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*Nigeria: Address By Governor Obi At Formal Handover of Schools To Original Church Owners

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ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, MR. PETER OBI, GOVERNOR OF ANAMBRA STATE, AT THE FORMAL RETURN OF SCHOOLS TO THEIR ORIGINAL CHURCH OWNERS AT THE WOMEN DEVELOPEMNT CENTRE ON THE 21ST OF NOVEMBER, 2011

Let me begin this address by simply stating that our Government's commitment to delivering quality education for the good people of Anambra State is total. That is why I have decided that our state shall henceforth be speaking only of "acceptable global standards in education", instead of "minimum standards". By the same token, we are saying good bye to the low quality education that this state has suffered because of the takeover of mission schools by Government.

The collapse of education in Anambra State is directly connected with the takeover of schools owned by the missionaries, churches and voluntary organizations in 1970. That singular exercise signaled the disappearance of morality and the building of character from our school system. This can no longer be allowed to continue.

May I therefore apologize to those whose schools were forcefully taken over. It was one of the biggest and costliest mistakes ever made by the Government. We regret that due to the takeover, these schools have deteriorated in all respects. Academic performance, infrastructure, and simple discipline were all lost. Today, we shall make a new beginning by returning to the point from where we turned into the wrong road.

Only last week, the Hon. Minister of Finance pointed out how unreasonable it is for a nation to keep pumping money into an educational system that delivers nothing close to what it was set up to deliver. Let me state her exact words, ladies and gentlemen: "Our education system is broken and we cannot continue pumping money into a broken institution.”

Not only do I concur with the Minister, I am demonstrating my concurrence by the action I have invited you to witness today. We are hopeful that by returning these schools to their owners, a progressive cleansing of that sector will begin. This is a demonstration of good faith and also of our Government's determination to rescue the education sector, because of its crucial role as the bedrock of development.

We are part and parcel of the modern world and the only way to show this is to always ask ourselves where the rest of the world is going in all that we do pertaining to the life of our people. A few days ago, at the Rivers State Invest Forum in Port Harcourt, the former Prime Minister of Britain, Mr. Gordon Brown, said that one of the major ingredients of prosperity was education. He went further to describe education as the biggest asset for providing skills for the future.

Any society that deliberately allows its educational institutions to fall into stupor has already arranged the burial ceremony of the leaders of tomorrow. A progressive leader who sees danger for his people must take serious, radical actions, even if they are unpopular, in order to bring renewal and re-birth.

Having the foregoing in mind, and after due consultations, we have decided to return all schools, primary and secondary, taken from the missionaries, with the exception of those in dispute. This exercise is continuous, hence those who still have genuine cases of schools yet to be returned are advised to write to the Ministry of Education. In returning these schools, Government is expecting the type of dramatic improvement in discipline and academic performance that used to be associated with these schools.

We are not abandoning theses schools, in the name of handing them over, because the State Government will continue to pay the salaries of all their academic and non-academic staff; while the Missions will be in charge of the day-to-day running and general administration of the schools. This is the subsisting practice in the schools already taken over by the Government.

I want to be on record to have said, again and again, that we are handing over these school because we want to see them return to what they used to be, as centres of academic excellence; as well as strongholds for character and citizenship development.

Being mindful of the urgent need to turn around the education sector, and in line with our commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the State Government has made special financial provisions to ensure that the churches do not have any initial problems in managing the schools. We have made available the sum of Six Billion Naira (6,000,000,000.00), which shall be distributed to the new owners of these schools over the next 15 months, based on the number of schools each group owns.

Therefore, the money will be shared in four installments thus:

a. First Installment    - N1,750,000,000
b. Second Installment    - N1,250,000,000
c. Third Installment    - N1,250,000,000
d. Fourth Installment    - N1,750,000,000

For the first installment,

a. The Catholic Church with 453 schools will receive N762,259,615.38;
b. The Anglican Church with 296 schools will receive N498,076,923.07;
c. Government owned schools, 291 in number, will receive N489,663,461.53

This money will be released to you once you submit your work plans in the next 30 days. The Churches simply cannot afford to fail us because, as the Bible says: "If gold should rust, what will iron do?”

Let us all resolve today to become agents of positive change in Anambra State, especially now that we have a Government that is ready and willing to work with institutions and individuals that can complement the efforts of Government for the good of our society.

Thank you and may God bless you and our dear State.

Photo Above: L-R Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, the Hon. Minister of Education; Most Rev. Dr. Christian Efobi, Archbishop of the Niger Province of the Anglican Communion; Gov. Peter Obi; Most Rev. Dr. Valerian Okeke, Metropolitan Archbishop of Onitsha Catholic Province; and the National Chairman of APGA at the return of 1040 schools to the missionaries by the Governemnt of Anambra State. - CLICK FOR ENLARGED PHOTO.

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