By Mmaduabuchi Onwumelu, Daruwana Daku and Ebube Edieh
The Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, His Lordship Most Reverend Paulinus Ezeokafor, through the Justice, Development and Peace Caritas (JDPC), Awka Diocese, in collaboration with the Help For All (HIFA) Initiative, Austria, a Non-Governmental Organization, on Saturday, 6th July, at Saint Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Awka, paid the tuition fees of 85 poor and indigent students across all denominations in Anambra State, totalling 10 million four hundred and forty-five thousand Naira.
Declaring the cheques presentation open, Bishop Ezeokafor exhorted the beneficiaries to work harder in their academic pursuit, saying that the only meaningful and fastest way they could achieve greatness and attain their full potentials was through access to quality education.
He urged them to be focused and resolute in their quest for a better and greater future, emphasizing that without education they may not get to their desired height, adding that only the hardworking students would continue to enjoy the tuition fees payment package while the unserious ones would no longer take part in it.
The Bishop who was represented by the Education Secretary of the Catholic Diocese of Awka, Reverend Father, Maximus Okonkwo, charged the students to take their studies seriously and guard against distractions and anything that would deny them the opportunity of enjoying the largesse, as well as losing track and focus.
The cleric admonished students to take their education seriously and maintain good conduct as well.
Presenting the cheques to the beneficiaries at JDPC, Awka Diocese Secretariat, domiciled inside St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Awka, the Director of JDPC, Awka Diocese and the Chairman, Anambra State HIFA Board, Rev Fr Levi Ukor, said they worked in partnership with HIFA, Austria, noting that the Organization was formed and funded by retired teachers in Austria.
‘The sponsors are interested in your results; your performance and reports from the school authorities. These are the things that are encouraging the sponsors to increase the money instead of giving out the usual N121,000 they are giving to each student.
The total money we are spending this year is N10, 445, 000. Last year we spent seven million Naira. So, it is not a small money. We want people to know that the Church is spending this huge amount of money on education,’ he said.
Fr Ukor thanked Bishop Ezeokafor for seeing the need to help indigent people in securing their future through continuous education.
Fr Ukor, who asserted that the Bishop could have channelled the funds to other areas but decided to always help the indigent, added that it was a long-standing event that did not begin this year.
He added that the NGO moved a notch further by increasing the fund from the seven million Naira it was last year, to ten million Naira. This, he said, was in recognition of the economic situation in the country.
In cautioning parents to make judicious use of the fund, the Director also challenged the students to always improve in their academic excellence, stating that it was the only way to appreciate HIFA and the Bishop. Some of the students whose academic records were impressive were also rewarded with additional funds, according to the Director.
According to Rev Fr Ukor, they scouted for indigent students yearly after which the lucky ones would be thoroughly investigated to ascertain all facts before compiling and submitting their names to HIFA, Austria, for onward release of funds, noting that they also engaged in building and renovation of schools and hospitals and that they were into provision of transportation to ease the stress and hardship occasioned by lack of adequate vehicles and means of transportation.
The Director of JDPC, Awka Diocese, stated that they did not pay only tuition fees but equally paid for the medical bills of the destitute and also trained them on skills acquisitions, saying that the programme was an annual event and that many indigent students and gifted children had been saved and empowered through the initiative.
Rev Fr Ukor who said that the Organization was co-founded by Adolf Pester and Rev Fr Aaron Ekwu (late), noted that it was designed basically to cater for the poor in society and also help in closing the gap in infrastructure and other areas of life. He announced that HIFA, Austria were already in six states in Nigeria and had been carrying out back to back humanitarian services in Anambra State and Nigeria.
He announced that the students were drawn from different schools in Anambra State, regardless of their religious or denominational inclinations and faith, saying that some were picked from schools in Awka, Nnewi, Onitsha, Ihiala, Ekwuluobi and Orumba, among others.
He added that the beneficiaries were gotten through the applications submitted during their monthly meetings.
In his remarks, the JDPC Diocesan Chairman, Hon. Paulinus Adinuba, urged parents not to use the money given, for any other purpose except for the school it was meant for.
It was gathered that N121, 000 was given to each of the 83 students, while two students (Maura Dorothy Anozie and Lawrence Chiekezie) were given N270, 600 and N141, 400 respectively, for their academic performance.
The event which took place at St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Awka, was organized by the Justice for Peace and Development Caritas (JDPC) and was attended by parents and benefitting students from different schools.
Some beneficiaries, who included Ibekwe Chioma from Amaenyi Secondary School, Awka; Kizito Ebele from Community Secondary School, Obelendu; Lawrence Uchechukwu Chiekezie from St. Michael’s Comprehensive Secondary School, Nimo; and Pamela Chikerem Onwuka, from Fr. Tansi Memorial Secondary School, Akpu; all appreciated the Bishop for his kind gesture and promised to improve in their academic work in order to be shining lights to others.