Archbishop of Owerri calls Imo state school directives 'totalitarian'

Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, head of the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri in southeastern Nigeria, has rejected education directives issued by the Imo state commissioner for education, Professor B.T.O. Ikegwuoha, which he called "totalitarian". In a press statement released on September 4, 2026, Ugorji said the directives, which apply to mission and private schools in the region, undermine cooperation, academic freedom and open dialogue among key stakeholders in education.

Ugorji said "we are compelled to speak out against the increasingly despotic and excessive directives" that the commissioner has published on social media. A healthy education system depends on cooperation, open dialogue, academic freedom and mutual respect among administrators, teachers, parents and students, he said. The current leadership of the Imo state Ministry of Education, he said, has chosen "dictatorship and a heavy hand."

The disputed policies

Among the measures the archbishop objected to is an order requiring Christian schools in Imo to observe Islamic holidays, along with government decisions setting the start and end dates of the school year. Ugorji also accused the commissioner of threatening punitive measures against educators who raise professional concerns, and of trying to exercise sole control over the selection and pricing of textbooks on the government-approved list. "These actions do not serve the best interests of our children," he said, warning that they can create "an atmosphere of fear, coercion, as well as of subjection and intellectual stagnation."

Education should encourage critical thinking and a range of ideas rather than impose what he called "rigid ideological conformity," the archbishop said. "The administration of our schools cannot be run as an autocracy where absolute obedience is demanded under threats, and without openness to the informed opinions of stakeholders," he said.

Appeal to the authorities

Ugorji called on the Imo state commissioner for education to suspend the unilateral directives immediately and to open "transparent and meaningful" dialogue with education stakeholders. He also asked the governor of Imo state, Senator Hope Uzodinma, to step in and "call the overzealous Commissioner to order." Such an intervention, Ugorji said, could stop the commissioner's actions from misrepresenting the state government and creating "the mistaken impression that the State and the Church are in conflict."

He also urged the state's elected representatives to investigate what he described as abuses of power and to restore accountability in the Ministry of Education.

Solidarity with educators and families

Ugorji expressed his solidarity with the educators and families affected by the directives, and said the Catholic Church would stand with them in resisting what he called "undemocratic excesses." He repeated the need for an education system based on cooperation, professional responsibility and respect for the rights and contributions of everyone involved.