By Newslineglobal
Promoters and the Planning and Implementation Committee of Peaceland University, Enugu, had appointed a philanthropist, Engr. Prince Arthur Eze (Ozoigbo Ndu), as the pioneer Pro-Chancellor of Peaceland University, Enugu.
The appointment and ceremony took place at his Abuja residence.
Accepting the appointment, Engr. Prince Eze announced his support of the University, with a sum of Five hundred million naira,
The Promoters and the Planning and Implementation Committee expressed gratitude to the pioneer Pro Chancellor for his hospitality , for accepting to become the pioneer Pro-Chancellor of Peaceland University, Enugu, and his solid financial support for the nascent University.
Peaceland University, Enugu is coming after the establishment of Peaceland College of Education and Peaceland College of Health Sciences and Technology, all in Enugu.
Peaceland College of Education is the mother of Peaceland projects. It was founded and funded by a Swiss mother, lover of education, Frau Pia Meier Knuesel – Mama Pia – who donated all her life earnings, including the sale of her only private house in Switzerland; bequeathed all the proceeds to Fredypia Development and Education Foundation, Nigeria, which worked in collaboration with “Alfred und Pia Knuessel Stiftung”, Switzerland, for the construction and establishment of a College of Education, known today as Peaceland College of Education, Enugu.
In the course of her preparations leading to her visit to Nigeria in 2007, there were lots of discouraging and dissenting voices from Mama Pia’s people aimed at stopping her from travelling to Nigeria because of her age (87 years) especially because of security concerns in Nigeria and lack of immediate access to health care. Mama Pia was not to be stopped. She went on writing to Swiss authorities that she should be buried in Nigeria in the event of death.
Peaceland College of Education, Enugu came into legal existence in 2014 through the instrumentality of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Abuja, to offer wide range of programmes leading to the award of Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE).
The College, in her quest to make quality education available up to degree level to Nigerian youths, sought an affiliation with the Abia State University, Uturu. The affiliation was formally ratified by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to offer degree certificates in Education.
Similarly, through the proceeds from the College of Education (founded and funded by Mama Pia,) Peaceland birthed the Health Education by establishing Peaceland College of Health Sciences and Technology sector to offer, among others, Community Health Extension Workers; Pharmacy Technicians; Medical Lab Technicians; Environmental Health Workers; Public Health; Epidemiology and Disease Control; and Information and Health Management.
All these programmes were licensed in 2022 by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Kaduna. The Colleges of Education and Health Sciences and Technology fulfilled Mama Pia’s double desire for education and healthcare for others, being an educator and a healthcare worker.
In 2019, the Promoters together with the Planning and Implementation Committee of Peaceland University, Enugu, approached the National Universities Commission (NUC) for a possible establishment of a University. The choice of our would-be Pioneer Pro-Chancellor was a fruit of prayer and hard search.
or several years, we searched for a man or a woman whose spirit shares with Mama Pia’s spirit that cuts across human race, colour, etc., and whose giving, goes beyond the shores of a nation.
“Engr. Prince Arthur Eze – a Pillar and Promoter of academic emancipation through quality education, a Philanthropist, an Oil Magnate, became the best choice for the prestigious position. He is unarguably one of Nigeria’s foremost philanthropists who has provided, solidly supported and single-handedly undertaken ventures that touch human lives and put smiles on faces of both the high and the low. His magnanimity and generosity cut across ethnic and religious lines, classes, climes and creeds”, the Committee said
Peaceland University Enugu
Frau Pia Meier Knuesel – Mama Pia