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By Sunday Ani
On Saturday, July 25, Phidel College, Isheri-Idimu in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, again rolled out the drums at its 12th graduation ceremony for the 2025/26 academic session.
As has become the tradition, the event offered yet another opportunity to celebrate and honour 50 outstanding ‘Class of 2026,’ who have distinguished themselves in character and learning.
Students of Phidel College have consistently smashed the academic ceiling in various internal, external and international examinations like the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), Intermediate General Certificate for Senior Education (IGCSE) exams and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exams, among others.
This time, they did not disappoint as according to the school’s principal, Olowolaiyemo Olalekan, they competed and won laurels for the school in several external competitions.
They proved their mettle coming tops in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), with the highest among them scoring over 300 marks. They were equally outstanding in this year’s IGCSE exams.
The event started at noon with the graduating students donning their best attires and beaming with smiles as the school’s management, staff, students, family and friends gathered to celebrate them. The males neatly appeared in red suits, while the ladies also appeared elegantly and flamboyantly in similar red gowns made of lace and satin materials in different designs and styles.
It was their day and they did not leave anybody in doubt. They marched gorgeously and psychedelically into the hall alongside their teachers just to underscore the importance of the event.
Guests from far and wide graced the event to say goodbye to the students as they leave the college and move on to face the vagaries of life. There were enough experienced persons on ground to give them pieces of advice on how to navigate through the challenges that life will throw at them outside the college.
Mr Olowolaiyemo opened the floor with his welcome address, titled, “A legacy of Excellence: Honouring the past, inspiring the future,” a title he said was carefully chosen to capture the essence of the school and the values that have continued to define and guide its overall operations.
He commended the founder, Pastor Ayodele Philip Adelusi, the administrators, the teachers, parents and students, whose sacrifices and commitment, he said, had established the foundation upon which the school had continued to excel.
He said it has been a year of accomplishment for the school as it defeated over 50 other schools to clinch the first position in the coveted AISEN debate. “Our students also distinguished themselves in the Lagos Olympiad Competition where we came first and second in the junior and senior categories, respectively, consequently representing Lagos State at the junior national mathematics competition in Abuja. Over 100 schools competed and Phidel College emerged third position,” he said.
He equally reeled out other academic achievements, including the Interswitch (Spak) Science Quiz Competition, Sigma Quiz Secondary School Competition (1st in Lagos), African Olympiad Mathematics Festivals (4 Gold, 4 Bronze medals), Dagoogle Mathematics Competition (1st nationwide), Magis Secondary School Quiz Competition (2nd for junior, 4th for senior), Annual National Mathematics Competition (3rd nationwide) and ASIEN National Debates (1st), among others.
He attributed the success in the foregoing competitions to diligence, as well as the culture of academic excellence that the College promotes. “These are equally made possible by our staff. Their unflinching commitment and dedication to duty has been the cornerstone of our success,” he said.
He urged the graduating students to carry on with the values of integrity, diligence, respect and service that they had imbibed from the school as they went into the larger society. “Let these principles guide your decisions and inspire you to make a positive difference wherever life takes you to,” he added.
In his address, the chairman of the occasion, Taye Ige, commended the founder of Phidel College, Pastor Adelusi, whose doggedness, vision and ideas made the event possible.
He told the graduating students that the event marked the beginning of a new chapter in their lives, urging them to be prepared for the challenges that would come with it.
He told them that life is full of departures and that graduating from Phidel College is not a destination but another departure lounge. He urged them to be focused and hard working in their future endeavours, saying, “You are invited to the next level. Success is not an event but a lifetime of preparation. We only see success and celebrate the successful people but rarely see the hard work that leads to success often.
“Every stage of life’s journey is a preparation for the next stage. As you leave here today, it is not the finishing line but rather the starting point.”
He encouraged them to always have faith in God, saying, “You must always have faith in God; have faith in yourselves and in the values that your parents taught you. Also have faith that you will not fail in life. Your future is not determined by where you begin from; it is determined by how you face life’s challenges.”
He praised the parents for believing in their children and for choosing education for their children. “Today shows that you have invested wisely and you will reap bountifully,” he said.
To the teachers and the school’s management, he said: “Thank you for what you are doing in the lives of these children. May God continue to strengthen and bless you.”
In his keynote address, titled, “Education beyond the classroom: Building character, confidence and future…”the guest speaker, Professor Abidogun Babajide Gboyega of Lagos State University, Ojo, told the students that they had started another career journey in life, urging them to be careful about what they do at this age in their lives. He told them that education is not just about acquiring certificates; it is also about the possible impacts they make in the lives of others. “Don’t be distracted, especially in the university.
