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St. John Vianney Science College Wins Another National Award
11 hours ago
By Ejike Anyaduba
St John Vianney Science College, Ukwulu, Anambra State, has won another national award. This makes it three in just three years of the College’s existence, averaging an award a year. It does seem, from available records, that no school its age has achieved this feat. If any has done so, which is not public knowledge, it must be in the distant past because as far as quality education and moral formation are concerned, the College has proved relatively formidable. It has won almost all the competitions it entered for, local and international.
Sometime in September 2022, when the director of the school Reverend Father Emmanuel Obimma (Ebube Muonso) of the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry, Uke, Anambra State, opened the co-educational Catholic international school, parents who know the priest’s disposition to sound scholarship nurtured in morality did not hesitate to enroll their children. It was believed, and nothing has changed since to suggest it is no longer the case, that if any school was going to compete and possibly surpass the very best in academics and moral formation anywhere in Nigeria it was going to be St John Vianney Science College. And it came to pass because not long after, the school began to emit sparks of brilliance that has continued to confound competitors from across the 36 states of the federation and beyond.
In April 2024, barely two years into being, the College tore through the veneer of limitation to dominate schools around it.
The news of its outstanding performance within Anambra, the Southeast zone and the whole of Nigeria may have yet to dominate the public space, but it is there nonetheless. Every competition entered for, and every win recorded, showed that St John Vianney Science College is determined to work its way up the ladder of excellence in the Nigerian school system. It has since stepped up its game to take in international competitors with equal flair.
So far, the College has entered for three competitions and won all. The competitions were National ICT Competition, organized by the Federal Ministry of Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy, the other was First United Kingdom–Nigeria Debate, put together by Bring It On Africa and Debate Mate UK and finally National Head Girls Competition, arranged by Women in Leadership Advanced Network (WILAN). The performance of the College in taking the first position in all three competitions has set it apart as a school with a great promise.
The competitions were designed to nurture, equip, and sharpen the critical thinking as well as the reasoning skill of the students in preparation for leadership role in the future. The ICT which was the first of the three competitions to be conducted in April 2024, was for all girls in secondary schools across Nigeria. It put the technology innovation skill of the girls to test and in the end St John Vianney Science College came tops. Called M-Tag VR, the project allows users to “explore icons, landmarks like Zuma Rocks and learn about the fascinating cultural aspects of Nigerian tribes.”
The second was a cross border virtual competition that pitted the College against six secondary schools from Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Held June 2025, and tagged Nigeria-UK Schools Debate Competitions to test the logical acuity and public speaking finesses of the contending schools. After a keenly contested debate by the competitors from both sides of the Atlantic, St. Vianney Science College trumped the rest. With the win, the College earned the inaugural UK-Nigeria Debate Champion and will be representing Nigeria at the extended debate rounds scheduled to take place in December 2025, in London.
The last of the contests won by the College was the competition by Women in Leadership Advanced Network (WILAN). It was a National Girls Competition which saw well over 200 head girls across secondary schools in Nigeria locked in bold contest. The aim was to provide visible platform where girls will showcase their leadership skill by developing innovative solutions to social issues. As was wont when the competition was brought to a close, St. John Vianney Science College in a manner of a takedown compelled others to submission.
The achievements of the College in its repeated wins over and above the best of Nigerian secondary schools and top-ranking UK schools speak to the diligence of both the students, the teachers and the management of the College. It is well to remember that the success of the College as clearly evident derives more from its peculiar moral as well as educational foundation.
St John Vianney Science College may share a lot of things in common with other secondary schools of its time, but it is significantly different in formation and nurture. In addition to scholarship, it pays special attention to the moral formation of the students. The effort of its director Reverend Father Emmanuel Obimma (Ebube Muonso) in this regard – his commitment to the spiritual upbringing of the students has impacted much in the overall performance of the College.
This does not in any way detract from the effort of the hard-working staff and the dutiful compliance of the students. Speaking on part of what helps the young College in its winning streak, Fr. Obimma said after the National Head Girls Competition: “The victory is a validation of the quality of education and moral foundation that St. John Vianney Science College stands for.”
This is a fairly good assessment given the quality of education and discipline, evident in the school. But more than that, the reward for excellence in the College hardly compares to any. For example, just last year the Chemistry teacher who handled the students for the year's WAEC was rewarded with a Million Naira for excellent performance? In fact, there is a yearly performance evaluation for teachers which is rewarded with unstinting gratitude from the management.
St. John Vianney Science College has done well for itself, Anambra state and Nigeria. Representing Nigeria in the UK-Nigeria Debate in London barely two months from now is another way of projecting the image of the state and Nigeria on the global stage. Already the travel expenses of the champions have been underwritten by the director as a way of motivating the champions and encouraging others to work harder. It tells a lot about the collaborative effort in building the education sector in Anambra state.
Ejike Anyaduba
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