By Elizabeth ADENUGA
The people of Omu-Aran in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara have commended the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church over its investment in the nation’s education sector.
The traditional ruler of the community, Oba Abdulraheem Adeoti, gave the commendation at the ground-breaking of the proposed Moses Orimolade University in Omu-Aran, Kwara.
The proposed university was being spearheaded and would be financed by the C&S Movement Church Worldwide.
Adeoti described the church’s intervention in education sectors as very timely, saying the current tertiary institutions in the country, especially universities, were inadequate.
He said that they could not match the exponential growth of the country’s population.
According to him, there is the urgent need for religious organisations and well-meaning individuals and groups to complement government’s efforts through massive investment in the education sector.
The monarch advised the C&S Church leaders to consider making the proposed institution a specialised university for ease of acquisition of its official licence from the National Universities Commission (NUC).
The monarch expressed the community’s appreciation to the church’s authorities for the honour and recognition of locating the institution in their town.
He said: “Though C&S church members are happy today, but the entire community members of Omu-Aran are happier that this is happening in our town.
“There is no doubt that the existing number of universities in the country cannot match the explosion in the population of Nigerians.
“I promise you all here that my chiefs and I will continue to monitor the progress of work for its speedy completion,” he said.
Pastor Thomas Fakile, the Chairman Planning Committee of the proposed university, said that the project was informed by the desire to address the inadequate institutions in the country.
“The issue is that in the next 15 years, the population of Nigeria is likely to double its present population according to the United Nations (UN) statistics.
“If the universities do not grow correspondingly with the population, it means we will have problems in the education sector,” he said.
Rev. Samuel Abidoye, the Spiritual Leader of the church, said that the church would channel its available resources toward an accelerated completion of the project.
He added that the church would spend about N300 million on the college’s building project that would last 18 months to complete.