methodist college,uzuakoli 1923 - university of nigeria nsukka

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MMETHODIST COLLEGE,UZUAKOLI 1923

OGBONNAYA, EMEKA DANIEL

PG/MA/11/58522

Digitally Signed by: Content

manager’s Name

DN : CN = Weabmaster’s name

O= University of Nigeri

OU = Innovation Centre

Fred Attah

Faculty of Arts

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND INTERNATIONAL

STUDIES

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1923-2012

: Content

Weabmaster’s name

O= University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Innovation Centre

NATIONAL

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UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

FACULTY OF ARTS

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND INTERNATIONAL

STUDIES

METHODIST COLLEGE UZUAKOLI, 1923-2012

BY


PG/MA/11/58522

A THESIS PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF ARTS

(M.A) DEGREE IN HISTORY

SUPERVISOR: DR. J.O.AHAZUEM

AUGUST 2014

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TITLE PAGE

METHODIST COLLEGE,UZUAKOLI 1923-2012

BY


PG/MA/11/58522

A MASTER THESIS PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN

PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS

(M.A) OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA NSUKKA

SUPERVISOR: DR. J.O. AHAZUEM

APRIL, 2014

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APPROVAL PAGE

This thesis has been approved by the Department of History and International Studies, University

of Nigeria Nsukka.

BY

________________________ _____________________

Dr. J.O. Ahazuem Dr. Apex .A. Apeh

Supervisor Internal Examiner

_________________________ _______________________

Dr. Paul Obi-Ani External Examiner

Head of Department

____________________

Dean, Faculty of Arts

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CERTIFICATION

Ogbonnaya, Emeka Daniel, a post-graduate student in the Department of History and

International Studies with registration number, PG/MA/11/58522 has satisfactorily completed

the requirement for the course and research work for the award of the degree of Master of Arts.

The work embodied in this thesis is original and has not been submitted in part or full for any

other diploma or degree in this university or any other university.

________________ ________________

Dr. J.O. Ahazuem Dr. P.O. Obi-Ani

Supervisor Head of Department

DEDICATION

To all Old Boys of the Methodist College Uzuakoli, who have kept the flag of excellence flying

in their various fields of endeavor.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In a study of this nature, it is of great importance to recognize the efforts of all whose assistance

contributed to the accomplishment of this work. I am most gratefully indebted to my supervisor,

Dr. J.O. Ahazuem, for his fatherly advice and scholarly criticism that are very necessary in any

historical research. In the course of writing this essay, he was always around to direct and guide

me, I say thank you.My profound gratitude also goes to my lecturers in the Department of

History and International Relations, for their assistance and guidance that have nurtured my

intellectual and moral growth.

My appreciation goes to my mum, Obioma Ogbonnaya for her love and prayers that prove most

valuable in trying times. To my siblings; Sharon, Gina, Ify, Onyi, Edu and Eze, I am most

indebted to you all for your understanding and support throughout the period of my academic

pursuit. I also wish to acknowledge and appreciate my colleagues and friends Chinyelu, Ekaette,

Obiamaka, Chiamaka for being more than friends to me, to Wisdom Uwakwe for being a friend

closer than a brother and Bright Alozie for his scholarly guidance in making some correction to

this work.

I remain grateful to my Cartographers Nachi and Ndichie for painstakingly drawing maps

worthy of an academic work and to all who have in one way or another contributed towards this

thesis, God in his infinite mercies will grant your heart desires.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page ………………………………………………………………………… i

Approval page …………………………………………………………………… ii

Dedication ……………………………………………………………………….iii

Certification …………………………………………………………………….. iv

Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………….v

Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………... vi

List of Illustrations ……………………………………………………………… viii

List of Abbreviations …………………………………………………………….ix

Abstract ………………………………………………………………………….. x

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ………………………………………… 1

Background of the Study ……………………………………………………….. 1

Theoretical Framework ……………………………………………………….. 6

Statement of the Problem …………………………………………………….… 9

Purpose of the Study …………………………………………………………... 10

Significance of Study …………………………………………………………... 10

Scope of Study ………………………………………………………………… 11

Literature Review ……………………………………………………………… 11

Sources, Methods and Organisation. ……………………………………………...19

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CHAPTER TWO: METHODIST COLLEGE UZUAKOLI 1923-1960……….. 21

Land Acquisition ……………………………………………………………….22`

Building of the College ………………………………………………………... 25

Growth and Development. ………………………………………………………. 26

CHAPTER THREE: METHODIST COLLEGE, UZUAKOLI 1961-1970 ………….. 36

Curriculum ……………………………………………………………………… 37

The development of the Study of Igbo Language and Culture .………………….. 38

Development/Expansion………………………………………………….………. 40

Indigenous Administrators of the College..………………………….................... 42

Methodist College during the Civil War ………………………………..………. 44

CHAPTER FOUR: THE COLLEGE UNDER GOVERNMENT CONTROL, 1971-2012… 47

Government Control …………………………………………………………………. 48

Changes and Developments ………………………………………………………… 49

Uzuakoli Methodist College Old Boys Association (UMCOBA) …………………… 51

Profile of some Old Boys …………………………………………………………….. 55

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION.................................................65

BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………..…69

Primary Sources

Oral interviews

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Archival Materials

Secondary Sources

Books

Journals and Articles

Unpublished Materials and Project

List of Illustrations

Map I – Map of Nigeria Showing all the States……………………………………..…….1A

Map II – Map of Abia State ...............................………………………………..………. 1B

Map III – Map of Uzuakoli Showing its Villages ……………………………………..… 1C

Map IV –Map of Methodist College, Uzuakoli…………………………………………….20A

Fig. 1 – College overhead Tank used to refine Oil during the Nigerian Civil War…….…. 44A

Fig. 2 – Classroom Building destroyed during the War …………………………………..43A

Fig. 3 – Ibiam Hostel left to rot during Government Control………………………….....49A

Fig. 4 –One of the hostel rooms at the Castle hostel ……………………………………. .49A

Fig. 5 – College Gate donated by UMCOBA-USA ……………………………………… 53A

Fig. 6 – College Chapel renovated by former NDDC chairman Onyema Ugochukwu……53A

Pic. 1: Udo Udo Okure, first indigenous Principal of the College………………………….42A

Pic. 2: Michael Okpara, Premier of Eastern Region of Nigeria…………………………….55A

Pic. 3:Edwin Ogebe Ogbu (D.O.B), as Chairman UN Committee against Apartheid……….57A

Pic. 4: The Late Chief N.C. Okoronkwo during an Ila Oso Festival in Uzuakoli…………… 61A

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List of Abbreviations

BRAP - Biafra Research and Production Directorate

CMS - Church Missionary Society

CSSP - Congregation Sanctis Spiritus

DOB - Distinguished Old Boy

ETC - Elementary Training Centre

FNDP - First National Development Plan

HETC - Higher Elementary Training Centre

MINED - Ministry of Education

NAE - National Archives Enugu

NCC - Nigeria Communication Commission

NDDC - Niger Delta Development Commission

OKIDIST -Okigwe District

PM - Primitive Methodist

PMMS - Primitive Methodist Missionary Society

RIVPROF -River Province

SAP - School Access Programme

UK - United Kingdom

UMCOBA - Uzuakoli Methodist College Old Boys Association

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UMDIV -Umuahia Division

UMED - Umuahia Ministry of Education

UMPROF -Umuahia Province

UN - United Nations

USA - United States of America

WAEC - West Africa Examination Council

ABSTRACT

Missionaries, as agents of European churches established schools because education was deemed

integral to the main purpose of evangelization. As time went on, graduates from Methodist

College, Uzuakoli that was established in 1923 began to make inroads into politics and civil

service of pre and post independent Igboland and environs. The roles that the Methodist

Missionaries played in manpower development through the Methodist College, Uzuakoli has not

received the recognition it deserves. This study attempts to bridge the knowledge gap by

outlining the history and achievements of the College in the period under review (1923-2002).

