By Ononye VC
There was a wide applause last Sunday during a mass at St Mary’s Catholic Church,Onitsha Inland Town when the Vicar General of Archdiocese of Onitsha and Parish Priest,Very Rev Fr Johnbosco Okafor reeled out numerous achievements of the Archbishop of Onitsha,Most Rev Valerian Okeke at the Federal Custodial Centre,Onitsha.
The Vicar General was preaching about love of neighbor and sacrifice in one of the masses when he illustrated his preaching with achievements of the Archbishop inside the Custodial Centre where many inmates were undergoing incarceration whether convicted or awaiting trial.
According to Fr Johnbosco,owing to the Archbishop’s love for humanity,he provided water boreholes, electricity,sleeping materials and clothes for the inmates over the years.He also provided televisions for the inmates for their viewing pleasure like football and sports programme.
Amidst the excitement generated by his remarks,fr Johnbosco pointed out that above all, the Archbishop was able to erect a multimillion Naira skill acquisition centre for the inmates to enable them acquire skills inorder to be useful to themselves and the society at the end of their incarceration.
Fr Johnbosco informed the already excited Congregation that due to the Archbishop’s magnanimity and welfare programmes for the inmates,he was honoured by the Federal Government with the Grand Patron of Nigerian Custodial Centres in the country,a feat he said,was the first of it’s kind in the country.
The Vicar General pointed out that by that act of love,the Archbishop he said,has been able to touch the lives of the inmates positively and also gave them love.
He called on the privileged to emulate the Archbishop to change the lives of the less privileged around them by giving out to widows,orphans,the elderly among others.