As the Anglican Church in Ekiti State celebrates its 50 years anniversary, 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.
Omotunde argued that the return of the schools to the church would enable it to effectively management them and boost the standard of education in the state.
The Bishop, who condemned the government take-over of the schools, pointed out that the decadence and decline in standard of education being witnessed in the country would have been averted if the schools were still under the management of the missionaries.
Addressing a press conference in Ado Ekiti on Monday as part of the weeklong activities heralding the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the diocese, the Bishop said the church would also use the occasion to immortalize the late Primate of the Anglican Communion and indigene of Odo-Owa Ekiti, Most Rev Abiodun Adetiloye and other bishops that had supervised the diocese for their contributions and sacrifices .
Speaking further, the Bishop specifically urged Governor Fayose immediately return the schools, pointing out that “Government acted like armed robbers by taking over schools they didn’t know the vision behind its establishment. It was sad that the government In Nigeria, 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 steps and we believe it will yield result under the present government”.
Omotunde, who lamented how the facilities at the Ile Abiye hospital established by the church in Ado Ekiti to provide quality healthcare at affordable rate were allegedly looted and taken to
Ekiti State Specialists Hospital ( now Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital), added that the development further confirmed how destructive the government could be.
The bishop also warned the Christians Association of Nigeria against unnecessary romance with politicians , saying the association was only set up to propagate the ideals of unity and spiritual growth of Christians, which it should not deviate from.
The cleric, however, disclosed that the diocese has made tremendous spiritual impact in the lives of Ekiti people since its creation in 1966 by establishing many churches and school of Science and Technology as well as Youth Skills Development centre, to build human capacity.