The appreciation of the numerous contributions of the Methodist College, Uzuakoli to society in

terms of manpower developments in Igboland and environs will greatly help to guide reformers

and policy makers to draw a lesson or two from the achievements and failings of the College.

The study applies an interdisciplinary approach from religion and education to complement the

historicity of the work. Data from a variety of sources that includes Primary Sources (oral

interviews, archival and official document) and Secondary Source (books, journals, articles, and

project works, theses and dissertation as well as seminar papers) are explored to balance the

outlook of the work.

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CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Uzuakoli is an ancient chiefdom in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State. It is

made up of five villages: Amamba, Eluoma, Ngwu, Amankwo and Agbozu. It is believed that

Ozu had five brave sons whose names were Oma, Ngwu, Mbah, Nkwo and Ozo. When these

sons grew up, they built their homes a little further away from their father’s, which became the

central meeting point.

It is from their five homes that the five villages which make up Uzuakoli developed. The five

villages united to form Uzuakoli, a compound of the names of their father, Ozu, and their

grandfather Akoli, the name was corrupted to Uzuakoli by the railway authorities and Uzuakoli

is the version generally used today1.

Uzuakoli has a total landscape of 28.8 square kilometers, bounded in the North by Lohum; East

by Ozuitem; and South by Ubani and Lodu Imenyi, respectively. It falls between 7.32 and 8.36

East of the Equator. The climate of the area does not differ from the rest of the rain forest belt of

Eastern Nigeria. Uzuakoli enjoys a warm tropical climate with well-defined wet and dry

seasons2.

Prior to the establishment of colonial rule in Igbo hinterland, Uzuakoli was a notable slave

market with many middlemen from Awka, Aro, Bende and surrounding communities living and

trading there. It assumed this role of an important slave market after the colonial military

1 A. J. Fox,Uzuakoli: A Short History (London: Oxford University Press, 1964), 5.

2 I. A. Nwokoro, Historical study of the Okonko society, 1996-2006.(B.A Project, History And International

Relations, Abia State University, 2008), 10.

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conquest of Bende in18963, which robbed the latter of her middlemen role as a slave market to

the Aro and thus the Aro moved over to nearby Uzuakoli that was a more central location and

had long lobbied for the market.4 Slaves were bought at Eke-oba and Eke-Ukwu (the two

markets made up the Abangwu market in Uzuakoli), and taken through the slave route to Bende

via Ozuitem, Arochukwu and then transported oversea through Cross River State.5 Apart from

slave trade, Uzuakoli has remained an agrarian society noted mostly for yam and cocoyam

cultivation/production with a population of 60, 000 according to the 2006 census result.

The origin of modern education in Nigeria dates back to September 24,1842 when Rev. Thomas

Birch Freeman and Mr. and Mrs. William De Graft of the Wesleyan Methodist arrived Badagry

to start both Christian and education work. Later, other missions such as the Church Missionary

Society (CMS), the Roman Catholic Mission and the United Presbyterian Church arrived Nigeria

for the same purpose. The origin of 19th

century missions in Nigeria followed the evangelical

revival movements in Europe during the late 18th century. The European evangelical movement

was due largely to the work of John Wesley. Wesley's challenge to the established Anglican

Church, led to the anticlerical and evangelical movements and, consequently, to the "Protestant

awakening" which swept across Europe and America in the 19th century.6 This awakening

demanded renewed zeal and commitment on the part of individual Christians as well as deep

concern for the personal act of conversion. It was Wesley's message that strengthened the desire

for missionary work. Other missionary groups represented in Nigeria were the Wesleyan

Methodist Missionary Society, the Presbyterian Church, Adventist, Baptist of Scotland, and the

Baptists from the (American) Southern Baptist Convention, Society of African Missions (the

Catholic Mission) from France and the Primitive MethodistMission.7

Colonial rule, which was also a driving force in the missionary process, was not established in

Igbo hinterland until after 1900. The Aro-Expedition of 1901-1902 opened the Igbo hinterland

and touched off a scramble among missionary bodies of various hues. The work of the

missionaries in Southern Nigeria was not easy sailing. For a while, a few Africans and their

rulers patronized the missionary enterprise, others rejected its intrusion in any form. On the

whole, support or lack of it for missionary work was greatly influenced by internal developments

in Southern Nigeria. Further invitations arose out of schisms over joint ownership of church

bells, personality clashes or inter-village rivalry. The differences in ideology and orientation of

3 For a comprehensive perusal of the conquest of igboland, see S.N. Nwabara’s Iboland: A Century of Contact with

Britain, 1860-1960, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1977) 4 A. J. Fox, Uzuakoli: A Short …, 11.

5 The slave route that linked Uzuakoli to Bende is still visible today and passed through the Methodist College

Uzuakoli 6 B. Magnus, “Missionary Rivalry and Educational Expansion in Southern Nigeria 1885-1932”, Journal of Negro

Education 60, No. 1, (1991): 36. 7 B. Magnus, “Missionary Rivalry and Educational…, 37.

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the foreign missionaries touched off rivalry by among then to outwit each other in the capture of

adherents. As it became difficult to convert adults in the African society, education was seen as

the easiest and most sustainable way of winning converts. As children educated in the school of a

particular mission sect, grew up to automatically become adherents/propagators of that

denomination of Christian faith.

The Primitive Methodist Mission first came into Africa in 1870 through Fernando Po (present

day Equatorial Guinea).It was then a Spanish territory. They built a station and started

evangelical work, but their progress was hampered by the activities of the Spanish Catholic

Mission who later banned it. The mission started making plans in 1890 to move to a British

controlled territory and Nigeria was chosen as the new location. Archibong Town became the

first town in which the mission settled in Nigeria in 18938 and by 1895, a church, a school and a

mission house were built there9. Later they moved to Oron, Adadia, Ikot-Ekpene and the

environs. Reverend William Christie, a Scot, was instrumental to the occupation of many of

these towns.10

Having also realized the importance of education to evangelism, the Primitive

Methodist Mission built in 1905 Training Institute at Oron, to train catechist and teachers to

further their imperialistic cum missionary agenda. The British conquest of Arochukwu and

subsequent destruction of its famed Ibinu-Ukpabi, encouraged the mission to begin to consider

the idea of venturing into Igbo hinterland for evangelization.

