peter Obi, for every Anambra child to have a fair share in Soludo’s performance in education sector, regardless of their their type of school.
Rev Fr Ezenduka, who is the Manager, St Anthony’s Catholic Comprehensive Institute, Agulu, in Anaocha Local Government Area of the state, made the appeal while having a chat with newsmen in the area recently.
Fr Ezenduka said, ‘Peter Obi showed us what it means to be a governor for both public schools and mission schools.
‘For instance, one of the buses we make use of today, is courtesy of Peter Obi; the generator set we make use of today, is courtesy of Peter Obi; and some of the computers in our computer laboratory are courtesy of Peter Obi.
‘He did all these to motivate us; but unfortunately, Willie Obiano’s and Soludo’s administrations pay no attention to mission schools.
‘This is not good because the students in the mission schools are children of Anambra State.
‘Many of these children are excelling and performing creditably well in academics, both nationally and internationally, to the glory of the state.
‘For this reason, I appeal to the present government to remember mission schools as they make efforts to improve the public and return schools. Let them give mission schools grants to support us.
‘Also, some of the teachers the government do recruit into public schools were nurtured in mission schools.
‘We give them opportunity to acquire practical experience. Thereafter, the government takes them into public schools,’ Ezenduka said.
He therefore called on the government to find a way to partner with the Church to ensure that teachers in mission schools received good salaries.
