By Ozioruva Aliu

BENIN CITY – EDO state governor, Sen. Monday Okpebholo, has approved the return of schools to missionary organisations in Edo State.

The decision was announced following a meeting between the Governor and the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, Gabriel G. Dunia, on Monday in Government House, Benin City, Edo State capital.

A statement by Okpebholo’s Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua quoted Okpebholo as saying that a committee will be set up to identify the specific schools that will be handed over and clarified that any of the affected schools currently undergoing renovation by the State Government would remain under its supervision until their completion.

Among the schools expected to be affected by this policy are prominent institutions such as Our Lady of Fatima College, Auchi; St. Angela’s Grammar School, Uzairue; St. John Grammar School, Fugar; St. Peter’s Grammar School, Agenebode; St. James’s Grammar School, Afuze; St. Joseph College, Otuo; St. Mary Grammar School, Eme-Ora; and St. Aloysius Gonzaga Grammar School, Ososo.

The move comes decades after the civil government forcefully took over missionary primary and secondary schools in the 1970s.

Bishop Dunia revealed that despite persistent appeals to previous administrations, the state government had not positively responded to the Church’s requests for the return of its institutions until now.

Bishop Dunia underscored the strategic importance of these educational institutions to the Catholic mission, emphasising their role not only in the intellectual formation of children but also in fostering “ideal moral character, which constitutes the bedrock ofa good society.”