Reverend William Christie first made a start at Arriam (Erriam) and later Ndioro in Ikwuano

LGA Umuahia, but failed to get a footing there. Relief came his way when the Bende District

Officer, Major W.A.E. Cockburn who placed a high premium on Christian missionary enterprise,

invited him. He was convinced that Bende people would be friendly and quite disposed to the

whiteman.11

Bende District was by that time having its first contact with European Missionaries

in this period (1909-1910).Reverend Christie had a hostile reception at Uzuakoli, a slave market,

which attracted a wide clientele. The colonial government officials and missionaries discovered

to their chagrin, the role of the middlemen in the lucrative trade. Equally, endemic fighting was

reported as exceedingly common.12

However, Christie was impressed with Uzuakoli and its

avenues and the planned quarters of the various trading groups from Abiriba, Arochukwu, the

Delta areas, Awka and Onitsha.13

Before he passed the gauntlet on to Reverend Dodds, he paid a

8 F. Anyika, Methodism in Igboland, Eastern Nigeria 1910-1932: Genesis and Growth (Onitsha: Cape Publishers Int’l

Ltd., 1997), 12. 9 In 1902, a joint boundary commission by both the British and German governments to delineate their boundaries

in Africa, gave a ruling that Archibong Town was part of the German territory, the PM was thus forced to move to

Oron. 10

F. Anyika, Methodism in Igboland, Eastern…, 20. 11


K. Ogbu, “Primitive Methodist on the Railroad Junction of Igboland, 1910-1931” Journal of Religion in Africa, 16,

No. 1, (1986): 56. 13

A. J.Fox, Uzuakoli: A Short History…, 98.

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few more visits to Uzuakoli and prepared the ground for its effective missionary occupation by

stationing a teacher there in October 1910. The latter conducted regular Sunday services in his

bid to build a church in the town. Reverend Dodds on assumption of office continued to press on

and in 1912 established a small church in Uzuakoli and Mr. Dappa was sent to the town to nurse

the new church to life.

To provide teachers for the churches and primary schools that were springing up in

Igboland14

, Reverend Dodds had in 1913 sent some boys to the Training School at Oron. Due to

the far location of Oron from Uzuakoli, Bende, Isuikwuato, and the inadequate means of

transportation, the idea of building an institute in the Igbo hinterland similar to that at Oron

started gaining momentum.

The introduction of Western education became possible when at its maiden Synod in Eastern

Nigeria, the Council of Primitive Methodist ministers in Nigeria, made the following

observation:

Our object is in general terms, the spread of specifically Christian education for the African as an

African. Stated more generally, it is an attempt to provide education not merely as an

independent good, or as a means to material ends, but also in definite relation to his spiritual

foundations of life as exhibited in the teaching of Jesus Christ, and at the same time to relate the

instruction to African life so that the product may be truly African as the native material

provided.15

Thus, right from the very beginning, the Primitive Methodist was committed to providing it’s

converts with ‘Christian education’. For the missionaries, evangelism was to be promoted

through formal education. Another reason education was seen as critical to evangelism was the

need on the part of both the teachers and the newly converted to acquire the skills of reading the

Bible and writing in the white man’s language. Consequently, missionaries turned their attention

to youths and schools as sources of conversion because they soon realized, to their utter dismay,

the futility of trying to convert influential men in the Igbo society.

A central site was sought for the establishment of the Primitive Methodist and an Institute in

Igboland; Bende that provided a strong foothold for the mission, was considered too remote. The

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Primitive Methodist had very few foreign missionaries in the field, due to financial and logistic problems in the

Home field; thus, a need arose to recruit from the native populace. 15

F.W. Dodds, “Nigeria Policy: XI-Education” Advance, p.24 quoted in F. Anyika,Methodism in Igboland, Eastern

Nigeria 1910-1932: Genesis and Growth (Onitsha: Cape Publishers Int’l Ltd., 1997), 125.

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railway line that crossed Uzuakoli in 191516

, gave it an added advantage over other villages since

it made for easy communication.

Theoretical Framework

The theory used for this study is the Social Systems Theory and Structural Functionalism: The

social system theory is a collection of interrelated parts which form some whole, using an

organismic metaphor to describe formal organizations (schools) with the same principles and

concepts used to describe biological organisms. General systems theory is most closely

associated with Ludwig Von Bertalanffy, whose work in the 1920s and 1930s captured the

dynamic relationship between biological organisms and their environment. A Viennese biologist,

Bertalanffy brought together the common principle of an evolving systems approach in such

diverse disciplines as biology, the social sciences and economics under the rubric of general

systems theory. He defined a system as “sets of elements standing in interrelation”17

General system theory provides concepts that are useful for understanding and analyzing the

functioning of schools and the broader context in which they function. Schools are social

systems and like all social systems, there are inputs, processing and output system; a system of

interdependent parts to achieve a goal. Schools are specific type of social system that

sociologists label ‘formal organizations’18

unlike informal organizations that are more typically

less organized, schools like Methodist College, Uzuakoli have been painfully and carefully

instituted to accomplish specific objectives and typically have more rigidly enforced rules and

norms that govern social interaction and performance.

Edgar Schein described two major goals of social system, such as schools that interact in a

highly interdependent state: (1) external adaptation, which addresses the mission and purpose of

the system, and (2) internal integration, which addresses the internal functioning of the system. A

school without internal bond of commitment, supportive cohesion, a sense of caring and support

is unlikely to achieve its mission.19

In the context of managing the problems of external

adaptation and internal integration, social systems develop group boundaries that define insider

and outsiders and rules for behavior that regulate interactions and exchanges. Over time, they

also develop cultures, which Schein defines as:

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In 1913, work began on the Port Harcourt-Enugu Railway, and the Primitive Methodist made a deliberate

decision to get up a chain of missions along the railway, at Uzuakoli, Umuahia, Ihube, Ovim and in Udi area. See

Elizabeth Isichei’s History of the Igbo People (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1976). Francis Jaekel The History of

the Nigerian Railway (Ibadan:Spectrum Books, 1997) Vol 1-3 17

V. B. Ludwig, General System Theory (New York: Braziller, 1968), 38. 18

V. B. Ludwig, General System Theory…, 9. 19

E. Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1985), 20.

