The Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Ekiti, Most Rev Christopher Omotunde, has called on the Ekiti State government to return schools established by the Church to it for effective management and to boost the standard of education in the state.
He made the call in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday at a press conference heralding the week-long activities marking the 50th anniversary of the diocese.
Describing the taking over of the schools by government as ‘robbery’, the Bishop pointed out that the fall in the standard of education being witnessed in the country could have been averted if the schools were still under the management of the churches.
The Bishop said: “Government acted like armed robbers by taking over schools they didn’t know the vision behind its establishment.
“Governments are bad managers and you can see the damage they have done to schools established by missionaries across Nigeria.
“Former Governor Kayode Fayemi wrote to us on the need to take over some schools and we replied back and indicated our intention to take over some schools, but the process never reached the advanced stage till the expiration of his tenure.
“We have taken another bold step and we believe it will yield result under the present government.”
Omotunde lamented also how the facilities at the Ile Abiye hospital established by the church in Ado Ekiti to enhance quality healthcare delivery at affordable rate were allegedly looted and taken to Ekiti State Specialists Hospital (now Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital), saying this further confirmed how destructive the government could be.
The Bishop also warned the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) against unnecessary conviviality with politicians, saying the association is an organization set up to propagate the ideals of unity and spiritual growth of Christians and it should not deviate from this vision.
The Bishop said that the Anglican Church will use the anniversary to immortalize the late Primate of the Anglican Communion and indigene of Odo Owa Ekiti, Most Rev Abiodun Adetiloye and other Bishops that had superintended over the diocese for their contributions and sacrifices.
Reeling out the achievements of the church, Omotunde said that the diocese has made tremendous impacts in the spiritual lives of Ekiti people since its creation in 1966 by establishing many churches and a school of science and technology as well as youth skills development centre to build human capacity.
The cleric said the church is presently venturing into estate developing business being part of the efforts to boost the economy of the state and make the church self-sustaining.
“We have been performing our social responsibility very well. We are not only teaching our members, but we enhance their capacities in skills acquisition.
“We recently built a church in the prison yard in Ado Ekiti and today, the spiritual lives of many of the inmates had improved for better.
“This is part of our welfare and social responsibility to the people and we won’t deviate from this,” he said.