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It is a different world entirely where nobody cares whether you attended class, wrote assignments or not. You must always be cautious that you have a mission to be somebody in life,” he said.
He told them that the world is rapidly changing in this age of information technology and it is redefining education, business, health and others. He, therefore, urged them to keep learning because learning does not end in graduation. He also urged them not to merely seek employment but to create opportunities for others.
He advised them to imbibe seven principles of life, including continuous learning since education is a life’s journey, integrity, innovation, respect, resilience, compassion and service, as well as bold dreams.
He urged them to dream boldly but work diligently, reminding them that every professional, including doctors, engineers, lawyers, nurses and professors, among others, started with graduation from secondary school as they have done.
He charged them to be good ambassadors of the school, their families and Nigeria at large, saying, “Don’t create problems but opportunities to solve problems. May your dreams become a reality.”
On his part, Pastor Adelusi appreciated God for the vision, the enablement to execute the vision and the journey so far. He revealed that the journey has not been easy but expressed pleasure at the milestone being celebrated in the lives of the students.
He reminded the graduating students that the journey of life’s success had just begun with their graduation. “Today is the beginning of another journey in your lives. You are going into the critical aspect of your career journey, but I thank God that you already have a good foundation,” he said.
He told them they were transiting into another phase of life where they would be on their own, taking decisions and facing the consequences of such decisions.
“You are stepping into a stage where you will be on your own. Whatever action you are going to take from today will determine what you will turn out to be in life. Nobody will stop you from going out if you want to go out but you have to ask yourselves questions. You are gaining independence today. Don’t destroy what you have built over the years.
“Please, monitor yourselves. Be disciplined. Be a great ambassador of this school because nobody will monitor you henceforth. Don’t join bad company in the university.
“Always have a mindset of success. Be deliberate, focused and diligent. Improve your skills because when you combine skill with education, the sky will be your limit. Life has a pattern and you must follow the pattern to succeed in life. Any success without an effort is meaningless,” he said.
He shared his experience in China during his recent visit, detailing how the country is structured for success. He stressed that in China, education is modelled in such a way that students combine academic learning with skills acquisition and that makes graduates in China to create jobs instead of searching for jobs. He submitted that “until we become intentional about success, we go nowhere. Education is key but you must acquire a skill.”
He promised that very soon, the students will be going on an excursion to China and some of the things he saw students doing in China would be done in Phidel College. “Very soon, our students will be going on an excursion to China. I just didn’t want to bring in certain equipment without the available manpower to operate them. Very soon, what students are doing in China will begin to happen here in Phidel College. I just want to ensure that certain things are put in place, like the technical know-how to operate some machines before we can take action,” he said.
He urged the government to understudy developed countries like China and model the country’s academic curriculum after them. “Our government should understudy some of these developed countries, so we can model our academic curriculum after them. A talent that was discovered early enough would go places. By next session, our classes will fully go digital,” he added.
He extolled the principal’s hard work, describing his dedication as incredible and unequalled. He also lauded the dedication of the staff, academic and non-academic, and urged them not to relent but to sustain the tempo.
To the parents, he said: “I commend the parents for their efforts and support. Your efforts will not be in vain. Your children will be greater than you.”
He also advised parents to do a follow-up on their children in the first six months of their stay in the university, to ensure that they are still on the right path.
Pastor Adelusi announced a N150,000 reward to each of the two students that brought honour and glory to the school at the national essay competition. He also announced that the N100,000 prize for the overall best students would be increased to N300,000 from the next academic
session.
However, it was also a harvest of awards as the graduating students proudly filed out to receive awards in various categories, ranging from academic to social conduct, religious life and sports, among others.
A representative from the Ace Imagery Media and Technology, one of the Phidel College’s partners, equally announced scholarship awards for the best three students in science, commercial and arts. The students, Eze Obiora Chibuikem Praise, Ogundipe Oyinkansola and Akinde Ademilade
Debora received N100,000, N150,000 and N300,000 scholarship awards, respectively, to undergo further training at the Ace Imagery.
At the end of the day, Akinde Ademilade Debora won Pastor Adelusi’s N100,000 prize for the overall best student in the graduating set
However, the highpoint of the event was when parents joined their graduating wards on the dance floor, displaying different dance steps to celebrate the event, thus thrilling the audience and setting the mood of the day.