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a pattern of basic assumptions-invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to

cope with its problem of external adaptation and internal integration-that has worked well

enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to

perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems to achieving system level goals and

objectives.20

To fully understand the social system theory as it relates to this study, one has to bear in

mind, the reason for the establishment of Methodist College, Uzuakoli. The missionaries’ aim of

coming to Africa, or the so-called ‘heathen lands’ as Africa was called then, was primarily for

evangelization of the Christian faith as seen from their own societies ideology as distinct from

that of the other Christian missionaries. The differences in ideology and orientation of the

foreign missionaries touched off a rivalry between them to outwit each other in the capture of

adherents. As it became difficult to convert adults in the African society, education was seen as

the easiest and most sustainable way of winning converts. Again, education appealed to the

Africans in different ways. It was a means of knowing the ways of the whiteman and integrating

fully into his new system of economic and political ideals. So, education by the missionaries

was not seen as an end in itself, but as a means to an end. Missionaries used Western education

to train Africans as catechists, messengers, and other positions needed to assist them in realizing

their desired objectives and those of their colonial cohorts. To achieve that aim, clergymen were

appointed as principals, while most of the teachers were Methodists who were trained teachers in

training institutes owned by the Methodist Mission. The curriculum apart from having subjects in

the arts and sciences, also have a strong religious and moral instruction imbibed in them. A

former old boy of Methodist College Uzuakoli noted, ‘your teacher was first of all your pastor

before he becomes a teacher’.21

So according to Edgar Schein’s two goals of a social system (1)

external adaptation, which addresses the mission and purpose of the system-which addressed the

mission and purpose for the establishment of the college, was the mission’s need for converts in

South-Eastern Nigeria, Schein’s number two goal of a social system-internal integration, which

addresses the internal functioning of the system was achieved by appointment of clergy men as

principals, trained teachers, and the introduction of curriculum which placed overwhelming

emphasis on religious education. They practiced strict student admission process and creation of

a strong moral/religious discipline. All these factors worked in synergy to achieve the purpose of

the missionaries just like that of an organism.

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E. Schein, Organizational Culture and…, 9.

21

E. Uchenna, 68 Years, old boy, interviewed at Umuahia, 14th

November, 2013.

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Statement of the Problem

Methodist College, Uzuakoli, is one of the foremost elitist secondary schools in Eastern Nigeria

contemporaneous with Methodist College, Ibadan; Dennis Memorial, Onitsha; Hope Waddell,

Calabar; and the Government College, Umuahia. It has produced notable men in all areas of

human endeavors in Igboland and Nigeria. It’s role in the development of manpower that have

helped to shape the future of Igboland in particular and Nigeria in general is well known.From

inception in 1923 to the present, this role has not received scholarly attention. This work is

undertaken to bridge this important but neglected theme. However,the Civil War of 1967-1970

completely destroyed and ruined the College. At the end of the war, it came under Government

control, which led to deterioration in morals, management and educational standard of the

College. This period of the College’s history is yet to be researched and documented.

Purpose of Study

The aim of the study is to preserve for posterity, the history, role, and achievement of the

Methodist College Uzuakoli in the annals of educational and manpower development of Nigeria.

The little that has been written about the institution cannot be said to be comprehensive enough

for a fuller understanding of the role and place of this famous Institution in the educational life of

the Igbo people in particular and Nigeria in general. Its impact on the development of Uzuakoli

is yet to be assessed. The history of the College during the inter-war year and afterwards has

been ignored. These are the lacuna this work attempts to bridge.

Significance of Study

The Study will help to better appreciate the role Missionary schools like Methodist College

Uzuakoli have played in Manpower development in pre and post independent Igboland and

Nigeria.The work will also serve as a reference point to policy makers on education, to past and

present students of the college and other general readers. It will help to guide those seeking

reforms in our education sector to know the history of our educational development vis-à-vis

Methodist College, Uzuakoli and draw one or two examples of what is needed to improve the

standard of our education.

Scope of Study

The study start with the establishment of the Ibo Boys Institute,Uzuakoli that later became

Methodist College, Uzuakoli in 1923. It ends in 2012 when the College was handed back to the

Methodist church after the state government’s initial takeover in 1970.

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Literature Review

As earlier stated, the history of western education in Nigeria is, to a great extent, the history of

the activities of the missionary societies that came into Nigeria. The origin of modern education

in Nigeria dates back to September 24, 1842 when the first Wesleyan Missionaries landed in

Nigeria and began evangelization. Then education was seen as a major part of that goal. Since

then, it has been a history of mixed fortunes for the Nigerian educational sector.

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College Uzuakoli: A Short History22

is an attempt by the

Old Boys Association of Uzuakoli to produce a written history of their alma mater. The work

gives a brief history of the College from its establishment in 1923 to the aftermath of Nigerian

civil war, with the bulk of the work focusing on the period between Nigeria’s independence in

1960 to the start of the civil war. The work on the whole is exploratory and presented on a

pamphlet; it gives this research work a good background. However, the present work intends to

give a more detailed and comprehensive history of the College beyond the start of the civil war

and the period of government administration.

S.K. Okpo, A brief History of the Methodist Church in Eastern Nigeria23

offers a brief history

of the Methodist Church from the time of the landing of the Primitive Missions in Fernando Po,

to the indigenization in 1976. It examined the efforts of the Methodist Mission in spreading the

gospel in various parts of Eastern Nigeria. The contribution of foreigners as well as Nigerians to

the mission was greatly appraised by Okpo’s work.

The interest of the work to this research is the author’s concise narrative of the efforts of the

mission towards the development of education starting from the Oron Institute; Ibo Boys

Institute; and efforts at women education championed by Miss Amy Richardson and Mrs.

Langley. On the whole, the work details the contributions of education as it concerns the training

of ministers for evangelizations. The work is very useful to any enthusiast of the Methodist faith

and history, as it details the efforts of the Methodist Missionary enterprise in Eastern Nigeria, but

did not extend to 2012. Hence, the need for this research.

Francis Anyika’sMethodism in Igboland, Eastern Nigeria, 1910-193224

, offers a detailed

analysis of the beginning of Primitive Methodism in Nigeria, to the time of its unification with

the Wesleyan Methodist sect, which was predominant in Southwestern Nigeria. Anyika divides

the thrust of the primitive mission in Igboland into three stages, namely: the first advance, which

covered the period, 1911-1914; the second advance which covered 1915-1919; and the third

advance covering 1920-1925. The work by Anyika also treated factors that threatened the 22

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College Uzuakoli: A Short History (Owerri: New Africa Publishing Ltd, 1995) 23

.S.K. Okpo., A brief History of the Methodist Church in Eastern Nigeria (Oron: Manson publishing Company, 1985) 24

F. Anyika, Methodism in Igboland, Eastern Nigeria 1910-1932: Genesis and Growth (Onitsha: Cape Publishers Int’l

Ltd., 1997)

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evangelization drive; varying from the hostility of some Igbo communities, the paucity of

personnel and outbreak of the First World War. This informed the need of the mission to educate

the indigenous populace to compliment the work of the few Europeans in Igboland. Anyika’s

book further looks at the establishment of the Methodist College and its development up to 1932.

Beyond this date, further development of the College was left untreated.

