Rivers State governor, Chibuike Amaechi has described the death of 60 students in the ill-fated Sosoliso Airlines plane crash in 2005 as a supreme price for education.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 plane took off from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on December 10, 2005 with 110 people on board, but burst into flames after it crash-landed at the Port Harcourt International Airport.
The 60 students were returning home for the Christmas/New Year holidays at the end of their academic session.
Mr Amaechi spoke on Tuesday at Aluu during the foundation laying ceremony of the Jesuit Memorial College in remembrance of the dead students.
“It is government’s responsibility to ensure the safety of lives and property of its citizens, hence the need to set up this memorial in remembrance of them.”
NAN reports that the Rivers Government and the Aluu community donated 21 hectares at the new Greater Port Harcourt City under construction for the proposed college.
Mr Amaechi said his administration was committed to improving educational standards through the construction of schools and provision of free education for pupils in the state.
He consoled the parents of the dead students and urged them to be steadfast in their service to humanity.
Earlier, Cyprian Onwuli, Vicar General of the Jesuit Missionaries, said that the college would provide excellent education based on Christian moral beliefs.
He said the memorial college would offer free education and humanitarian services to some persons from the host community.
The vicar called on the Federal Government to put adequate measures on ground to prevent future air disasters in the country.
Mr Onwuli urged the federal and other state governments to emulate Rivers by coming to the aid of the families of the victims, stressing that they would be best remembered through the establishment of the memorial school.
Elechi Amadi, a renowned writer and poet who hails from Aluu community, commended Jesuit Missionaries and Mr Amaechi for their commitment to the improvement of education in the state.
Loyola Jesuit Memorial College is a private Roman Catholic institution run by the Society of Jesus Religious Order with 467 years of operation and more than 2,000 colleges and universities scattered around the globe.
NAN
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