Catholic Youth Village Recounciles Obiano, Obi, Etiaba, Ngige

 When five years ago the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha, His Grace Most Rev. Valerian Okeke conceived the Holy Family Youth Village, Amansea in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State, he had in mind to develop a conducive place where future leaders could be groomed.

Indeed, he had planned to see a unique project that would provide an enabling environment that would bring up students whose character would be moulded with the aim of raising for Nigeria good leaders that the nation desires.It was, therefore, a happy moment for the archbishop one year after the project was completed; and the unique village for students operating to the glory of God.

Recently, drums were rolled out for the one-year anniversary as well as the five years His Grace Okeke had conceived the project, and past and present governors of Anambra State: Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige, Chief Peter Obi, former acting governor, Dame Virgy Etiaba and the incumbent governor, Chief Willie Obiano,  converged on the village to appreciate God for the successful completion of the multi-million naira project.

The village, they said, was one God used the archbishop and several wealthy people within and outside Anambra State to build for the benefit of students being groomed to be good leaders of tomorrow.

The village has four gigantic structures housing about 1,200 students and members of staff with all the facilities that make life comfortable.

The church service to mark the grand occasion was conducted by His Eminence Francis Cardinal Arinze, who came down from Rome.

Cardinal Arinze was assisted by the visioner and initiator of the project, Archbishop Okeke, while more than 12 other bishops were in attendance.

In his homily at the church service, Cardinal Arinze emphasized on the need for students as future leaders to not only concentrate on academic work, but also to train themselves in morals and character.

He said that a “well educated person must be noble in character and one whose yes must of necessity be yes, one who should be trusted by those who know him or her, one who should be reliable.”

He noted that the society has great need for leaders who have viable altitude, who will demonstrate love and compassion for their colleagues, their employers and employees, their village and the nation at large, as well as those who will cooperate with God to contribute in building a better country.

He noted that it was for the training of such noble characters that the Holy Family Youth Village was established with Archbishop Okeke as the initiator just as he expressed delight that the hostels in the youth village were filled to capacity.

In this speech after the church service, Archbishop Okeke traced the history of the village, which success he attributed to God and those who keyed into the vision.

Many who were at the anniversary noted that it was indeed by divine wisdom Archbishop Okeke realized that “something essential was lacking in the education system, that the system required not just academic impartation, but moral and spiritual up-bringing for the youths who are leaders of tomorrow.

“It is altruism that one cannot offer what one does not have and if the youths are not provided with essential moral and spiritual qualities they cannot offer these to Nigerians in service and conduct.”

They argued that from all indications the Holy Family Youth Village has the potentials to assist students acquire Christian ideals and esteem values such as honesty, reliability and constancy of character.

They observed Okeke was convinced that with enabling environment for training of the youths, “they would mature into all round educated people with intellectual formations, human formation, moral formation and spiritual formation, some of which are provided by the environment and not only academics.”

Indeed, the Holy Family Village has some features that make it unique which include steady water supply, all round supply of electricity, effective security system, subsidized feeding, free bus ride to and from the university for lecturers, self-contained rooms with customized bed, reading tables, wardrobe and book shelves.

There are also facilities for game and other activities and they include soccer pitch, tennis courts, basket ball courts, 24 hours supply of cold and hot water all through the week just as there are computer lab, a supermarket while arrangement is on top gear to provide a digital library for the students.

With all these facilities in place, the archbishop is hopeful that the plans of the Catholic Church to maintain a unique environment in the village would be realised.

He said: “The Holy Family Youth Village is by no means our sole or last involvement in contributing to the education of our children.

“Our returned schools, with the help of the state government are fast returning to their old glories; first, in terms of physical structure, and surely with more efficient management, in terms of academic standard and discipline.”

Governor Obiano apparently impressed with what he saw promised to assist in every way possible to ensure that the ideals of the youth village was maintained by providing whatever that was necessary.

Also former Governor Chris Ngige donated an ambulance to assist in facilitating healthcare delivery at the place.

The ceremony offered a meeting and unification point for the political leaders in Anambra State as Governor Obiano and Senator Ngige met and embraced each other for the first time since the governorship election early this year.

The Sun Report