F. K. Ekechi’s,Missionary Enterprise and Rivalry in Igboland, 1857-191425

concentrates

on the Anglican Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.) and the Roman Catholic Holy Ghost

Fathers (C.S.Sp.). A major theme of the work is the rivalry of these two missionary bodies, and

in examining this, he makes considerable use of the archives of both societies. With the

penetration of the interior by the missionaries there also came rivalry, and with its policy of

education, the Catholic missionaries gained the upper hand. The C.S.Sp. were quick to cooperate

with government educational plans: they realized the status-conferring quality of education and

the attraction that this might have for the Ibo. The C.M.S. lost many of their students to the

'secular education' of the Catholic mission. The story was similar in Calabar, as the Efik grew

dissatisfied with the education offered by the Presbyterian mission: they thought it 'too religious'.

The Catholics seemed to have been able to foresee the attraction of education earlier than the

C.M.S did. The work by Ekechi is basically on the rivalry between two mission societies in

South-Eastern Nigeria and its implications for educational development in Eastern Nigeria.

Though the study takes Onitsha, as it’s focal, the facts therein are a reflection of the general state

of affairs of missionary education during the colonial era in other areas of Igboland.

C.N. Ubah’s, “Western Education in Africa: The Igbo Experience, 1900-1960”26

gives lucid

details of how Western type of education was introduced and developed among the Igbo of

South-Eastern Nigeria. It focuses attention on three features of Igbo experience, namely, the

factors that impeded or aided the development of the education system, the objective and

problems of Christian missionaries in the field of education and the position of teachers and

curriculum. Though the work takes Otanchara and Otanzu as case studies, but the experiences

are marginally true of the general Igbo experience and that of this study.

Magnus Bassey’s “Missionary Rivalry and Educational Expansion in Southern Nigeria

1885-1932”27

traces the origin of the 19th

century missions in Nigeria. It limits its research to the

Anglican Church Mission Society and the Roman Catholic Mission (RCM). Also mentioned,

25

C. M. Cooke, “The Missionaries and Ibo,” review of Ekechi, F. K.Missionary Enterprise and Rivalry in Igboland

1857-1914, The Journal of African History, 14, No. 1 (1973): 154-155.

26

C.N. Ubah, “Western Education in Africa: The Igbo Experience 1900-1960” Comparative Education review. 24,

No. 3 (1980): 1-19. 27

B. Magnus, “Missionary Rivalry and Educational Expansion in Southern Nigeria 1885-1932”, Journal of Negro

Education 60, No. 1. (1991): 36-46.

21

21

were the responses of the people of Southern Nigeria, in relation to acceptance and rejection of

missionaries. As the missionaries realized the importance of Western education as a veritable

avenue for conversion, this perception brought a big rivalry and rush by the missions to establish

schools as a way of winning more converts to its side, training African catechists and workers.

Thus, a rapid expansion of education in Southern Nigeria was witnessed between the periods

under review. To this end, the author argues that the high expansion of education witnessed was

actually an accidental outcome of church and missionary rivalry rather than an altruistic policy to

provide expanded educational opportunities for the African populace. Though, mentions were

made of Wesleyan Methodist Mission educational achievement in Southern Nigeria, the author

generally limits his study of missionary rivalry to the Roman Catholic and Church Mission

Society around the Onitsha axis of Igboland. It thus, offers a hint to the speedy establishment of

schools in parts of Igboland, which experienced the result of mission rivalries.

In S.N. Nwabara’sIboland: A Century of Contact with Britain, 1860-196028

focuses on the

methods of British penetration into Igboland from 1860 to Nigerian independence in 1960. For

the purposes of this review, it may be convenient to divide the book into three major sections: (1)

British penetration of Igboland through trade, religion (Christianity), and education; (2) Anglo-

Igbo military encounter; and (3) colonial administration, conflict, and decolonization. The book’s

treatment of the role of the Christian missions in the furtherance of the imperialistic concerns of

their home country is of interest to this work.

Nzekwu, Tobechukwu’s “Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha 1925-1998”29

is an

appraisal of the efforts of the Church Mission Society (CMS) and its agents to establish a

Grammar School in Eastern Nigeria. The aim was to help in the evangelization of Onitsha and its

environs, through training of indigenous agents to help carry the gospel further into the Igbo

hinterlands and win more converts to its denomination. Schools were seen as a veritable agent of

these evangelization efforts. Nzekwu chronicles the history of the School from the colonial

period of its establishment to the end of the Nigerian Civil War, bringing out the developments

that had taken place. The work is relevant for this study as it offers a comparative term of the

history of a mission school in the frame of Methodist College, Uzuakoli.

Ogbu Kalu’s “Primitive Methodist on the Railroad Junction of Igboland, 1910-1931”30

analyzes

the missionary enterprise of the primitive Methodist Mission in Igboland until they lost their

‘Primitive stripe’ in 1932. The accounts of Reverend Fred Dodds dominate the author’s

28

S.N. Nwabara, Iboland: A Century of Contact with Britain, 1860-1960, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1977) 29

Nzekwu, Tobechukwu, Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha 1925-1998” (B.A project, University of

Nigeria, Nsukka, 1998)

30 K. Ogbu, “Primitive Methodist on the Railroad Junction of Igboland, 1910-1931” Journal of Religion in Africa, 16,

No. 1, (1986): 44-66.

22

22

narratives of the Primitive Methodist in Igboland. He asserts that the writing of church history

should not only concern the activities of European missionaries, but should also include their

African agent and the responses by locals to the new religious ideas of their guest.

The work is divided into two parts by the author for easy comprehension. In the first section

named, ‘The home base’, the work highlights the character of the Primitive Methodist

Missionary Society in Britain, starting from its split from the Wesleyans, to the political,

economic and religious determinants of the evangelical revival of the 19th

century. The second

section named ‘the field,’ is basically a follow up of the first. It outlined how in spite of the size,

difficulties and limitations of the Primitive Missionaries men on the field in Igboland, made

spirited efforts to evangelize much of the railroad junctions in Igboland, overcoming rivalries

from other missions, antagonism from many communities and shortage of funds and men.

Progresses made in evangelization, education and healthcare were recorded at great length, in

this, two primitive missionaries names stood out in the author’s narrative, namely Reverend

Christie and the ‘charismatic’ Reverend Dodds. The author asserted that the frequent

Conference between the various Missionary societies in the Igbo hinterland prevented intense

rivalry in the area that would have resulted in rapid educational expansion which was the case in

the Onitsha axis of Igboland. The work is important to this study as it offers a peep into the early

days of the Primitive Methodist mission in Uzuakoli and environs and events leading up to the

establishment of the College.

Another useful work is Lawrence Amadi’s, “Public Education Edict, 1970: Educational

Transition in East Central State, Nigeria”31

According to the author, the introduction of the

Public Education Edict, 1970, in East Central State, was an important episode in the history of

education by the State, and possibly in the whole of Nigeria. Its potential impact was not only

educational but also political and social. The purpose of Amadi’s work was to analyze and

examine briefly the edict in relation to the society. Emphasis was placed on the background

leading to the Edict, its implications and implementation in a post civil war East Central State of

Nigeria. It traced the history of education in Nigeria from the time of missionaries to the various

educational ordinances in Nigeria from pre-colonial to colonial times. The author made a critique

of the lack of unity of curriculum, especially among the various mission schools that dominated

education during the pre-colonial to early independence period in Nigeria. The work is, however,

important for it offers first-hand appraisal of the Education Edict of 1970. On the whole, it offers

a one-sided assessment of the pros and cons of the Edict as it totally appraises the Government of

East Central State while being critical of the missions. The work is important in understanding

the post-civil war educational policy of the East-Central State of Nigeria and accompanying

developments that followed.

