22nd June, 2010
The Abia Government has spent more than N400 million on the sponsorship of 1,235 pilgrims to Jerusalem in the last three years.
The Secretary to the State Government, Mr Donatus Okorie, said this on Monday in Umuahia at a thanksgiving service for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 contingents to Jerusalem.
Okorie, who disclosed that government was spending about N400,000 on a pilgrim, said the sponsorship would continue even in the face of dwindling resources.
He reiterated government’s determination to increase the number of pilgrims in order to improve the spiritual lives of people.
Earlier, the Chairman of Association of Jerusalem Pilgrims in the state, Rev. Ndeke Dimanochie, had urged the Christian Pilgrims Board to consider the plight of those who had been applying without success in the last 10 years.
He regretted that the number of pilgrims being sponsored by the state government had been dropping on yearly basis.
Also speaking, Gov. Theodore Orji said sponsorship of pilgrims would now be a joint effort of local and state governments in order to increase the number of contingent.
He, however, said this year’s exercise may witness a reduction in the number of pilgrims due to the lean finances of the state.