Ebonyi group opposes transfer of Uburu University to Catholic Church

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The Association of Ebonyi State Indigenes in Diaspora (AESID) rejected the donation from King David University of Medical Sciences in Uburu, Ebonyi state, which it called a “Greek offer” from the governor from State, Dave Umahi, to the Catholic Church.

The group said if the situation is not properly handled, it could lead to animosity between the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, which had claimed ownership of the new university, and the Catholic Church.

Let us recall that at the episcopal ordination and the installation of Rt. Rev. Mgr. Peter Nworie Chukwu as 3rd Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki, on Thursday August 19, 2021, Governor Umahi announced the handing over of the King David University of Medical Sciences of Uburu to the Conference of Catholic Bishops for what he called “Optimal Management and Academic Excellence.”

As stated in a statement made available by his Special Assistant on Media and Advertising, Mr. Francis Nwaze, the Governor said: “The contributions of the church to the educational development of Nigeria are unprecedented and for this I, on behalf of the state wish to give King David University of Medical Sciences in Uburu to the Nigerian Catholic Bishops Conference to own and operate. “

But, reacting through a declaration signed by the President of AESID, Amb. Paschal Oluchukwu, On Sunday, the indigenous Ebonyi wondered how a governor would make such a statement “who is able not only to pit the mother church against its sister the Presbyterian church which has been in court to challenge the takeover by the force of said ownership, but also to further deny the provisions of our existing laws, create chaos and confusion and deepen animosity between the Christian faith even though we still view Ebonyi as a secular state dominated only by the Christian religion.

According to the statement, in the public interest, no law allows a governor to build such a massive edifice with millions of unrecorded public funds and hand it over to a people of special faith in a multi-religious society like the Nigeria.

“In addition to the serious violations of the law characterized by the non-adoption of any law allowing the donation of the said institution which was built with public funds, unaudited and unaccounted for by the Ebonyi State House of Assembly – a third arm of the government who has been massively amputated and totally neglected by the governor, Umahi has shown by this statement that he is just a desperate dealer trying to cover up his suspicious leads by currying favor with the Largest and most populous Catholic Church.

“No one, we repeat, no church or organization for that matter should accept such compromised transactions from a governor like Umahi. Because we are certain that his motives for this particular offer are as hidden as the majority of his relations with the Ebonyi people during his last six years in the saddle as governor Ebonyi, ”he said.

Setting out the controversies over said University of Uburu, the statement added: “First of all, the Presbyterian Church had alerted the general public that, on Friday, July 12, 2019, it had received a clue that the exco of the Ebonyi State had approved the government’s takeover of the Joint Presbyterian Hospital in Uburu.

Also announced the same day on the state broadcast network, the award of contracts for the construction of several blocks of buildings for the Ebonyi State University Hospital on a property that the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria is a leaseholder and has grown over 107 years as the Mixed Presbyterian Hospital, Uburu.

“We know that Umahi sent a letter requesting approval from the State House of Assembly asking for the state’s takeover and acquisition of the oldest hospital founded by missionary Dr. John Hitchcock , which his lackeys in said branch of government easily granted without any due diligence or investigation, the head of the Presbyterian Church’s Information and Public Affairs Department, Rt. Rev. Nnoke Ibe had, in a statement from detailed press, accused the governor of the state of having forcibly taken over the hospital for which he still paid rent to family and village donors of the land on which it is located.

“The release, made since July 2020, affirmed without a counterclaim from the government led by Umahi that“ The Church is also aware that the eminent domain power of the government confers the power to take the lands it needs for public purposes; but this power is constitutionally subject to procedures which guarantee the rights, privileges and prerogatives of occupants and holders.

He recalled the statement from the Presbyterian Church also stating: “Now that the government knows that the hospital is owned by the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, the government should act in accordance with the constitutional provisions to ensure that those entitled to the occupation of the property receive their legal rights; That although we are aware of our constitutional rights as a Church on this matter, the long-standing good relationship between Church and government, compels the Church to implore the government of Ebonyi State to create a platform conducive to amicable resolution of the problems involved.

While condemning what it called “the governor’s insensitive act,” the statement said, “we also haven’t forgotten that the plan was in fact to acquire and build said institution as a new one. State University Faculty of Medicine. We also know that the Ebonyi state government recently released an outrageous fee scheme ranging from N1 to N3M as an annual tuition fee for the institution after its courses were approved by the NUC and even some recruitment announcements. Where and how then can the Catholic community finance, maintain and support such an academic institution which could become a monumental waste if it is not properly funded?

“If Umahi truly loves and wants academic excellence, why did he come up with the above monumental fee scheme in a poor state like ours? Why has he also totally neglected the public education sector in Ebonyi without reasonable subsidies to state-owned primary, secondary and especially tertiary institutions?

“Finally, AESID joins with the rest of the more sane Ebene in gently rejecting the offer and focusing on achieving its spiritual and religious goals for the Church, even though we wish the newly ordained bishop a successful episcopal reign filled with great wisdom to manage the affairs of the Church mother church.

“And for Umahi, he should wait for his days of reckoning with the antitrust agencies for all of his illegal actions, faults and lack of accountability in governance that have made Ebonyi the poverty capital of all of southern Nigeria. “

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