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By Vivian Onyebukwa
A four-day National Conference and Fund Raising organised by the Catholic Women Organisation of Nigeria, (CWON), has ended with a call to improvement in the quality of education especially the boy child.
The event which took place at St Leo’s Catholic Church, Toyin Str., Ikeja, Lagos with the theme, “Let’s Think With The Heart of Mary”, was to solicit for funds to advance it’s Cor-Mariae boys boarding school project in Gariki, Abuja. The project is part of the organisation’s ways of responding to the myriad of societal deformity the Nigerian child faces, especially in access to quality education.
Speaking at the event, Dame Mary Asibi-Gonsum, National President, Catholic Women Organisation Nigeria (CWON), stated that CWON has over the years not reneged in it’s responsibilities but lived up to it’s mandate which is why CWON successfully nurtured it’s passion to fruition by making it a reality in the establishment of Cor-Mariae College for the training of the boy child. “The school is now in its third year having reached JSS3. The college is committed to providing quality education, encompassing sound and good character and sound intellectual and academic excellence, among others”.
Asibi-Gonsum, who decried the failing standard of education in recent times, said the school was established to bridge the gap in quality education laden with good moral and catholic character moulding doctrine. “CWON is a Non Profit Organisation committed to mobilising all Catholic women and harnessing their God given energy and resources, financially and material, for effective evangelisation and transformation of the society acting in the footsteps of our Mother Mary. We have the knack for a holistic evangelism and the transformation of the society as enshrined in the scripture for the physical reform of mankind and salvation of souls. The CWON has lived up to the expectations of its founders. The establishment of the Cor-Mariae College for the training of the boy child is conceptualised to making a good home and society too. The boy of today will become the man, husband and father of tomorrow being the head of home. If given proper upbringing and education, he will in turn impact on the family that is under his control. In that regard, peace and good conduct will be fostered in the society,” she said.
The President noted that a society will not advance beyond the intellectual capacity of its citizenry, and therefore, implored the people to support the college to get some of the aids to learning facilities it lacks. Among them are a multi purpose hall, science laboratories, an ICT centre, library and more classrooms.
On accessibility of the school to non-Catholics, she assured that it will be made cheap for the average person to attend, while a window of scholarship would be made available for indigent pupils.
In his remark at the event, Chairman of the conference, Uche Okere, described the women as a force to bank on in every strata of the society. He equally pledged his support for the school project and asked the women to harness their goodwill that transcends the gospel community to achieve the project.
The event started with Mass presided by His Grace Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, Archbishop of the Metropolitan see of Lagos. The Bishop in his sermon noted that the pragramme took place on the memorial of St Theresa of Avila, whom he described as a woman of great things. “St Theresa of Avila was a model of what a Christian woman should be because she has Mary as her model of what a Christian woman should be. She had a great gap opposition but her personal relationship with Christ made her to succeed. She was a friend of God and had mystical experiences that expressed how close she was with Christ. She had a sense of humour, so she was able to perform the role that God want her to perform. That level of relationship is what all should aspire to achieve. With faith, we can have that close relationship with God as St Theresa and Abraham had with God”, the Bishop said.
