By Chris Onuoha

The annual Jesuit Festival celebrated by the St Francis Catholic Secondary School Idimu, Lagos can be better described as a unique one held in a grand style, on October 1, being Nigeria Independence day anniversary.

It was a jam-packed celebration of creative activities that comprised music, art drama, sports and theatre performances. The school, run by the Jesuit Order of the Catholic Church is built on a platform of academic and holistic education.

Not even the heavy downpour that started early in the day could deter guests, parents and well wishers from trooping to the school to be part of the occasion. The event kicked off with a church service and a compelling visual art exhibition at their ultra-modern art studio, featuring body of works done in various media as one of the major activities of the festival.

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With the works on display comprising paintings in oil on canvass and water colour, sculptures, ceramics, textile designs, cartoons and photography, the artists created impression of well thought art style and techniques that depict mastery of colours and elements of design.

Although no particular theme was chosen for the exhibition, but most works are uniquely rendered to reflect the Independence anniversary and the society at large.

The head of art department, Emmanuel Uwaya disclosed that the exhibition is the second after its maiden edition last year. “This is the second time we are having an exhibition after a successful one last year. The essence is to showcase the students’ skills and talents. At St. Francis School, we are not just for academics alone but we engage the students in other ways to excel,” says Uwaya.

“For the purpose of the exhibition, we engaged them in different medium and techniques so that they can express themselves. It is a collection of works done by students in Junior Secondary (JSS) 1 to Senior Secondary (SSS) 3, including art teachers and ex-students who are studying art in the Universities in Nigeria. The essence of the inclusion is to motivate the students to develop their talent,” Uwaya added.

He explained that the school has produced artists who are doing well in the visual art sector after graduating from the university. Uwaya maintained that the creative exercise is to motivate and for them to think of entrepreneurial ventures that are profitable after school. “We encourage them to take creative careers that will make them independent in life,” he said.

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The administrator of the school, Reverend Father Leo Muoneme while giving insight to festival said; “The occasion is the Jesuit annual festival which is a celebration of music art and culture. It is a programme we started last year meant to inspire hope on the children and incidentally it coincided with Nigeria’s Independence Day.”

Father Muoneme maintained that there’s need for Nigerians to be hopeful while celebrating the country’s Independence Day. “It is a time to inspire hope and creativity on the children and also to celebrate their imagination,” he said.

Explaining further, he said; “We mark this year’s event with series of activities comprising art exhibition after which was followed by Eegun dance performance. Other activities include musical performance by the School’s Symphony Orchestra, stage play by the St Francis Theatre Group performing Ola Rotimi’s inspire work, “Ovonramwen Nogbaisi” showing how the Bini kingdom was sacked by the British Empire. It is a very important performance for us this time, especially looking at the issue of RUGA controversy in the country.”

“The Jesuit schools in the country are very strong in promoting theater and drama including holistic education. We don’t just do only the intellectual academics; we train the mind, the body and the whole components of living. We do spiritual and intellectual formation and the creative imagination of the children. What we are doing now is celebrating the multiple talents in the children,” continued Muoneme.

According to him, the Jesuit school has been in education for over 450 years with about three Jesuit Schools in Nigeria which are all relatively new compared to the tradition of Jesuit school in the world. He disclosed that right from the time of St Ignatius in Europe, Jesuit has been involved in drama and that the three Jesuit schools in Nigeria are sited in Abuja Lagos and Port Harcourt.

“Here in Jesuit, we use the Nigeria education curriculum but we go beyond that to bring in other Jesuit inspired course like community service and leadership programmes. We train them spiritually, that’s why we call it Holistic training. We also pay attentions to individuals. Students that have passed out of Jesuit schools are well placed in the society and some are doing well in their various fields of endevour,” he said.

Rev Muoneme concludes by taking a swipe on some of the challenges facing Nigeria today saying; “Nigeria of today is quite different from the Nigeria of the 60s, 70s. Then we have Nigeria that was trying to rebuild after the civil war, which was also during the time of the oil boom. There was a lot of hope then.

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We use to call Nigeria the giant of Africa but it is not what it is now. There is a kind of failed leadership today. Despite what goes on in the mind of the youths, we want to rebuild that hope regardless of the failed leadership.”

Vanguard