‘MADUKA’ AS THE PRINCIPLE OF EDUCATION: THE ONITSHA MIRACLE STORY

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Fr George Adimike

When ‘maduka’ becomes the principle of education, potential turns into capital. Generally, Onitsha has a reputation for commerce and hardly is it associated with educational feats, exploits and victories.

Even though Onitsha was one of the few cities in Nigeria to pioneer education and possess reputable secondary educational institutes, commerce defines its identity. The concentration of some of the best pioneer schools in Onitsha, such as Christ the King College (CKC), Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS), Queen of the Holy Rosary College (QRC), All Hallows Seminary, and St Charles College, makes the veracity of its robust educational background compelling. Unfortunately, the ingrained reductionist narrative and the continued neglect of education by the civil authorities in the state have abbreviated Onitsha’s character to just a city of commerce.

The dark ages of Onitsha, if not of the entire Anambra State, were during the complete shutdown of schools for a year due to the inability of the Mbadinuju-led administration to pay the teachers. Mbadinuju’s government brought to full swing the destruction initiated during the Ukpabi Asika-led government seizure of schools from the missions. Just like the well-known fact that the monasteries and cathedral schools rescued European and Western civilisation during the dark ages and gave birth to university education through the impetus and drive of Pope Saint Gregory VII, the Church rescued education in the state. In the Middle Ages, these cathedral schools and scholastic guilds transformed into the pioneer universities, some of which are the University of Bologna, Italy (1088), University of Paris, France (ca. 1150), University of Oxford UK (ca.1167), University of Modena, Italy (1175), University of Cambridge, UK (1209), University of Salamanca, Spain (1218), University of Toulouse, France (1229), University of Siena, Italy (1240), and University of Vienna, Austria (1365). Similarly, the Church in Onitsha accentuated its focus on education to save the state.

At the appointed time, through the combined efforts of the archbishop of Onitsha, The Most Rev Val. Maduka Okeke, the Anambra bishops, and the then governor, Mr Peter Obi, the schools were returned to the Church with a public apology. Yes, with an apology! You read that right. Unprecedentedly, Mr Peter Obi did it. He established a system of restitution in consort with the Church. The dioceses, having a strategic partner in the Obi-led administration, engaged the state, and the Archdiocese of Onitsha swung into action with its educational principle, increasing the velocity, and the results are self-evident.
Evaluating the victories secured in serious academic competitions at the global and local levels, I discovered the secret. The miracle of Onitsha verifies and validates the principle of the leadership of the archdiocese in making the dignity of the human person and human capital development the cardinal drive of its educational policy. Furthermore, it underscores the belief of the archbishop that a well-formed youth is the greatest legacy the Church and the society of today will bequeath to the future.

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The educational philosophy of the drive is, therefore, ‘maduka’ (the pre-eminence of the human person and the regal quality of his inalienable dignity as a child of God redeemed by Christ). ‘Maduka’, that belief that man in Christ is the measure of development and meaning of enterprise, becomes the principle of education for societal development and national transformation. As the greatest resource in any society, man offers a sure ground for this idea. With this philosophy, the archbishop of Onitsha swung into action: he launched an educational policy and wrote a pastoral letter where he spelt out his vision and mission relative to education and the youth. Moreover, he re-organised the education commission and trained and appointed competent personnel.

The action that is louder than any narrative of his engagement with education is the policy of ensuring that almost all his middle-aged and young priests have professional training in Education (PDGE), and training over ten priests up to PhD level in Education in the Philippines, USA, Italy (Rome) and Canada. Some are still engaged in further studies in education at European and Nigerian universities. These priests with specialised training in education from reputable universities in Europe, Asia and North America run these secondary schools. While the education commission (led by Fr Pascal Onwugbenu, PhD) focuses on quality assurance, the priest-principals and managers of these schools implement the vision of the archbishop and archdiocesan education standard. The result is the harvest of victories of awards. Without fear of contradiction, given the exploits of St John Alor, it is a story of a village school which has become a world-class technical college. What of Christ the King College, Onitsha? CKC is indeed a citadel of academic excellence and a model educational brand. And stories of others are similar.

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In recent years, students of Regina Pacis Secondary School, Onitsha―prepared by Fr Jerome Ezenwelu and Fr Vincent Ezeaka―won the Technovation Competition in California, USA, trumping all other nations that participated. Likewise, St John Technical College, Alor, led by Fr Francis Unegbu, PhD, recently achieved the same feat in Tunisia and Port-Harcourt. Furthermore, it has been a harvest and bazaar of victories and awards for Christ the King College, Onitsha, All Hallows Seminary Onitsha, Queen of the Rosary College, Onitsha, Mater Amabilis Secondary School, Umuoji, St Joseph Seminary Science School Awka-Etiti, St Kizito Girls Secondary School, Umudioka, and many others.

The quick succession of these victories points to the ingenuity of Archbishop Val Okeke’s educational principle and policy, which is the maduka principle. The maduka principle engages the human person holistically, namely his three-dimensional structure. The ramification of proper education responds to man’s receptivity. It expresses itself in transforming the affective, intellective and psychomotor dimensions. As such, an adequate education takes cognisance of the elastic capacity of the human person and his openness to transformation. Specifically, the maduka principle spells that the human person is neither just a reservoir of knowledge nor a store for skill. Instead, he is fully engaged and implicated in the educational process. In actuality, he is better served in an ecosystem of abundance and vitality such that he thrives and flourishes in the immensity and profundity of knowledge. In other words, he is not a limited container but one who achieves personal development and transformation by sheer engagement through application.

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This understanding inspires Archbishop Maduka Okeke to celebrate the glory of God by transforming His children into Christified agents of light and artisans of peace and progress. This piece is being articulated since no amount of effort put into highlighting the true, the good, and the beautiful is unmeritorious. Yes, it is laudable and responsible to pen this piece for the glory of God, and so that it may serve as a good example and inspiration to others, and as an encouragement and reinforcement to the archbishop and all his lieutenants. However, writing this piece presents me with the reality that the transformation of society is only realisable when well-trained and well-formed persons drive the process. It needs ‘ezigbo madu’ (apologies to Fr Unegbu), a well-trained person, to take the lead. ‘Ezigbo madu’ (thoroughly formed person) typifies Christ as the true man, and in him, man is the measure. ‘Ezigbo madu’ (true man) is ‘maduka’ (man Jesus as the measure).

The narrative of this piece bespeaks the Onitsha educational miracle as running on the principle of ‘maduka’. ‘Maduka’ is the principle, and ‘Maduka’ implements the principle; hence, there is a miracle. ‘Maduka’ is transformative. Maduka transforms the dark ages of the Onitsha area (Onitsha Archdiocese) with a domino effect on the entire state because Maduka employs the principle of maduka, aiming to produce maduka in Anambra’s youth. Therefore, I heartily say a big congratulations to Archbishop Val. Maduka Okeke for the educational miracle of Onitsha. When the Maduka archbishop implements the maduka principle, education in Onitsha leapfrogs to excellence.

Fr George Adimike
[email protected]

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