•… as Sept Entry Class of ’73 celebrates Golden Jubilee Home-coming

•Alex Otti backs school transformation

By Steve Oko

A trip to Government College Umuahia will reveal how patriotism, responsibility and quest to give back to society, exhibited by the Old Boys of the once prestigious College,  have returned it to its glory days. 

Government College Umuahia was among the few renowned Colleges in Nigeria before and after the Nigeria Civil War. The College was established by Rev. Robert Fisher in 1929. After the Nigeria Civil War, Fisher according to history, sold his only house in London, donated the money for the rebuilding of the College destroyed by the war. He moved to Old People’s Home where he lived till he died.

Heroes and titans of our time, both past and present, all passed through the  College whose products proudly refer to themselves as the Great Umuahians.

The likes of renowned authors and prolific writers – Chinua Achebe of Things Fall Apart;  Chukwuemeka Ike of the Bottled Leopard; and Elechi Amadi;  great leaders and statesmen like Ken Sarowiwa of Ogoni land; former Governor of Enugu State, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo; his Imo counterpart, Chief Achike Udenwa; ex-Gov. Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State; his erstwhile Deputy, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe; Senator Austin Akobundu, former Director General of Sovereign Wealth Fund, Uche Orji; among a host of other accomplished personalities in their various chosen careers, all passed through this prestigious College.

Ace sports journalist and Editor Saturday Vanguard, Mr Anibeze, is among the array of accomplished products of the College.

But typical of most Government entities in Nigeria, by 2013,  the once -renowned College had become a complete shadow of its former self. It was almost nearly non-existent as virtually every structure in the school became dilapidated. Students population tinned down, and weeds literally took over the premises.

Then came in the Old Boys on rescue mission. They approached the Abia State Government and lobbied that the College be handed over to them to resuscitate and effectively run.

Determined to deliver, the Old Boys quickly set up Fisher Educational Development Trust (FEDT), a purpose vehicle for efficient running of the school. It was named after the founder and pioneer Principal of GCU, Rev. Robert Fisher.

Today, the school that was at the verge of total extinction about nine years ago, has not only bounced back but, arguably ranks among the top best schools in South East, especially in terms of infrastructure and aesthetics.

On Saturday December 16, the September Entry Class of ’73 Old Boys together with the “Young Girls” (their wives) from the four winds of the earth gathered in Umuahia for their annual home coming. This year’s event also served as their Golden Jubilee. It was their home-coming, well managed by the High Chief Eze Ukelonu-led seven-man committee.

Highlight of the three -day event featuring Gala night, and Thanksgiving service, was election of a new Executive to pilot the affairs of the Old Boys in the next two years.

The election produced Dr Chinedu Ahiwe, the current Deputy Dean, Faculty of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, University of Abuja, as the National President of the Old Boys. He took over from Chief Uche Ihediwa, the immediate-past Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Abia State. Former Head of Service, Abia State, Sir Onyi Wamah emerged as the 1st National Vice President; while Barrister Nkem Egbuta was elected the  Secretary. Other members of the Executive were HRH Justice Uwaga ( 2nd Vice President); Wisdom Ikota, Treasurer; and Mr. O. Onwumere, Financial Secretary.

Because of his heroic role in the restoration of the College to its former glory, a post humous Rev Robert Fisher award of the Pillar of GCU, was bestowed on the late Lucius Nwosu, SAN, who according to the immediate-past President, Ihediwa, contributed about 75% of the transformation in the College.

Later in an interview with Saturday Vanguard, the new National President promised to sustain the on-going transformation in the College. Dr Ahiwe who was among the pioneer members that conceived the idea of GCU Old Boys way back in the USA, promised to solidify unity among members and pursue academic excellence.

Dr Ahiwe who was the Class Captain of Class ’67, vowed to surpass the legacies of his predecessors in repositioning the College. He commended the members for their uncommon sacrifices in rebuilding the College.

“ I  honour Lucious Nwosu who substantially did the transformation here. I thank our diaspora community. I commend our Old Boys here in Nigeria for their tremendous contributions in what you see here today. 

“ Our slogan is “ May we shine as one”, and we have been shinning as one. I will bring everyone together and restore the Umuahian spirit in us which made us whom we are. So, I will pursue our unity as one family. 

