By Felix Khanoba
The quest to bring functional education to the doorsteps of average Nigerians received a major boost on Tuesday as priests, members of Catholic Women’s Organisation (CWO), and parents gathered for the ground breaking ceremony of St Mary’s Vocational School, Apo, Abuja.
The Archbishop of Abuja, Most Rev. Dr. Ignatius Kagaima, represented by Monsignor Kenneth Enang, performed the foundation laying ceremony for the school , which is estimated to cost N516.4 million.
Located near St Charles Lwanga Catholic Church, Apo, St Mary’s Vocational School, is one of the numerous projects initiated by the CWO of Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Cathedral, Garki, Abuja, to bring not just affordable but quality education to ordinary Nigerians.
Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony, which was heralded by a Mass to commit the laudable project into the hands of God, President of CWO of Our Lady Queen of Nigeria, Dr. Victoria-Mary Pillah, said the school would be a game changer in ensuring access to average Nigerians.
“We all know and we are aware that conventional secondary schools and private schools and even government schools are very expensive and out of the reach of an average Nigerian.
” So the Catholic Women Organisation of Our Lady Queen of Nigeria thought it wise for us to establish the vocational school.
” First and foremost, the primary beneficiaries are people living around here, next to St Charles Lwanga, Apo, and we have made up our minds to establish this school and make sure the school fees will be affordable to give room to those that cannot afford very expensive schools to be able to acquire knowledge and skills that will make them live a life that is good for them, ” Dr Pillah said.
On how soon the school located on 7755m2 area of land will be completed, the visibly elated CWO President, said :”While I was given my description of the project, I had a timeline. I said well, time is in the hands of God but we know God will provide for us just as our Mother Mary told his son Jesus Christ that they have no wine, Our Mother Queen of Nigeria CWO is calling on Mother Mary to tell her son Jesus Christ that Our Lady Queen of Nigeria women have no wine.
“We have little resources but we trust, we believe and we hope that with God, we will have the resources to complete this project. We are going to have the school built in phases.
” It is not going to be one time thing when we will finish but my tenure is four years and for this four years we have just done four months and we are doing the groundbreaking today and we trust God that we are not just going to break the ground, we have broken the ground today and we want to hit it running and by the grace of God, with the little resources we will start and God will provide.
“He has said, if there is no one to worship him, He will raise dried bones to worship him and so whether we have enough funds or not, we trust God will be able to provide us and enable us to build in phases and see it through.”
Also speaking, Monsignor Enang, who is the Chairman of Education Commission in the Abuja Archdiocese, heaped praise on the CWO for embarking on the project.
” This type of project will bring stability to this country, ” he said, adding that “many generations yet unborn will remember you for this project.”
Earlier, during the Mass, Rev. Fr. Thomas Ariku, who prayed specifically for the speedy completion of the project, said CWO deserved great commendation as anyone who opens the door of education closes the door of prison.
The event, which also attracted some parishioners of St Charles Lwanga Catholic Church, Apo, witnessed the foundation laying ceremony of the school project, performance by ‘Atilogo Dance-Magic Steppers’, among others.
