t was a great event at the Evangel Academy, Mubi, in northeastern Nigeria, as students, pupils, teachers, parents, well wishers, and numerous visitors gathered to mark the 14th graduation ceremony of students at the institution.
The event took place on Sunday, 5th August, 2007. It featured different activities that continued for hours. A meeting held on Friday, 3rd August, by the School Administration and the executive members of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) reviewed the preparations for the event to ensure everything is in order.
Evangel Academy provides education in three academic programs: nursery school, primary school and secondary school. The institution was established at Mubi in 1987 through the ministry Herbert Eze, a few years after graduating from ECWA Seminary, Jos, Nigeria. The need to provide education on proper foundation in Mubi, an area that is comparatively educationally disadvantaged, was obvious and posed the challenge that led to the establishment of Evangel Academy.
The 14th graduation program of Evangel Academy began at 3.00 pm. The school campus was already filled with people before this time. The master of ceremony called on the chairman of the occasion and other special invitees to have their seats at the honored positions prepared for them. Opening prayer was offered by Pastor Ezenna Nwabudo.
The Nigeria National Anthem and Pledge were recited as everyone stood in attention. This was followed by a march pass by pupils and students, class by class, while the PTA Chairman stood to take salute. The Chairman of the occasion, Mr Ibrahim Sale, delivered an opening speech followed by a welcome song rendered by one of the students.
A Cross-section of the March Pass |
From its inception Evangel Academy is known for end of the year event. Parents and the public are invited to witness the class to class presentations of the Evangel School children. These presentations are both educating and entertaining. Graduation of students became part of the annual event at Evangel when the first set of primary six pupils completed their program in 1994. However, the primary purpose of the end of the year event has not been overtaken by the graduation ceremony which only became a necessary addition to mark the completion of program for certain pupils and students annually.
The 14th annual event and graduation ceremony featured speeches, march pass, newscast, adverts, music, cultural display, debate, dance, award of prizes and presentation of certificates. The audience include people from different tribes, ethnicities, languages, religions and church denominations. Mubi community is known for its diversity in people, language, religion and culture, and this diversity reflects in the school population of Evangel Academy. Over 30 different tribes (and language groups) were recorded as inhabitants in the city of Mubi by the social survey of Lock in 1976.
The Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Ibrahim Sale, is one of the parents of Evangel Academy whose children are among the graduates of the institution. He was a one time PTA Chairman in the school. He spoke on the need for the PTA to assist the school in constructing new furniture to replace old ones, providing play materials, and carrying out necessary repairs at school. The current PTA Chairman, Alhaji (Hon) Sale Kawu and the official members took note of this as a necessary step in moving the school forward.
The welcome address was read by Mrs Chinwe Okpala, the Principal of Evangel Secondary School. She expressed gratitude to God for the safe arrival of people who came to the occasion from far and near places. She thanked God specially for the Proprietor, Rev. Dr. H. M. Eze and his wife Rev. Mrs. F. Eze who traveled far from the eastern part of the country to be in the occasion. The Proprietor's last attendance in the program was in 1997, the year he left for the United States. It was a special time to reunite with the school and to meet people since ten years.
Dr. H.M. Eze Speaking at
the Occasion
|
In his speech, Dr. Eze spoke of the need to continue with the vision of the school.
Evangel Academy envisions "to be an academic institution that is dynamic in learning towards producing graduates that are relevant, efficient, productive, and competitive in service." This is summed up in its motto: Learning and Service. Eze is a graduate of Biola University and Fuller Seminary. While in the United States, he taught at the Pasadena Unified School District and later in the University of Phoenix, Southern Californian, and at the Hope International University, Fullerton, Californian. Upon return to Nigeria, he has served as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs in West African Theological Seminary (WATS), Lagos, and as the at Director of Academic Planning, Tansian University, Oba. The need for a faith based private university in Mubi and its environ is challenging, and this was projected in his speech.
The number of pupils and students who completed their programs this academic year are 80. Out of this number 42 completed their three years nursery school program, 21 completed their primary school while 17 completed their junior secondary school program to move on to senior secondary school (10- 12th grade). Certificates were presented to them by the PTA Chairman, Alhaji Sale Kawu, to show successful completion of their respective programs while Mrs. Benedeth Nwuba, the Supervisor of the School, handed gifts awarded to pupils and students of outstanding performance.
Mrs. F. Eze gave the vote of thanks. She expressed appreciation to everyone who contributed in making the program a success. She gave special thanks to God for granting a favorable weather for the occasion as rain did not hinder the event which took place in the open compound of the school. It is not uncommon for the service of a traditional rain doctor to be sought during certain events in Nigeria to prevent rainfall from such occasions especially during the rainy season. However, God took the glory in answer to prayers as the Evangel Academy program concluded without hindrance by rainfall.
It was almost night as the Master of Ceremony called on the Vice Chairman of the PTA, Pastor Wikliff to say the closing prayer and bring the event to an end.
A similar event took place few weeks earlier at the True Light Academy, Nnewi, on the 15th of July. The city of Nnewi is located on the southeastern part of Nigeria close to Onitsha. True Light Academy is an institutional child of Evangel Academy established on the same vision in the year 2000.
Winners of the Beauty Contest |
A distinguishing feature in the graduation presentations at True Light Academy was the selection of queens who won the respective beauty contests identified with certain specified areas: like Queen of Abuja, Queen of Nigeria, Queen of Africa. Their model for beauty contest is the biblical Esther who exemplify beauty in body, in spirit, and in character.
Another distinguishing feature was a panel discussion by some students of True Light Secondary School who constituted a forum called Oha na Eze Ndigbo. The panel discussion critically reviewed the place of the Igbos in Nigeria. Participants were culturally dressed as Igbo elders. The graduation occasion of the True Light Academy also featured speeches, march pass, newscast, adverts, music, cultural display, debates, dance, award of prizes and presentation of certificates.
The school population in True Light Academy is mostly one tribe, the Igbos, unlike in Evangel Academy, Mubi, where different tribes, ethnicities and languages are represented. The school population in each of the two schools reflects its socio-cultural context. However, the language of instruction in both schools is the English language.
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