The Government of Ebonyi State led by the former governor, Engr David Umahi through an act of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly established a special purpose secondary school called King David Gifted Academy, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State in 2021. The school was meant to be an institution that should groom superlatively intelligent citizens of the state confirmed to be intelligent enough to make the state proud at any given point in time and situation. Admission into the school was designed to be through a CBT examination which at the end would produce for each of the 13 LGAs of the state 15 candidates and five more to be nominated by the governor from anywhere he chooses to nominate them so as to correspond it with the required number of 200 students every session.
The school located inside the Government House, Abakaliki is tuition free. Successful students are to be taken care of free of any monetary charge. The students live inside the school and enjoy free meals budgeted N450 for each of them every day of the week. Their school uniforms are given them free. Extra suit dress for each of them is also given them. Currently, the school runs through JSS1– SS1.
Upon creation of the special academy by Gov. David Umahi, he negotiated with the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki at the time the outgone Bishop, Dr Michael Nnachi Okoro was quitting office. While the newly appointed Bishop of the Diocese, Dr Peter Chukwu from Ezza North LGA of the state was undergoing episcopal orientation in the faraway Rome, the former Bishop hastened actions and signed a memorandum of understanding with the government instead of reserving it for the new Bishop. The school was officially handed over to the Diocese for expedient administration and management, while the state government is to be making fiscal provision for its running. At first, the sum of N70 million was said to have been released to the former Bishop, Dr Okoro to take off the administration of the school even as the current Bishop of the diocese had taken episcopal oath of office in Abakaliki.
Eyebrows got raised when the government consistently dolled out millions of naira to the former Bishop for the running of the school bypassing the new Bishop as the chief servant of the diocese. All efforts to correct the government to do the needful fell on deaf ears as the government continued striking deals with the former Bishop and the senior special adviser to the governor on religious and social welfare, Fr Dr Abraham Nwali, as if to mean that the running of the school had become the exclusive reserve of the former Bishop even as an MoU was signed by the government with the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki.
Upon takeoff of academic activities in the school, government pegged the renumeration structure of the academic staff to the least sum of N100k per staff every month. This later didn’t reflect what the staff received as monthly salaries up till today. Accusation has been levelled against the former Bishop and SSA to the governor, Dr Nwali by the academic staff of the school as being the shadows behind the mindless reduction of their original monthly salary structure since the government releases unpronounced sums of money to them for the running of the school. The staff regret that currently, a degree holder teacher in the school is paid N36,000, Master degree, N56k and PhD, N120k which only the principal of the college has. According to them, this was not the original fiscal arrangement of the government with regard to the running of the school.
Staff of the King David Gifted Academy are also worried that the management of the school was undertaken by non- Ebonyians as the five administrative heads come from outside the state. The principal Iyierioba.com learnt is Rev. Sr Veronica Onyeukwu who’s from Abia State. Rev. Sr Christiana Okeke from Anambra State. Rev. Sr Chimezie Henrietta from Anambra State. Mrs Aniemeka Uchenna from Anambra State and Njoku Onyedikachi from Imo State. This administrative structure is discomforting the rest of the staff members who are accusing them of being brains behind the disproportionate fiscal remuneration of the staff, while themselves are harvesting big for themselves at the end of every month.
Our investigation revealed that the 59 staff members of the school are requesting the new governor, Hon. Francis Nwifuru to take back the running of the school from the former Bishop and hand it over either to the Ministry of Education of the state or the current Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki for seamless management. The staff members are of the opinion that the new government on seat audits the financial books of the school for purpose of accountability so as to protect the lifeline of the school from the termites masquerading as administrators which the former Bishop himself is part of. They queried the rationale behind the indirect ceding of the school to the former Bishop, Dr M. N Okoro in the name of the Abakaliki Catholic community when the church has a Bishop whose tenure is still on course. They suggest that for the soul of the school to be kept safe, there should be review on how it’s run.
On the side of the current Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki, Dr Peter Chukwu, it seems that he has left everything to fate as he’s not seen bothered about the personalisation of the school by his 82 years old 
predecessor who’s said to be against his episcopal nomination by the pope in the Rome. While the protests rock, the current Bishop is nowhere to be seen mediating or worried.