“ I will also pursue academic excellence. We used to have Military Cadet School here. People like Gen. Maduebo, Onwuatuegwu, all passed through here. There was a special arrangement in place here in those days that made it easy for them to go into the military upon graduation from here. We will restore such arrangement.

“ After the war, we had what we called Lower 5. Our students used to take School Certificate Exam in Class 4, and all of them come out with Distinction except two or three that had Grade 2. I will restore that glory era. 

“ I will also look into the issue of  encroachment into the school land. I appreciate Gov. Alex Otti for promising to return all our land to us. So, we should expect more massive infrastructural transformation, and massive students’ population, as well as recruitment of more competent hands”.

Speaking on the secret behind the bonding and ‘can do spirit’ among the Old Boys, Dr Ahiwe gave the credit to the training they received. “We are trained to be our brother’s keeper. Our watch word was obey before complain. Discipline was highly valued and it took us to where we are today. If Nigeria has that culture of discipline that we had, our country will be great!

Corroborating his submissions, the 1s National Vice President, Sir Wamah, Captain of Class ’78, said team spirit, unity, discipline and self esteem were inculcated in them from Year one in the College.

“We have a culture that makes us whom we are. We believe in ourselves. We will continue to bring all our Old Boys together and give back to society so that the future generation can have access to quality education.

“ We appreciate Abia Government for handing over the College to Old Boys. The present Government has also assured us that all our land trespassed upon will be returned, and we are very optimistic. We all came together to move this College forward; that’s the power of unity!”

In an interview, one of the Old Boys, Chief Enyinnaya Alamba, Class Captain, September Entry Class of ’73, described the home coming as exciting and a huge success. Like others, he attributed the transformation in the College to unity and love for one’s land among the Old Boys.

“ The secret is the love for the institution that made us whom we are. This College has raised eminent personalities and accomplished individuals ready to give back to society in appreciation.”

On the efforts to re-invent the College, the Executive Secretary of Fishers Education Development Trust, currently in charge of the school, Mr Chuma Onwudiwe, also an Old Boy, said enough ground had so far been covered. He said that the vision was to make GCU the best post primary school in South East and Nigeria in few years to come.

“ The Old Boys gave us the school formerly in 2014/2015, but we had old students still in the school. Then we needed to allow them to graduate so we could rebuild the College. So, last year, we started big like this after the last set of the old students transited.

“ We started from Year One, and we currently have Year Two. Our target is to have an ideal College that will be a model not just in the South East but also in the entire country. “

However, just like the popular saying that, he who wants to make an omelet must break eggs, it is only natural that the quality and quantum of transformation going on at GCU would attract extra pay in terms of school fees.

Nonetheless, the Old Boys came handy in their quest to make quality and affordable education available to the people. They volunteered to subsidize the pay to make it accessible to as many as are desirable.

“ Our fees are fair and affordable if compared to what is being paid by good private schools. We are supposed to be collecting N2 million per session but the Old Boys slashed it to only N1 million, payable in three installments. The College is 100% boarding, and the fees cover boarding and feeding. We also have scholarship programmes for our students.”

Corroborating this, the Principal, Mr Austine Osusdegbe, said : “What was proposed before as school fee was N2 million but the Old Boys subsidized it and brought it down to N1 million”. This is about N330, 000 per term. There is no standard boarding school like this that collects below N550,000 in the country.”

On the student population, the Principal said “the school school is beginning to make name for itself”. Currently we have only Jss 1 and 2. We just had our new entrance exam against September 2024. We expect many new students.”

Although the Old Boys have done a massive job already in the College especially infrastructural development, there are still areas of need. Hence, Government support is still needed to complement what is already on ground. 

Asked what he considered the two most important needs of the College when he would require Government assistance,  the Principal said that if given opportunity to make a request from the Governor, he would make the following demands: “I will ask him to install solar lights for us to stop our heavy spending on diesel; I will beg him to give us coaster bus for excursion.”

He commended the Old Boys for their commitment and sacrifices towards re- positioning the College. On what to expect, he said “our vision is to build a Government College that will be the best  in the entire West African sub-region, and with the type of Old Boys we have, we will soon achieve this! From our laboratories to library, we are using modern equipment. The massive infrastructural development here can go for a university campus. 

Vanguard News