Cleric Advises Obi To Ignore Critics

The Anglican Archbishop of the Niger Province and Bishop of the Awka Diocese, Dr. Alexander Ibezim, has advised presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, to ignore his critics.

He told the former Anambra State governor that his critics were people against humanity, growth of institutions and societal transformation.

He told the opposition leader that though as a church they had not spoken up against people who criticised him, they had been praying for God’s protection upon Obi and his dream for a new Nigeria would become a reality.

Ibezim spoke yesterday while expressing gratitude to Obi for donating N30 million to the Paul University, Awka, owned the Anglican Diocese of Awka as a support for the institution’s College of Nursing Sciences project.

The donation brought to a total sum of N50million Obi has donated to the three dioceses of the Anglican Communion in Anambra State within three days. He had on Thursday donated N10 million each to the College in Nursing Sciences of the Amichi Diocese, Nnewi -South LGA and Adon College of Nursing Technology, Nnewi, Nnewi -North LGA.

Obi last year donated N1.5 billion to different institutions across the country.

Most Rev. Ibezim who described him as an amazing “philanthropist”  and one whose support for education in Anambra State had no match reminded the former governor that, given his position and his principles, he would continue to face opposition from various quarters.

Describing Mr. Peter Obi as a lover of Nigeria and a champion of the masses, the archbishop said the history of the revival of education in Anambra State would be incomplete without recognising Obi’s contributions as governor and his continued support thereafter.

He further informed Obi that the Paul University had recently been granted license to offer Nursing programmes and expressed confidence that given Obi’s passion for nursing education, he would extend his support to the new programme.

Earlier, during the presentation of a cheque of N30 million to the Paul University management, Obi expressed satisfaction with the progress being made at the university and commended the archbishop for his outstanding work in transforming the institution.

The chief of staff to Peter Obi when he was governor and currently deputy vice-chancellor of Paul University, Prof. Chinyere Stella Okunna, expressed delight at being part of the event, especially given her special relationship with the institution.