•Lumen beats 20,200 others to win trophy 7th time
By Gabriel Dike
Lumen Christi International High School, Uromi, Edo State, has done it again. The missionary school established October 5, 1985, by Most Rev. Dr. Patrick Ebosele Ekpu, former Catholic Archbishop of Benin, recently emerged the best overall secondary school in Nigeria. It won the trophy for its students’ outstanding performance in the May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
•Godwin Uzoigwe presenting the trophy to vice principal, Rev. Itaigbe and WAEC HNO, Dr. Amos Dangut.
At the 61st annual meeting of the Nigeria National Committee (NNC) of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Lumen beat 20,221 other secondary schools to bag the trophy for the seventh time. The school was adjudged the winner of the Augustus Bandele Oyediran trophy for producing the best overall results in the May/June 2022 WASSCE for school candidates in Nigeria.
•Student of Lumen Christi displays the Augustus Bandele Oyediran trophy with Itaigbe (2nd right) and others PHOTOS By: Gabriel Dike
At the award ceremony in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Vice Principal of the school, Rev. Fr. Jude Otangbe, was presented with the trophy.
The 37-year-old school beat King’s College, Lagos; Queen’s College, Yaba, first winner of the trophy; Suleja Academy, Suleja; Loyola Jesuit College, Wuse, Abuja; Nigerian Turkish International College, Kaduna; Christ The King College, Gwagwalada, Abuja and a host of others. Lumen had won in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2016, back-to-back in 2021 and 2022.
In 1986 Dr. A.B.O Oyediran, then of the College of Medicine, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, donated the trophy to be awarded each year to the school with the best WASSCE overall results.
The council said the trophy would be presented to the school with the best aggregate results in the May/June WASSCE, provided that the grades for English Language, Mathematics and Science subjects are included in determining the aggregate.
Otaigbe told Daily Sun: “In the May/June 2022 WASSCE, we presented 88 students. The award is an added academic feat. It will boost our image and our marketing strategies. We will not rest, and we will maintain our standard. We will ensure that standard our is not compromised.
“The achievement as the best overall school in Nigeria for 2022 WASSCE is a collective efforts of teachers and management. Our 2022 performance is better than previous year. We are hoping to do well in the 2023 examination.”
Nasarawa State Commissioner for Education, Dr. John Mamman, commended the school for the award. WAEC acknowledged the consistent performance of Lumen students in the school examination.
In the May/June 2022 WASSCE, 1,607,985 students from 20,221 secondary schools wrote the school examination. Out of this figure, 800,005 are male (49.76 per cent) while 800,724 are female (50.24 per cent).