From now on, the best graduating student of St Patrick’s College in Emene, Enugu State, will receive N30,000 cash prize, thanks to Anthony Akaeze, an alumnus of the school, who endowed the prize to promote scholarship and excellence.
At a ceremony held in the school to unveil the first winner of the prize, Akaeze said the gesture was borne out of the need to appreciate and give back to the school that gave him everything.
Noting that there is no substitute for learning, he said the prize would encourage pupils to work hard and create a better future for themselves. Akaeze observed that the school had contributed substantially to the country’s development by producing people of impeccable characters who are making impacts in communities and public spheres.
He said, “For a school established in 1960, St Patrick’s College has had its good and bad times, but what nobody can deny is its contribution to nation building. The school has produced countless talents and people of impeccable character in Nigeria. Year in year out, we see pupils from different backgrounds, from far and near, admitted here as upstarts. After undergoing training, they are left with unquantifiable knowledge that makes them change agents.”
Akaeze said the school deserved support not just from the government, also from its old boys, noting that the catholic mission supervising the school’s affair had built a reputation in school management.
Speaking on the academic prize, Akaeze said: “The endowment is simply my humble way of identifying with my alma mater, which I consider an extension of my family. Whichever way we look at it, family takes priority because the end is inextricably linked to the beginning.
“St Patrick’s College marked my first major beginning in life in terms of knowledge acquisition and I consider it both an honour and privilege to institute this prize which I hope will outlive me. I believe I owe it to the school for whatever I may be today, and whatever I hope to be. I believe that the real foundation of my life was laid at St Patrick’s College.”
Akaeze congratulated the first winner of the prize, Chibuoke William Okolo, urging pupils of the school not to give up on their dreams.
He said, “My hope is that you (Chibuoke) will go on to achieve greater success in life and fly the banner of this illustrious school as a worthy ambassador. I urge other students not to give up on their dreams, no matter the odds. This prize is to promote excellence at the St Patrick’s College, but I would be glad it encourages students elsewhere to aspire to the top.”
Akaeze thanked the present and past teachers of the school, including Reverend F.P. Okeke, a former principal, whom he described as “a great administrator and disciplinarian of the first order”.
He hailed the principal, Reverend Father Chijioke Eze, for supporting the initiative. Akaeze particularly appreciated his literature and mathematics teachers, and Mrs Bridget Ibe, who taught him English Language.
He said: “Mrs Ibe probably didn’t know what she did in my life. More than any other teacher, she was the one who encouraged me as a student either through word of mouth or in her assessment of my effort in her tests.”