By Chukwuemerie Anyene
British Spring College (BSC), under the Directorship of Lady Uju Dike, has been portrayed as the Silicon Valley of our 21st century.
This portrayal was made known by the Immediate Past President of Academy Management of Nigeria, Ven. Prof Anayo D. Nkemnebe, during the 2021 graduation/valedictory session of BSC at Awka.
In his opening address as the Chairman of the valedictory session, Ven. Prof Nkemnebe who was a Director of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Business School praised BSC students, describing BSC as one of the most competitive school across the globe and as engines of innovations.
“Now, whenever I come to school, what comes to my mind is the Silicon Valley in San Francisco. The Silicon Valley is a place of innovation that gave birth to international brands that changed humanity. From there you have Apple, Google, Yahoo and the rest.
“And when you look at what is happening at British Spring College, it is obvious that they are the Silicon Valley of our time. Not necessarily because the school is situated in the valley but because they have succeeded in developing the young minds that are infused with the power of innovations. Minds that can go places.”
Prof Nkemnebe went down the memory lane of how the school was constructed last ten years in the valley, with the vision of raising “generation of students with the right tools, skills, moral and mental abilities to excel in life and contribute positively to the development of mankind.”
“Ten years ago when they were still constructing British Spring College. I asked the person that I met. This school in the valley, what is it all about and the person I may not still recognise again, took me round and took his time to explain in loafty terms the objectives and ideals of the school. And ten years after, they have lived up to expectation,” he narrated.
Praying God to continue increasing the school dexterity in developing minds that would meet the ever changing dynamism of this time, he wanted British Spring College to be established in other locations of the country. He reiterated how their quality education had a correlation to development.
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Ecclesiastical Province of the Niger, Most Rev’d Dr Alexander Chibuzo Ibezim, Represented by Vicar of the Church of Pentecost, Ven. Nkemdirichukwu Wilfred Nwafor, observed the graduating students had a wonderful future and a robust destiny. Drawing his sermon from Gen. 1:26 and 28, Psalm 8:4, Prov 22:29 and Psalm 10:5, he declared the out-going students would stand before kings if they were diligent, focused and persistent in completing tasks.
Speaking on the theme of the event, “Emerging Achievers,” the Anglican Priest called on the outgoing students to have goals, maximise time and put extra effort in realising their glorious divine potentials. The students were also charged to have clear vision so as not to loose direction, passion and enthusiasm. Ven Nwafor further spoke on integrity and and admonished the students to be mindful of the friends they keep.
His homily reads in part:
“Who is your friend? Do you not know that evil communications corrupt good manners. If you don’t have Jesus, what you achieve will be limited. Let your life in secret be the same outside.
“I want to bring it to our mind: Either by death or by rapture, you will stand before the judgement seat of God. This same Jesus you deny today, will come again to be your judge. And the standard of his judgement is according to his word.
“Our parents, our dear students that we have come to celebrate, have you reconciled with Jesus? The day is far spent. Very soon the trumpet will sound. And we will all go back to meet our Maker. Will you meet Jesus smiling or will you meet Him crying.
“On that day we will meet Jesus, our title, our bank account, our connection, will not be counted. What will count is how you lived your life,” the Spiritual Father preached.
In his address, Principal of the world class school, Mr Joseph Ozioko, recounted British Spring College unrivalled academic success, serene atmosphere, conducive learning environment, and the institution 21st century digital method of teaching and learning.
Mr Ozioko gave statistics of the school ground-breaking records, ranging from Presidential Award for the Young Scientist of Nigeria, Cowbell, Olympiad and other international trophies. There was a thunderous hand of applause, when he stated how the world class school, had 100% excellent pass in the recent WAEC and NECO. He further described their performance in IGCSE, WAEC, NECO and SAT as legendary.The Principal saw the students as innovators, scientists, technocrats, administrators, artists, writers, surgeons, etc., set to use education as the most powerful tool to change the world.
“As you prepare to face the world, remember my advice. Out there, there is no Principal… there is no Head of Pastoral… there are no Academic Supervisors. As I always tell you, there are usually two parts to work through – the wider path which many people will want to toe and the narrow but difficult path, which very few but students with wisdom will always like to take.
“Always follow the very tough and difficult path because that is the path that leads to greatness… that is the path that leads to success. The theme is emerging achievers and my prayer is that at the end, you will definitely emerge achievers,” the school administrator, wished.
Managing Director of Anambra Broadcasting Service, High Chief Dr Uche Nworah, urged the students to brace up for the competition they were about to face in the society. According to him, British Spring College students have every reason to succeed in this era of computer, Facebook, Instagram, smart phone, where knowledge was at their finger tips to do assignments. He charged the out-going students to take advantage of what the world had to offer.
“Once you leave here, I want to let you know that the journey has just started. When you look at the history of man, you know how we all started. From the first industrial revolution, we moved to the second and have found ourselves in the third. The fourth one is being propelled by ICT. You can live at Awka and go for conferences in America,” the Special Guest of Honour, Dr Nworah explained.
The out-going Head Boy, Master Chukwuemerie Success, recalled how far they had gone in BSC, with teachers always there to correct them. He also acknowledge the roles house parents played in their upbringing.
“In this journey, we have never been perfect, but teachers worked tirelessly and were always there to correct us. We apologise for whatever had happened because the school has our interest at heart. And whatever transpired is now history,” he stated.
Prefect of the School, Master Godwin Timothy noted that 2021 class of students achieved so much and had set high academic standard. He promised the school that the present Year 12 students would do more. Lauding the Valedictorian, Udeze Chisom, he said the out-going students, from that day had officially become alumni of the school. He believed they “would represent the school well wherever they see themselves.”
Highlights of the event were the procession, chorals, media parade, presentation of awards, cutting of cakes. The three best graduating students came in this order: the out-going Head boy, Success Chukwuemerie; Ajawara Kimberly, already studying in Pacific University, United States, with accelated doctorate. The overall best graduating student was Udeze Chisom.
There was respect, his set were already standing, the moment Chisom was declared the overall 2021 best student and the Valedictorian. There was a hug from the father to his son, for bringing glory to his parents. Music was playing.
Chisom, a student with 5A* in IGCSE, 7A’s in WAEC, was greeted with standing ovation by everyone that attended the event, across the world. The popular Broadcast Journalist, who anchored the program, Sidney Aneke, read his profile, before the best student gave his valedictory speech. Chisom was described as a student loaded with enormous possibilities. Always armed with pen and paper, he writes down thoughts, inspirations and conceived ideas fuelling his mind. He writes creatively and stays creatively alive. His performance throughout his six years in BSC was legendary. Despite the climatic change, he continued to move faster than the speed of a sound. He was a diamond student throughout his stay in the world class school.
He is also newsworthy for his unrivalled success, and continues to hold tenaciously to expectations of the school. He has won numerous trophies in competitions because of consistency and perseverance. He believes in his ability and in what he can do. His academic achievements are satisfactorily intimidating. Chisom has proven that we can write exams and excel. Despite the COVID-19 hysteria or problems associated with it, he has been able to write his success story.
The school lawyer, Barr Nsofor, finally swore in the eighty-five out-going students into British Spring College alumni.