By Justina Auta
Catholic Women Organisation of Nigeria (CWON) has appealed to the Federal Government to prioritise boys’ education to enable them contribute their own quota to national development.
National President of CWON, Mrs Mary Gonsum, stated this during the association’s national general assembly and groundbreaking ceremony for construction of a multipurpose hall for Cor Mariae Boys College in Abuja.
The theme of the event was: “The Woman (Catholic) Heart of the Family.’’
Gonsum said that the construction of the hall was significant, as was an indication of the association’s contributions to education, especially of boys, who were majorly seen as being involved in vices in the society.
She said, “As women, we had, in the past, kept training only the girls and you know that there is an increase in insurgency, banditry and other vices, majorly perpetrated by boys and young men.
“We felt we should also catch them young by training the boys, because we want responsible men to marry the good girls we are training in future.
‘’We are setting the pace and calling on the government, other women groups, churches, NGOs and other stakeholders not to neglect the boys, but continue to train them to become responsible adults,” she stated.
She also appealed to the federal government to ensure amicable settlement of the rift between it and lecturers in public universities in order to reduce the exodus of students to other countries to acquire education.
Earlier, the National Chaplain of CWON, Rev. Fr. Benedict Okike, commended the organisation for the project, saying that it would accommodate more boys in the school.
“There cannot be a successful man or society without women. The Catholic Church sometimes challenges women to see if they can break grounds in the society.
“That’s why we say the Catholic woman is the heart of the family. If you neglect the woman, the family and society are dead,” he said.
Pioneer Founder of CWON, Dr Felicia Onyeabor, said that the project would raise morally upright boys, with quality education that could compete with top ranking schools around the world.
Also, Mrs Ebele Okoye, President, CWO, Abuja Archdiocese, said that the Catholic women had also sponsored indigent boys from each of the nine provinces across the country to enable them enjoy quality education.
