PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has said state governors could emulate him and return all the mission schools to religious organisations that built them.
The president said this when he met with a delegation of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) on Friday, March 14.
According to a statement released Friday night by his Special Adviser on Information and
Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the president stated that schools were subnational entities, not owned by the Federal Government.
“I’ve been a good example as the governor of Lagos state. I returned all the mission schools,” Tinubu said.
The ICIR reports that religious leaders have been lamenting over the takeover of mission schools by the Nigerian government.
The clamour to return the schools taken from them over four decades ago has yet to yield the desired result.
Clerics have been blaming the government for the poor standard of education in the country, believing that the standards began to fall when the government took over schools from the original owners.
However, at the meeting with the Catholic Bishops on Friday, Tinubu commended the Catholic body for its commitment to education and healthcare in the country.
He told his guests that he set up the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to ensure that no student dropped out of school due to a lack of funds for tuition fees.
He promised to look at ways to help students of private institutions that NELFUND does not cover.
The president reiterated that he was concerned about the hardships Nigerians go through due to the economic and security situations in the country, assuring the clerics that his reform programmes would yield the target results and ameliorate the pains.
“Yes, removing the fuel subsidy was hard, tough for me, but it’s a hard choice that Nigeria must face. We are not going to bankrupt our country.
“We were spending the investment of the future of our children yet unborn. We were spending their rights, and poverty has no religious basis. There’s no religious colouration, no identity. It affects all, and we must fight it together,” Tinubu stated.
He argued further that the security agencies were already curtailing the nation’s insecurity, stressing that adherents of all religions felt the impact of the efforts.
“This insecurity, everyone is affected, Christians, Muslims alike. I have no religious bias; I won’t be a bigot. My wife is a pastor of Redeemed Christian Church. But we have to think of our country. This country must develop and must stand beyond religious bigotry. And I’m here open to you, ready to listen.
“We’ve been together for some time. We have an open-door policy. I will not shut my door,” the president added.
The CBCN president and Archbishop of Owerri, Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, who led the delegation of 20 bishops from across the country, noted that the removal of fuel subsidies had affected people in the country while commending the government reform initiatives and efforts of the security agencies to curtail insecurity in the nation.
He, however, urged the government to put in more efforts to “rekindle hope and inspire confidence in the hearts of our people.”
The clerics called for a well-defined vision of religion as a force for moral integrity and patriotic unity without necessarily impinging on citizens’ fundamental rights.
They urged the government to hands-off sponsorship of pilgrimages to curtail waste and corruption.
“The government should allow religious groups to take full responsibility for organising pilgrimages. In their current structure, the national and state pilgrims’ boards serve neither their adherents nor the broader interest of the nation. You’re undoubtedly aware of the instances of corruption that have led to the removal of some board executives to ensure greater efficiency and accountability.
“We would propose that public funds be redirected towards pressing national needs,” the CBCN president said.
Among other state officials at the meeting were the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed and National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.