| Loyola Jesuit College | |
|---|---|
| Motto | "Service of God and Others" |
| Established | 1996 |
| Type | Private |
| President | Ehi Omoragbon, S.J. |
| Principal | Ugo Nweke, S.J. |
| Students | Approx 650 |
| Location | Gidan Mangoro, Nigeria |
| Campus | Urban, 70.4 acres (0.29 km²) |
| Colors | White and Blue |
| Mascot | Lion |
| Website | www.loyolajesuit.org |
Loyola Jesuit College is a private Roman Catholic secondary school in Nigeria operated by the Society of Jesus religious order. The school was opened on October 2, 1996 and is named after the Society's founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola. Loyola Jesuit College is a co-educational, boarding institution located in Gidan Mangoro in the outskirts of Abuja, Nigeria's capital. Loyola Jesuit College is regarded by many as currently being the best secondary school in Nigeria[1]. The highly selective school has claimed the best West African Examination Council (WAEC) examinations results for the past seven years, as well as the best JAMB results for several of those years, and is thus regarded as the best in West Africa. The school has a reputation for graduating highly qualified students who go on to attend some of the best-ranked universities in the world.
It is located in Gidan Mangoro, in Karu, Abuja.[1][2][3]
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Loyola Jesuit College opened its gates on October 2, 1996. Funds to construct the school were provided by the Society of Jesus and many benefactors in the United States. The first principal of the school was Jim Kuntz, S.J. He supervised the building of the enormous school facility and served as principal for three years. He was then succeeded by O.T. Jonah, S.J. who served for 4 years in that office. Patrick Ryan, S.J. served as president of the institution during Jonah's term and for two years after. Following Jonah's term, Marc Roselli, S.J. took over as principal for the next three years. During his term, Peter Schineller, S.J assumed the position of president. The next president and principal was John-Okoria Ibhakewanlan (S.J.). On July 17th 2011, during the tenth graduation ceremony, Fr. Ugo Nweke was announced as the next Principal, and Fr. Ehis Omoragbon was announced as the new President.
At first students from Port Harcourt travelled between school and their homes via the roads. Rising crime along roads the 1990s made parents believe that road travel was too dangerous. In 2001, when Sosoliso Airlines began services between Port Harcourt and Abuja parents placed their children on the flights.[4]
On December 10, 2005, Loyola Jesuit College lost 60 students in Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145. Among the many students who lost their lives was a family of three siblings and the Head Boy of the school at the time. The crash claimed 107 lives with two survivors. Kechi Okwuchi, a student at Loyola Jesuit, survived the crash. A new multi-purpose auditorium has now been built in their honour and memory (called the Memorial Hall)[5][6].
Kechi was treated in Milpark Hospital at Johannesburg, South Africa as of 14 December 2005[7] and at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Galveston, Texas, United States as of 6 September 2007[8].
Updated newsletters from the school can always be found on the school's website and are publicly accessible.[2]
The LJC Campus is located on the outskirts of Abuja. The 70.4-acre (285,000 m2) campus is fully fenced which ensures the safety of the students. Loyola Jesuit College is equipped with four large classroom and laboratory buildings, three large boys dormitory buildings, one very large girls dormitory building, a chapel, a huge dining hall, a multi-purpose 'Memorial' hall, and staff quarters just to mention a few. It is also noted for having a great deal of which greatly enhance the aesthetic value of the school. Upon entering the LJC campus via the front gates, a large statue of St. Ignatius of Loyola is seen presenting his sword.
Loyola Jesuit College is of the most selective secondary institutions in Nigeria. In the year 2010, 5000 wrote the school entrance exam and LJC accepted 2% of its applicant (which is higher than Ivy League institutions). Entry into LJC is strictly by merit. Prospective students take a highly competitive entrance examination, after which a top percentage of students are screened through interviews. This ensures that only the best students are accepted into the school. Unlike many schools in Nigeria, Loyola Jesuit College does not accept transfers. It has a policy that ensures that students begin only at the enter the school at the lowest class. Loyola Jesuit College is one of the first schools in Nigeria to implement a strictly online application policy. Prospective students both apply online and receive their results online.[3]
Loyola Jesuit College promotes and supports dozens of organized student activities. According to the College's website, "Loyola Jesuit College has broad goals for the development of its Students: some of those goals are fostered by the academic program, but many of those goals are fostered only outside the classroom, through the school's extracurricular and formational programs. The school is one of the most noted in the annual Cowbell Mathematics Competition.
Alumni of the Loyola Jesuit College have gone on to attend prestigious Ivy League such as Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Cornell University,and other highly rated institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, California Institute of Technology, Cambridge University, Oxford University, Imperial College London and London School of Economics.