Dominican college Abuja unveils plans to open its ultramodern educational facility

Photo L-R: Mr. Oladele Olagbaju, Chairman, Dominican College Fund Raising Committee, Rev. Fr. Stephen Ogbe, Director, Dominican Vocation Support & Project Coordinator, Mrs. Violet Nath-Okoduwa ,CEO Tangent Media Services Limited and Mr. Eddie Udenta, Committee Member during a press conference in Lagos

As part of eorts toward unveiling of the ultra-modern educaonal facility, the Dominican Order held a press conference tobring the press and the public up to speed on the readiness of Dominican CollegeAbuja to commence academic acvies and to seek for !nancial support.It is important to menon that, the Order of Preachers (OP) otherwise known, asDominican Order of the Catholic Church, are renowned globally for promongevangelism and noble social causes, parcularly in the educaon sector. Theirfootprints are evident all over the world, helping to build young men and womenwho are leaders in their various !elds of endeavours. The Dominican UniversityIbadan is the !rst university established by the Order on the African connent,with several others spread all over the world. The Order of Preachers (Dominicans), are acvely involved in bridging theeducaonal gap around the world with iniave such as this. The Dominicans ofthe Province of St. Joseph the Worker (Nigeria and Ghana), have connued in thattradion of providing quality educaon at all levels – primary, secondary andterary – by contribung posively to the society. The project is aimed at providing world-class educaon and to bridge the gap inthe access to quality educaon. With more donors and sponsors, more childrenfrom economically disadvantaged backgrounds can enjoy the same qualityeducaon as children from more stable backgrounds.

To allay the fears of parents, the school is invesng in robust security architectureby collaborang with the Police and other renowned security agencies to provideadequate security for both sta and students of the college.The facility upon compleon will provide a great succor for a number of out-of-school-children not only in the FCT, Abuja, but also across the length and breadthof the country. The capital-intensive project has progressed steadily with the kindgenerosity of good spirited individuals and corporate bodies. However, the sum ofN250 million is sll needed to get the school running fully. The Order is therefore saddled with the task of raising the sum of N250 million forthe compleon of the un!nished part of the project; one-year running cost; andthe indigent scholarship fund.

The breakdown is as follows; 40 million naira forthe compleon of the physical structures; 120 million naira operaonal/runningcost for one year; and 90 million naira proposed as seed capital for the indigentscholarship fund for the six-year period of studies.Consequently, this is an open call for corporate bodies and individuals to seize theopportunity to sponsor as many indigent students as possible to the college. Themanagement of the college has graciously reserved some slots for that purpose.Parents and guardians are also encouraged to seek admission for their wards.

The Director, Dominican Vocaon Support and Project Coordinator, Rev. FatherStephen Ogbe, OP, said, “Indeed this is a dream come through for us, from thecommencement of the project ll date, God has been so faithful to us, byproviding the willing partners who have availed us of the needed funds. It willinterest you to know, that a lot of work went into this project and more will sllgo into it.”He went further to say, though the project was conceived and supervised by theDominican Order, it is a project for all Nigerians irrespecve of their religion, tribe or social status, and as such he called on both corporate and private sector players to embrace and support financially, the good work the Lord has started.

The project seems to have been completed but the work proper is just beginning and as such, the Order wishes to passionately appeal to well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of their faith, corporate bodies, NGOs to identify with this noble cause, by supporting it financially through their donations.

In 2015 according to the Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) report, 13.2 million children were out of school. The figure has increased over time because of the dislocation of families due to the growing insecurity in the country and the devastating effect of Covid-19 pandemic that ravaged the world recently.

The inauguration of the college will hold in July 2021, while academic activities are to commence by September this year. By then, the new intakes would have been admitted and ready for studies.