Gov. Mutfwang lauds Catholic Church’s contributions to education, healthcare
Gov. Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau has lauded the Catholic Church for its contributions to the development of education and provision of health care in the state.
Mutfwang commended the church at the 20th General Assembly of the Catholic Archdiocese of Jos on Monday, at the Bishop’s Court, in the state capital.
The theme of the assembly is ‘Reviving the missionary drive and economic sustainability’.
He said that the Catholic Church had been instrumental in facilitating access to education and meeting the health needs of Plateau people, especially the less privileged.
‘’If it were not for the Church, certainly a lot of us would be illiterate today. A lot of us would have died in infancy,’’ the governor said.
Mutfwang acknowledged the role of the church in positively impacting humanity, urging that it sustain the goodwill to enable Plateau people to have more meaningful lives.
He pledged to improve the welfare of workers in the state, noting that payment of salaries should not be regarded as achievements in any administration.
The governor said that bureaucratic processes were responsible for delay in the payment of outstanding salaries.
‘’We have in the bank salaries up to June, What has slowed us down is bureaucracy.
” I believe in the next two to three weeks, we should be able to clear all that is outstanding up to July at least.” he said.
He said that the salaries would be paid simultaneously with pensions in the state.
According to him, ₦30 billion was needed to pay outstanding gratuities of workers in the state.
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He assured Plateau people that his administration would not betray the confidence reposed on it.
The governor said that the federal government had released ₦2 billion as palliatives out of the ₦5billion approved for all states of the federation.
He promised to ensure that beneficiaries of the intervention are the less privileged in the community.
‘’We are working with individuals, religious and community leaders to ensure that the palliative will get to the real people that need it,’’ he said.
Mutfwang said that the roll out of the palliatives would include assisting students through distribution of bursaries to them.
He urged them to serve as supervisors in the distribution of the palliatives and report any infraction to government for appropriate action.
The governor said that the government was working toward resuscitating railway transportation on Bukuru to Jos route, to boost commercial activities and help Plateau people in view of the hardship following fuel subsidy removal.
Earlier in his remarks, the Archbishop of Jos Archdiocese, Most Rev. Ishaya Audu, urged the administration to conceive people-centred policies and prioritise the welfare of workers, who are the engine room of the government in the state.
He said that the archdiocese was celebrating 70 years of its establishment and the assembly was organised to deliberate on seeking better ways to coordinate its activities.
