By: Joy Odor/Kaduna The Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna, His Grace Most Reverend Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso has said that it is a matter of justice for the state government to return schools taken over from the Catholic church; stressing the need for them to be returned in good shape just as they were when they were taken over.
He made this known in an interview with newsmen during the 2018 Archdiocese of Kaduna General Assembly with the Theme: “Education and the Mission of the Church in Nigeria”, Archbishop Ndagoso said it is not good when somebody take your property, ruin them and then bring back the ruins.
“The reason why we had these schools working before they were taken over was that, there was partnership between the government and the church; the state was helping the schools while the church was running the schools for the whole Nigeria.
“This is the problem we are having in the northern states.
“So, nothing will stop us from resuming such partnership again. We educate not only Christians but all that come to our schools. This has been the history, we never discriminate.
“For almost 20 to 30 years, we have been emphasizing the importance of religious education. The human body is both material and physical, so, you cannot take care of only the physical part, you need to also educate the heart and the intellectual information; then you will have people who can become good leaders in the country.
“Though, we have a good number of civil servants and leaders who were privileged to go to school run by the missionaries but that generation is almost facing out and my fear is that if even those that got that education are behaving the way they are behaving now; I wonder what will happen to people who did not get that moral formation or any special formation in terms of their education” he said.
While condemning the state of education in the country, the Archbishop emphasized that the Catholic Church had always given sound education for life.
He maintained that the education students are receiving and the government is given now is half barked education because there is no spiritual and moral formation which is why Nigeria are facing all manner of atrocities in the society.
Earlier in his paper presentation titled: ‘Values and ideals of Catholic Education in the Promotion of Human Dignity’ the Vicar General Archdiocese of Jos, Reverend Professor Cletus Gotan observed that formal education has remained an instrument used by nations, not only Nigeria to facilitate the integration of younger generation into the present system and bring about the conformity to it.
According to him, through education, individuals deal critically and creatively with reality to discover how to participate in the transformation of their society, saying given the significant of education, nations have over the ages strive hard to provide the best form of education to their citizens to facilitate national development.
He however explained that Catholic education focuses in preparing its beneficiaries for life here and there after and encompasses academic disciples and religious teachings.
“Catholic Church use education as part of its evangelical mission aimed at enabling the individual to lives his own live rationally to think, does and act feeling with the circle mission in the church.
“It would be observed that the behavioral exhibition of Nigerians in the society and educational system need much attention from the corruption, armed robbery, kidnapping religious and ethnic intolerance.
“With integral education, the human person can be formed to be loving and caring, able to actualize his or her potential, contribute to the attainment of the common good and fulfill his or her aspirations. “Quality education in this respect has a religious and moral content,” he stressed.
