The handing over ceremony which took place inside the prison shortly after his 65th birthday Mass with the Onitsha prisons inmates at St. Maximilian Kolbe Chaplaincy inside the Onitsha Prisons, was one of the high points of the birthday anniversary ceremonies.
Other high points at the ceremony were the handing over of trophies won inmate football teams at the end of their inter-cell football competitions in honour of the Archbishop’s birthday anniversary, as well as meritorious award given to the Archbishop for his leadership qualities, as the leader of Catholic Church in Anambra state.
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Handing over the keys to the State Comptroller of Prisons, Mr Emma Nwakeze, Archbishop explained that the centre would help in providing various skills for the inmates so that when they come out of the place, they would have acquired skills which would enable them become self-employed and even become employers of labour.
He said he was told that the number of inmates has risen to 1,070 this year and that as such, he cooked enough quantity of food and meat with other items like toiletries, among others for the inmates to feel the impact of his birthday celebration.
Earlier in his homily during the Mass, Okeke declared: “these prisoners are like brothers and sisters to me. They should be provided with benefiting skills to prepare them for a better life as well as to enable them to face future challenges of life.
“Moreso, it is obvious that there are some inmates, who may not have committed any crime but found themselves here”, he noted.
Archdiocesan Chancellor, Rev. Fr. Prudentius Aroh, in a brief remark, explained that the Archbishop built the centre with the support of friends, adding that contrary to the action of the Biblical King Herod who beheaded John The Baptist on his birthday, Archbishop Okeke is handing over a skill acquisition centre to inmates on his own birthday.
Aroh contended that Archbishop Okeke had contributed immensely to the development and welfare of the prisoners by providing facilities such as water boreholes, free Medicare and dormitories.
Chaplain of St. Maximilian Kolbe Chaplaincy, Onitsha Prisons, Rev. Fr. Nnamdi Okparugo, expressed his gratitude to the celebrant for the gesture, adding that it is only in Onitsha prisons that the Archbishop visits three times in a year.
According to him, “Archbishop Okeke has for years been extending his fatherly love and care to the prisoners that the inmates always looked forward to with great expectations”.
The State Comptroller of Prisons, Nwakeze in response, commended the celebrant for his magnanimity and explained that the size and design of the skill acquisition centre is equivalent to that of centre in Colorado, United States of America, USA, adding that apart from Colorado, he has never seen such a design somewhere else in Nigeria or any other part of the world.
He, therefore, appealed to the government to assist in equipping the centre for effective take-off of the skills training, as well as provide medical assistance to inmates.
Commissioning the centre, the state Deputy Governor, Dr Nkem Okeke who represented Governor Willie Obiano, commended the Archbishop for building the center and gave the assurance that government would assist in equipping the centre.
and then