31

E. L. Amadi, “Public Education Edict, 1970: Educational Transition in East Central State, Nigeria” Journal of Negro

Education 48, No. 4 (1979): 530-543.

23

23

K.O. Umezurumba, Christianity and Western Education in Umuahia, 1917-199132

examines

colonialism and the import of Western education into Umuahia and the impact on Igbo political,

socio-cultural and economic life. It takes Umuahia, the capital of present day Abia State in

Nigeria as a case study. The work highlight the efforts of the various Missionary societies in

Umuahia and its environ to establish Western education, it also highlights the various clashes the

‘new religion’ brought by the missionaries had with the traditional Igbo culture and how

colonialism brought contradictions to the political cum socio-economic life of the Igbo society. It

discusses the reasons the Igbo were receptive to the western styled education. The work is useful

in detailing the development of Western education in colonial Umuahia and stops at that. Little

detail is given of the development of education in the post-colonial era, unlike the present

research that extends to

M.M. Familusi’s, Methodism in Nigeria, 1842-199233

is an attempt at reconstructing the

history of the Methodist Church in Nigeria from 1842, when the first Wesleyan missionaries

landed in Badagry, to 1992 when the Church celebrated its 150th

anniversary in Nigeria.

Familusi’s work details the development of the Church all over Nigeria and some of the agents

of this development, but the bulk of the work focuses on Western Nigeria and little on Eastern

Nigeria and other regions in Nigeria. The stride of the Church towards educational development

in Nigeria received the author’s attention. In the author’s analysis of the Nigerian Civil War and

the breakaway of the Eastern Methodist Church, one doubts if Familuisi is guided by the facts of

the war or writing on mere sentiments. The work is a good tool for any church historian who has

the Methodist Church as a focus. It is also important to the study as it chronicles development of

education (via establishment of schools) by the Methodist in all parts of Nigeria. Having known

that the literatures above could not include the Methodist College, Uzuakoli from 1923-2012,

this researcher had no alternative than to do this work.

Sources, Methods and Organization

This study is approached from the historical method of narration; it combines qualitative method

with analysis of facts.The qualitative approach aims at in-depth understanding of behaviors of

the missionaries that administered the school and reasons that govern such behavior. This will

help in the analysis of facts gathered. The study also applies interdisciplinary approach and uses

facts from the discipline of religion and education to complement history.

Data for the study was gathered from two sources namely primary sources and secondary

sources. Primary sources were derived mainly from oral interviews, communiqué, official

documents.To better understand various periods of the College’s development, Old Boys who

32

K.O. Umezurumba, “Christianity and Western Education in Umuahia 1917-1991” (B.A project, University of

Nigeria, Nsukka, 1995) 33

M.M. Familusi, Methodism in Nigeria 1842-1992 (Ibadan: Olusanmi Printing works, 1992)

24

24

had attended the College at diverse periods were interviewedin Lagos, Umuahia and Uzuakoli,

also interviewed were past and present Principals and staff of the College. In Uzuakoli where the

College is located, traditional rulers, elders and women leaders were interviewed, with a view to

get a better picture of the impact of the College in Uzuakoli and its environs. Information

gathered from oral interviews were augmented with government gazette, communiqués and

written records sourced from National Archives, Enugu; Institute of African Studies, Nsukka;

Methodist College, Uzuakoli Library; and the Nnamdi Azikiwe Library, Nsukka. The secondary

sources were derived mainly from books, online and print journals, magazines, unpublished

project works and other related articles on print and online media.

The work is divided into five chapters; Chapter one is the background to the study. Chapter two

looks at the College from its formative years till 1960. Chapter three looks at the history of the

College from independence to the end of the Nigerian civil war in 1970. Chapter four assesses

the College under government control. Chapter five summaries and concludes the work.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Uzuakoli is an ancient chiefdom in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State. It is

made up of five villages: Amamba, Eluoma, Ngwu, Amankwo and Agbozu. It is believed that

Ozu had five brave sons whose names were Oma, Ngwu, Mbah, Nkwo and Ozo. When these

25

25

sons grew up, they built their homes a little further away from their father’s, which became

the central meeting point.

It is from their five homes that the five villages which make up Uzuakoli

developed. The five villages united to form Uzuakoli, a compound of the

names of their father, Ozu, and their grandfather Akoli, the name was

corrupted to Uzuakoli by the railway authorities and Uzuakoli is the

version generally used today34

.

Uzuakoli has a total landscape of 28.8 square kilometers, bounded in the North by Lohum;

East by Ozuitem; and South by Ubani and Lodu Imenyi, respectively. It falls between 7.32

and 8.36 East of the Equator. The climate of the area does not differ from the rest of the rain

forest belt of Eastern Nigeria. Uzuakoli enjoys a warm tropical climate with well-defined wet

and dry seasons35

.

Prior to the establishment of colonial rule in Igbo hinterland, Uzuakoli was a notable

slave market with many middlemen from Awka, Aro, Bende and surrounding communities

living and trading there. It assumed this role of an important slave market after the colonial

military conquest of Bende in189636

, which robbed the latter of her middlemen role as a slave

market to the Aro and thus the Aro moved over to nearby Uzuakoli that was a more central

location and had long lobbied for the market.37

Slaves were bought at Eke-oba and Eke-Ukwu

(the two markets made up the Abangwu market in Uzuakoli), and taken through the slave

route to Bende via Ozuitem, Arochukwu and then transported oversea through Cross River

34

A. J. Fox,Uzuakoli: A Short History (London: Oxford University Press, 1964), 5. 35

I. A. Nwokoro, Historical study of the Okonko society, 1996-2006.(B.A Project, History And International

Relations, Abia State University, 2008), 10. 36

For a comprehensive perusal of the conquest of igboland, see S.N. Nwabara’s Iboland: A Century of Contact with

Britain, 1860-1960, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1977) 37

A. J. Fox, Uzuakoli: A Short …, 11.

26

26

State.38

Apart from slave trade, Uzuakoli has remained an agrarian society noted mostly for

yam and cocoyam cultivation/production with a population of 60, 000 according to the 2006

census result.

The origin of modern education in Nigeria dates back to September 24,1842 when Rev.

