Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, the Governor of Anambra State, has offered his support for the Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke’s prison ministry.
Soludo made the commitment during the Archbishop’s 70th birthday liturgy.
The mass was held on Friday inside the Nigerian Correctional Service Medium Security Custodial Centre in Onitsha.
The governor also laid the groundwork for the secondary school that will be established in the centre and dedicated the Archbishop’s skills acquisition facility.
Soludo was pleased by the Archbishop’s devotion to assisting convicts at the correctional facility, saying that the Archbishop’s efforts served as a reminder that everyone deserved a second shot.
He pledged to pay the National Business and Technical Education Board test fees for 30 convicts who were preparing to take the examinations, as well as to build solar panels and inverters to give electricity to the 1,125-inmate facility.
He stated,
“I am here today to celebrate the Archbishop of Onitsha for his commitment to helping those who are often forgotten. I advise the inmates to take advantage of the skills acquisition programme at the centre so that they can be productive members of society when they are released.
“I urge you to take the skills acquisition programme seriously so that when you are released from prison, you can use these skills to build a better life for yourself and your family.”
Archbishop Okeke, the celebrant, highlighted in his sermon that thanksgiving to God is the greatest sacrifice one can make.
cc: Punch Ng
