"HOW UBAKALA SECONDARY SCHOOL WAS ESTABLISHED".PIONEER PRINCIPAL HIGH CHIEF J.C NWABUGWU

 

                 J.C NWABUGWU

How did this college come to be? The present Uba III of Ubakala- Eze R.A Mbagwu when he was the President General  of U.I.U (F) mandated late Joshua Ekwueme of Abam Ubakala to make the necessary contacts and moves to establish a secondary school in Ubakala. Late Joshua Ekwueme was them a superintendent of schools in Aba.He did not do much. 

Then the President General, Eze R. Mbagwu called me from Lagos where he was working and  (I was then the Assistant Secretary General of U.I.U (F) and I was teaching at Ibeku High SchoiS, Umuahia) instructed I should liaise with late A.U. Onukwue to fasTrack the establishment of a college in Ubakala.

Before we could take any meaningful action late Eze Lazarus Arukwe (KSA) took over the leadership of the U.I.U (F) from Eze R. Mbagwu.

I was under pressure from parents and guardians who wanted me to assist them secure posting or change the postings of their wards to schools where their children and wards could operate from home as day students.

I was forced to cause a meeting to be held at late Barrister A.U. Onukwue's residence in Kaduna street, Umuahia. In attendance at that meeting were;

i. Late Eze J.E Onukwue (KSC)

ii. Late Eze L.S.C. Arukwe (KSA)

III. Late Eze H.I Nwazue

Iv. Late Sir .J.E. Ukejianya

v. Late Mr. Tobias Iroele

vi. Late Elder M.I. Agomo

vii. Late Barrister A.U. Onukwue, the host.

Armed with information from the M.O.E. I gave the small but enthusiastic gathering the following statistics.

i. Number of primary schools in Ubakala

ii. The number of pupils who passed out of primary schools and were awarded the F.S.L.C

III. And the number qualified to go in to Secondary schools. There were those who qualified but could not go to boarding schools away from home because their guardians could not afford the finances involved.

After the brief but powerful and convincing address everybody present at that meeting felt ashamed that we were failing Ubakala and it was resolved there and then to send a powerful delegation to the Education Board then at Owerri and request that a secondary school be established in Ubakala. HRH Eze J.E Onukwue chose to lead the delegation.

I cannot remember the exact date the delegation went to Owerri but to the Education Board we did go.The following were in that delegation.

i. HRH. Eze J.K Onukwue (KSC) the 2nd Uba of Ubakala (now late)

ii. HRH late Eze H.I Nwazue (he was then the chief Librarian at Umuahia

III. Sir J.E Ukejianya (late) He drove in to Owerri from Aba

iv. Elder Moses Agomo who was then a civil servant and was living at Owerri.

But for HRH Eze J.E Orukwe, Mr. Moses, the chairman of the Board would not have entertainmed our presence for he said we not only  late in coming to see him,but also that we did not book the interview with him in advance. However our discussion with him was very brief. The leader introduced why we were there and asked me to state why it was necesary for Ubakala to have a Secondary Schhool.

This I did briefly and Mr. Moses agreeing with us that Ubakala was more than ripe for a secondary school directed us to go to room 34 in the Ministry of Education to collect application form for approval to start a secondary school. Offices had closed for that exercise and late Elder Moses Agomo who was a top civil servant and incidentally the Secretary General of U.I.U (F) was msndated to collect the form, complete it and ensure that Ubakala was granted the permission to establish a secondary school. These assignment Elder Moses Agomo carried out successfully for in the subsequent A.G . C of U.I.U (F) the President General HRH Eze L.C.S Arukwe announced to the high ovation of Ubakala people, that the government had granted Ubakala permission to start the school at Nsukwe. How elder Moses Agomo succeeded to obtain the permission from the M.O.E. I cannot tell, what transpired between Nsukwe people and the U.I.U (F) Exco before the piece of land was given to Ubakala people, I cannot tell because I had been viciously schemed out of the Exco of U.I.U (F).

The President General, L.C.S Arukwe led Ubakala people in a motorcade from Apumiri through Ahia Nkwo-Ukwu to the present site of the secondary school. As the people stood at the present site, facing the west one Elder Elijah Ahizu defined with his hand to Ubakala people the area donated to Ubakala for the establishment of U.S.S.N Ubakala and everybody roared in appreciation; it was euphoric.

I am aware that the U.I.U (F) was able to put up a block of five classrooms and a boarding house complex to accommodate students from very distant areas.Later some other buildings were erected by U.W.A under the leadership of ladies Jemimah Iruke and Chinyere Abaraonye all of whom are late.

The patriotic role of late Mrs. Mgbeukalebe Ezigbo among others cannot be forgotten, for she supervised the activities of U.W.A in the erection of some of the buildings in the school especially the W.A.E.C hall in the basement of which were the school library and chemistry laboratory.

The school  was overflowing with students from all over Ubakala. The population was such that I had to convert the boarding complex to classrooms to accommodate the teeming population of the school. I also remember admitting students from old Umuahia.

The intention of the founders of the secondary school was, and still is to raise people who would learn to succeed in navigating the murky waters of life, people who would be good citizens and not the self-centered and self seeking citizens we have in our politicians of today. This aim is enshrined in the motto of the school "To learn to succeed" . It was coined by one of the founding fathers of the school. Late Sir , Jonathan Ezinwa Ukejianya of Amuzu Ubakala.

When I was pulled to this school by the then Commissioner of Education in Imo State; Lady Bridget Nwankwo, I , in fact , ordered Mr. All well Ahiawe (now a PHD certificate holder) teaching here then, to raise an anthem for the school, an anthem that would accommodate the school motto. He came up with this anthem;

Bravo,bravo, Bravo

Behold the school we cherish

Ubakala Secondary school,

A learning place indeed,

Out of hard work , peace and unity

You have come to stay for us.

You want us to learn to succeed

 and to become a good citizens

You aims and objectives we shall pursure with zeel,

The labour's of your founders shall not be in vain,

The school came to be out of the hard work of the founders. There was peace and unity of purpose in Ubakala to raise qualified, courageous and determined citizens who would not only redeem but also boldly project the image of Ubakala in the face of the uncharitable remarks hurled  at us by our neighbors.