Thomas Birch Freeman and Mr. and Mrs. William De Graft of the Wesleyan Methodist

arrived Badagry to start both Christian and education work. Later, other missions such as the

Church Missionary Society (CMS), the Roman Catholic Mission and the United Presbyterian

Church arrived Nigeria for the same purpose. The origin of 19th

century missions in Nigeria

followed the evangelical revival movements in Europe during the late 18th century. The

European evangelical movement was due largely to the work of John Wesley. Wesley's

challenge to the established Anglican Church, led to the anticlerical and evangelical

movements and, consequently, to the "Protestant awakening" which swept across Europe and

America in the 19th century.39

This awakening demanded renewed zeal and commitment on

the part of individual Christians as well as deep concern for the personal act of conversion. It

was Wesley's message that strengthened the desire for missionary work. Other missionary

groups represented in Nigeria were the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, the

Presbyterian Church, Adventist, Baptist of Scotland, and the Baptists from the (American)

Southern Baptist Convention, Society of African Missions (the Catholic Mission) from France

and the Primitive MethodistMission.40

38

The slave route that linked Uzuakoli to Bende is still visible today and passed through the Methodist College

Uzuakoli 39


Education 60, No. 1, (1991): 36. 40

B. Magnus, “Missionary Rivalry and Educational…, 37.

27

27

Colonial rule, which was also a driving force in the missionary process, was not established in

Igbo hinterland until after 1900. The Aro-Expedition of 1901-1902 opened the Igbo hinterland

and touched off a scramble among missionary bodies of various hues. The work of the

missionaries in Southern Nigeria was not easy sailing. For a while, a few Africans and their

rulers patronized the missionary enterprise, others rejected its intrusion in any form. On the

whole, support or lack of it for missionary work was greatly influenced by internal

developments in Southern Nigeria. Further invitations arose out of schisms over joint

ownership of church bells, personality clashes or inter-village rivalry. The differences in

ideology and orientation of the foreign missionaries touched off rivalry by among then to

outwit each other in the capture of adherents. As it became difficult to convert adults in the

African society, education was seen as the easiest and most sustainable way of winning

converts. As children educated in the school of a particular mission sect, grew up to

automatically become adherents/propagators of that denomination of Christian faith.

The Primitive Methodist Mission first came into Africa in 1870 through Fernando Po (present

day Equatorial Guinea).It was then a Spanish territory. They built a station and started

evangelical work, but their progress was hampered by the activities of the Spanish Catholic

Mission who later banned it. The mission started making plans in 1890 to move to a British

controlled territory and Nigeria was chosen as the new location. Archibong Town became the

first town in which the mission settled in Nigeria in 189341

and by 1895, a church, a school

41


Ltd., 1997), 12.

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28

and a mission house were built there42

. Later they moved to Oron, Adadia, Ikot-Ekpene and

the environs. Reverend William Christie, a Scot, was instrumental to the occupation of many

of these towns.43

Having also realized the importance of education to evangelism, the

Primitive Methodist Mission built in 1905 Training Institute at Oron, to train catechist and

teachers to further their imperialistic cum missionary agenda. The British conquest of

Arochukwu and subsequent destruction of its famed Ibinu-Ukpabi, encouraged the mission to

begin to consider the idea of venturing into Igbo hinterland for evangelization.

Reverend William Christie first made a start at Arriam (Erriam) and later Ndioro in Ikwuano

LGA Umuahia, but failed to get a footing there. Relief came his way when the Bende District

Officer, Major W.A.E. Cockburn who placed a high premium on Christian missionary

enterprise, invited him. He was convinced that Bende people would be friendly and quite

disposed to the whiteman.44

Bende District was by that time having its first contact with

European Missionaries in this period (1909-1910).Reverend Christie had a hostile reception at

Uzuakoli, a slave market, which attracted a wide clientele. The colonial government officials

and missionaries discovered to their chagrin, the role of the middlemen in the lucrative trade.

Equally, endemic fighting was reported as exceedingly common.45

However, Christie was

impressed with Uzuakoli and its avenues and the planned quarters of the various trading

groups from Abiriba, Arochukwu, the Delta areas, Awka and Onitsha.46

Before he passed the

42

In 1902, a joint boundary commission by both the British and German governments to delineate their

boundaries in Africa, gave a ruling that Archibong Town was part of the German territory, the PM was thus forced

to move to Oron. 43



K. Ogbu, “Primitive Methodist on the Railroad Junction of Igboland, 1910-1931” Journal of Religion in Africa, 16,

No. 1, (1986): 56. 46

A. J.Fox, Uzuakoli: A Short History…, 98.

29

29

gauntlet on to Reverend Dodds, he paid a few more visits to Uzuakoli and prepared the

ground for its effective missionary occupation by stationing a teacher there in October 1910.

The latter conducted regular Sunday services in his bid to build a church in the town.

Reverend Dodds on assumption of office continued to press on and in 1912 established a

small church in Uzuakoli and Mr. Dappa was sent to the town to nurse the new church to life.

To provide teachers for the churches and primary schools that were springing up in

Igboland47

, Reverend Dodds had in 1913 sent some boys to the Training School at Oron. Due

to the far location of Oron from Uzuakoli, Bende, Isuikwuato, and the inadequate means of

transportation, the idea of building an institute in the Igbo hinterland similar to that at Oron

started gaining momentum.

The introduction of Western education became possible when at its maiden Synod in

Eastern Nigeria, the Council of Primitive Methodist ministers in Nigeria, made the following

observation:

Our object is in general terms, the spread of specifically Christian

education for the African as an African. Stated more generally, it is an

attempt to provide education not merely as an independent good, or as a

means to material ends, but also in definite relation to his spiritual

foundations of life as exhibited in the teaching of Jesus Christ, and at the

same time to relate the instruction to African life so that the product may

be truly African as the native material provided.48

Thus, right from the very beginning, the Primitive Methodist was committed to providing it’s

converts with ‘Christian education’. For the missionaries, evangelism was to be promoted

through formal education. Another reason education was seen as critical to evangelism was

47

Primitive Methodist had very few foreign missionaries in the field, due to financial and logistic problems in the

Home field; thus, a need arose to recruit from the native populace. 48

F.W. Dodds, “Nigeria Policy: XI-Education” Advance, p.24 quoted in F. Anyika,Methodism in Igboland, Eastern

Nigeria 1910-1932: Genesis and Growth (Onitsha: Cape Publishers Int’l Ltd., 1997), 125.

30

30

the need on the part of both the teachers and the newly converted to acquire the skills of

reading the Bible and writing in the white man’s language. Consequently, missionaries turned

their attention to youths and schools as sources of conversion because they soon realized, to

their utter dismay, the futility of trying to convert influential men in the Igbo society.

A central site was sought for the establishment of the Primitive Methodist and an Institute in

Igboland; Bende that provided a strong foothold for the mission, was considered too remote.

The railway line that crossed Uzuakoli in 191549

, gave it an added advantage over other

villages since it made for easy communication.

