Former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, on Tuesday celebrated the 2017 World Freedom Day with pupils and students of Holy Family Secondary School, Sokoto, and St. Patrick’s School, Illela, the border town between Sokoto and Niger Republic.
Mr. Obi said that his urge to celebrate the day in a remote part of Sokoto State was a way of assuring the children of Nigeria wherever they are that somebody cares for them and is always available to encourage them to take their education seriously as education is the most important currency for competition in the world.
While in both schools, which have Nursery, Primary and secondary sections, Obi went from class to class, interacting with the pupils/students.
He told them that the essence of the World Freedom Day is not just being free from the shackles of slavery, trafficking and enslavement, but also being emancipated through education and the acquisition of right values.
Quoting Jean Jacques Rousseau, the French philosopher, to them, he said:
“When Rousseau said in his book ‘The Social Contract’, that man is free but everywhere in chain, he meant not just slavery as you and I know it, but also the dangerous type of slavery occasioned by ignorance, which only proper education can overcome.”
The high point of the visits was the donation of 2 million Naira to both schools (One million Naira each), with assurances by Obi that he would visit them again.
In his remarks, Sokoto Diocese Education Secretary, Rev. Sr. Esther Upaa, said he was humbled by Obi’s commitment to education and prayed God to bless him abundantly.
Obi, who recently returned from Rwanda and Kenya on similar school apostolate, has also been visiting schools in both the northern and southern parts of the country.
By Isaac Umunna
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