The common impression people have of the colonialists is that they came bearing the Bible in one hand to evangelise, and the sword in the other hand to subdue. Not quite so with the Catholic missionaries who came with the Bible in one hand, and the book of knowledge, in the other, for the impartation of both religious and secular education.

Perhaps more than any other religious sect, the Catholic Church has recorded a tremendous impact on the educational development in Nigeria. Although the Church Missionary Society (CMS) of the Church of England (Anglican Communion) took the initiative with the founding of the first secondary school in Nigeria (the CMS Anglican Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos) on 6 June 1859, the Catholic Mission subsequently proliferated the country with high quality secondary institutions, which effectively combine moral teaching with academic instructions.

Some of the top-rated Catholic secondary institutions are: Christ the King Catholic College, Odolewu, Ijebu, established on 08 September, 1995; Loyola College, Ibadan, established in 1954; Sacred Heart College, Apapa, founded in 2007; Holy Child College, Ikoyi, Lagos, set up in 1945; Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School, established in 1969; St. Gregory’s College, Obalende, Lagos established in 1928; St. Andrew’s Secondary School, Adikpo, Benue State, founded in 1967;  St. Francis Catholic Secondary School, Idimu, Lagos, established in 1990;  St Finbarr’s College, Akoka, begun in 1956; the list is endless.

As a result of the high academic and moral discipline enforced in the Catholic institutions, they often come up with excellent performances in WAEC and NECO, in addition to their high standard of morality. A close look at a few of them will reveal some of these inherent qualities.

Named after Gregory the Great (who was Pope from 590 to 604 AD) St. Gregory’s College, Lagos, was founded by the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos on January 27, 1928, through the initiative of Bishop Ferdinand Terrien, for the purpose of giving young boys sound academic and religious education.  The College’s Motto is “Pro Fide et Scientia” (For Faith and Knowledge). Over the years, it has trained several gentlemen who have excelled in leadership positions in the society, and in different areas of human endeavours. The College has performed excellently in external examinations. In 2022, for instance, the students scored 100% in all their papers in the WASCE.

In the same Obalende area of Lagos is located Holy Child College, an all-girls’ secondary school, founded in 1945 by the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, and administered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, It currently runs the 6-3-3-4 educational system, in conformity with the present educational policy of Nigeria. The Reverend Sisters of the Society of the Holy Child came to Africa in 1930, and later set up their first school in Calabar, Nigeria.

Upon the invitation of Archbishop Leo Taylor of the Lagos Archdiocese, who wanted a good girls’ secondary school in his domain, the society opened the Holy Child College on the 9th of April, 1945, with two classes of five girls each, and four nuns as full-time teachers. By 1950, the student population had grown to 200.  Some of the school’s notable alumni are Joke Silva (actress, director, and businesswoman), Margaret Dada Marquis (one of Nigeria’s pioneer female architects, who lived between 1944 and 2022), Toki Mabogunje (the third female president of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Julie Coker (prominent journalist), Tomi Somefun (CEO of Unity Bank plc), to mention a few. 

Loyola College, Ibadan, another all-boys’ secondary school, was founded by the Catholic Missionary in 1954. It is located along the Old Ife road, in the Agodi area of Ibadan. It is certainly one of the most popular secondary schools in Ibadan, and a favourite venue for the marking of WAEC scripts. Over the years, it has produced “luminaries in the fields of Medicine, Engineering, Law, Politics, Media, and other professions” (Internet Source).

Regrettably, many State Governments took over the running of private missionary schools in the country in the 1970s, resulting in falling academic and moral standards. While most States have since returned these schools to their original owners (like the Lagos State has done), the Oyo State Government has tenaciously held on to these schools, in spite of the obvious financial difficulties in managing them, and the growing pressure by the original owners to have them back for better administration. As a result, Loyola College has become a mere shadow of itself, and the Catholic Church hereby pleads with the Oyo State Government to return these schools to their initial owners to bring back their lost glory. 

It is quite instructive that many Moslems and non-Catholics have benefited tremendously from both academic and moral fares being offered by Catholic institutions, without any surreptitious attempt to convert them. At the level of tertiary education, the Catholic Church has not been found wanting with the establishment of such institutions as Madonna University, Okija, Veritas University, Abuja, and Caritas University, Enugu, with high moral and academic standards as watchword.

Today, the Nigerian youth are faced with deep moral crisis, with young boys and girls freely embracing cultism, occultism, and yahoo-plus phenomenon. This is clearly the consequence of the failure of the school system. Three institutions must collaborate to fashion out a decent and stable society: The home, the Church, and the School. Children spend more time with their teachers than they do with their parents and pastors. Hence, the school exercises the greatest influence on them, in addition to the peer influence of their school friends, who introduce them to all manner of negative values.

While parents and pastors should up their games, teachers have a crucial responsibility to serve as good role models and maintain strict standards of morality in their institutions so as to have a positive knock-on effect on the immediate society and the nation at large.

A final comment on coeducational and non-coeducational institutions. Most of the Catholic institutions are non-coeducational, obviously for reason of morality. But co-educational institutions, if well managed, are capable of creating greater gender understanding, and gender social harmony in the larger community. Male and female are expected to coexist with mutual respect for each other, and this is best achieved at the school level, during their teenage years.