By Polycarp Ifeanyi, Onitsha
The Archbishop of Onitsha and Metropolitan of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province, His Grace, Most Rev. Valerian Maduka Okeke was on his 70th birthday bestowed honour of Grand Patron of inmates in custody centre in Nigeria by the Controller General of Nigeria Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa.
Nababa bestowed the award to Archbishop Okeke shortly after delivering his address at Federal Correctional Service Onitsha, Anambra State on the occasion of Archbishop Okeke’s 70th birthday and Commissioning of multi million Naira ultramodern skills acquisition Center built by Archbishop Okeke inside the correctional centre.
The Controller General who was represented by Syvester Nwakauche while bestowing the award to the Arch-Bishop, said that the skills acquisition would add value to the inmates.
He noted that magnanimous act of Archbishop is unfathomable, saying that he demonstrated it by transforming Onitsha Correctional Service.
he said that the Archbishop sunk bore hole, renovated all the cells, equipped Skills acquisition centre, provided schools and initiated Junior and Senior WASCE examination as well as paid school fees for the inmates.
” I am highly impressed with what Archbishop Okeke is doing here. He brought a lot of transformation to the Correctional Service. Therefore, I have never seen any person who did such a thing. So, it is my singular honour to award him Grand Patron of the inmates in custody centre in Nigeria”
The Correctional Service boss appealed to public spirited individuals and organizations to emulate Archbishop Okeke and urged the inmates to take advantage of the facilities and become useful for themselves.
Delivering his homily during the Holy Mass to mark the event, Archbishop Okeke profoundly emphasized on the importance of gratitude.
He thanked God for the gifts of life and good health, explaining that in everything, we must always give thanks to God.
“Gratitude not expressed is not completed. David in the scripture intended to build house for God as a gratitude but God through prophet Nathan asked him no. God told David that it would be his Son that would build Him a house”
“When God bless you, do like David. One of the ways to show gratitude to God is by praising and worshipping Him. We are all Children of God. God does not require anything from us except gratitude. Gratitude is not optional, it is compulsory.
“When you receive good thing from someone, show gratitude. My own gratitude to God is to show Mercy to the inmates, celebrate my birthday with them and see for their well being, built Skills acquisition for them so that they become useful for themselves when they are free”
“We will make the inmates from nobody to somebody. Even if government is not attending to them, we will do something for them. The Skills acquisition is a gratitude to God. You can not except God to come down and do it for you”
He further advised inmates to repent from what ever attitude that brought them into correctional centre so that they would be changed persons.
The event which also featured administration of 7 inmates with sacrament of confirmation and attracted presence of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, Former Governor Chris Nwabueze Ngige, Senator Victor Umeh, Senator Tony Nwoye, Most Rev. Jude Thaddeus Okolo, priests, Religious, Politicians amongst other.
Some of the items donated to the inmates by Archbishop Okeke included; different seize of birth cake, foams, tooth paste, toilet paper and soaps, bathroom slippers, one live cow, cooked rice with one slaughtered cow and others.
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