Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State says the state government is not hostile to the return of mission schools to their original owners but that some knotty issues must be resolved before that is done.
The Governor disclosed this yesterday during the presentation of the laurels won by Lumen Kristi International High School Uromi who represented the state in the National High School Quiz championship for emerging winner of the 2012 competition and also for being the school with the best WAEC result in the country.
According to him, “I am not necessarily hostile to the return of schools to Missions, there is room for that, but there are a couple of issues that need to be addressed, one of which is the entry barrier which must not debar children of the poor on account of their background. If this and other issues are cleared, then we can look at it.”
The Governor congratulated the principal, parents, staff and students of the Lumen Kristi International High School for the achievement which he noted is a move to return Edo State to excellence and a reminder that other students can do better.
He said the competition has been able to inculcate in the children that they have to work hard to achieve success on the basis of merit and he urged them to see the laurels as an incentive to work harder.
“What the National Quiz competition organisers are doing and the students have demonstrated is that Nigeria must be merit-driven. You have won based on merit and not on sentiments. When everything is merit-driven, then Nigeria is on its path to returning to greatness.”
He noted that the state government is determined to find answers to the problems facing the state’s education system and return public schools to their place of pride.
He advised the students who represented the state in the Quiz competition to sustain the hard work saying the state government will support the education of the three students with N250 000 each.
Before making the presentation of the trophy to the Governor, Dr. Chidi Ewerem, the quiz master said the championship endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Education is in collaboration with WAEC and NECO adding that schools are selected based on their performance in the National Examinations.
“The Lumen Kristi International High School was chosen to represent the state alongside 26 other states of the federation and three of the students emerged victorious,”he noted.
He said apart from the trophy the school won N250,000 and will be sponsored for a scholarship in the United States of America.
The Principal of the school, Rev Fr. Etamah said in the past 26 years Lumen Christi has maintained a track record of excellence and has received different awards in the past years among which is coming tops among other schools with the best WAEC result in Nigeria in 2007, 2009 and 2011.
Representatives of the state in the 2012 National Quiz competition are Chikezie Joachin, Mieyefa Ekior and Adudu Blessed.