Theoretical Framework

The theory used for this study is the Social Systems Theory and Structural Functionalism: The

social system theory is a collection of interrelated parts which form some whole, using an

organismic metaphor to describe formal organizations (schools) with the same principles and

concepts used to describe biological organisms. General systems theory is most closely

associated with Ludwig Von Bertalanffy, whose work in the 1920s and 1930s captured the

dynamic relationship between biological organisms and their environment. A Viennese

biologist, Bertalanffy brought together the common principle of an evolving systems approach

in such diverse disciplines as biology, the social sciences and economics under the rubric of

general systems theory. He defined a system as “sets of elements standing in interrelation”50

49

In 1913, work began on the Port Harcourt-Enugu Railway, and the Primitive Methodist made a deliberate

decision to get up a chain of missions along the railway, at Uzuakoli, Umuahia, Ihube, Ovim and in Udi area. See

Elizabeth Isichei’s History of the Igbo People (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1976). Francis Jaekel The History of

the Nigerian Railway (Ibadan:Spectrum Books, 1997) Vol 1-3 50

V. B. Ludwig, General System Theory (New York: Braziller, 1968), 38.

31

31

General system theory provides concepts that are useful for understanding and analyzing the

functioning of schools and the broader context in which they function. Schools are social

systems and like all social systems, there are inputs, processing and output system; a system

of interdependent parts to achieve a goal. Schools are specific type of social system that

sociologists label ‘formal organizations’51

unlike informal organizations that are more

typically less organized, schools like Methodist College, Uzuakoli have been painfully and

carefully instituted to accomplish specific objectives and typically have more rigidly enforced

rules and norms that govern social interaction and performance.

Edgar Schein described two major goals of social system, such as schools that interact in a

highly interdependent state: (1) external adaptation, which addresses the mission and purpose

of the system, and (2) internal integration, which addresses the internal functioning of the

system. A school without internal bond of commitment, supportive cohesion, a sense of caring

and support is unlikely to achieve its mission.52

In the context of managing the problems of

external adaptation and internal integration, social systems develop group boundaries that

define insider and outsiders and rules for behavior that regulate interactions and exchanges.

Over time, they also develop cultures, which Schein defines as:

a pattern of basic assumptions-invented, discovered, or developed by a

given group as it learns to cope with its problem of external adaptation

and internal integration-that has worked well enough to be considered

valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to

perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems to achieving system

level goals and objectives.53

51

V. B. Ludwig, General System Theory…, 9. 52

E. Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1985), 20. 53

E. Schein, Organizational Culture and…, 9.

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32

To fully understand the social system theory as it relates to this study, one has to bear in

mind, the reason for the establishment of Methodist College, Uzuakoli. The missionaries’ aim

of coming to Africa, or the so-called ‘heathen lands’ as Africa was called then, was primarily

for evangelization of the Christian faith as seen from their own societies ideology as distinct

from that of the other Christian missionaries. The differences in ideology and orientation of

the foreign missionaries touched off a rivalry between them to outwit each other in the capture

of adherents. As it became difficult to convert adults in the African society, education was

seen as the easiest and most sustainable way of winning converts. Again, education appealed

to the Africans in different ways. It was a means of knowing the ways of the whiteman and

integrating fully into his new system of economic and political ideals. So, education by the

missionaries was not seen as an end in itself, but as a means to an end. Missionaries used

Western education to train Africans as catechists, messengers, and other positions needed to

assist them in realizing their desired objectives and those of their colonial cohorts. To achieve

that aim, clergymen were appointed as principals, while most of the teachers were Methodists

who were trained teachers in training institutes owned by the Methodist Mission. The

curriculum apart from having subjects in the arts and sciences, also have a strong religious

and moral instruction imbibed in them. A former old boy of Methodist College Uzuakoli

noted, ‘your teacher was first of all your pastor before he becomes a teacher’.54

So according

to Edgar Schein’s two goals of a social system (1) external adaptation, which addresses the

mission and purpose of the system-which addressed the mission and purpose for the

establishment of the college, was the mission’s need for converts in South-Eastern Nigeria,

54

E. Uchenna, 68 Years, old boy, interviewed at Umuahia, 14th

November, 2013.

33

33

Schein’s number two goal of a social system-internal integration, which addresses the internal

functioning of the system was achieved by appointment of clergy men as principals, trained

teachers, and the introduction of curriculum which placed overwhelming emphasis on

religious education. They practiced strict student admission process and creation of a strong

moral/religious discipline. All these factors worked in synergy to achieve the purpose of the

missionaries just like that of an organism.

Statement of the Problem

Methodist College, Uzuakoli, is one of the foremost elitist secondary schools in Eastern

Nigeria contemporaneous with Methodist College, Ibadan; Dennis Memorial, Onitsha; Hope

Waddell, Calabar; and the Government College, Umuahia. It has produced notable men in all

areas of human endeavors in Igboland and Nigeria. It’s role in the development of manpower

that have helped to shape the future of Igboland in particular and Nigeria in general is well

known.From inception in 1923 to the present, this role has not received scholarly attention.

This work is undertaken to bridge this important but neglected theme. However,the Civil War

of 1967-1970 completely destroyed and ruined the College. At the end of the war, it came

under Government control, which led to deterioration in morals, management and educational

standard of the College. This period of the College’s history is yet to be researched and

documented.

Purpose of Study

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34

The aim of the study is to preserve for posterity, the history, role, and achievement of the

Methodist College Uzuakoli in the annals of educational and manpower development of

Nigeria. The little that has been written about the institution cannot be said to be

comprehensive enough for a fuller understanding of the role and place of this famous

Institution in the educational life of the Igbo people in particular and Nigeria in general. Its

impact on the development of Uzuakoli is yet to be assessed. The history of the College

during the inter-war year and afterwards has been ignored. These are the lacuna this work

attempts to bridge.

Significance of Study

The Study will help to better appreciate the role Missionary schools like Methodist College

Uzuakoli have played in Manpower development in pre and post independent Igboland and

Nigeria.The work will also serve as a reference point to policy makers on education, to past

and present students of the college and other general readers. It will help to guide those

seeking reforms in our education sector to know the history of our educational development

vis-à-vis Methodist College, Uzuakoli and draw one or two examples of what is needed to

improve the standard of our education.

Scope of Study

The study start with the establishment of the Ibo Boys Institute,Uzuakoli that later became

Methodist College, Uzuakoli in 1923. It ends in 2012 when the College was handed back to

the Methodist church after the state government’s initial takeover in 1970.

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35

Literature Review

As earlier stated, the history of western education in Nigeria is, to a great extent, the history of

the activities of the missionary societies that came into Nigeria. The origin of modern

education in Nigeria dates back to September 24, 1842 when the first Wesleyan Missionaries

landed in Nigeria and began evangelization. Then education was seen as a major part of that

goal. Since then, it has been a history of mixed fortunes for the Nigerian educational sector.

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College Uzuakoli: A Short History55

is an attempt by the

Old Boys Association of Uzuakoli to produce a written history of their alma mater. The work

gives a brief history of the College from its establishment in 1923 to the aftermath of Nigerian

civil war, with the bulk of the work focusing on the period between Nigeria’s independence in

1960 to the start of the civil war. The work on the whole is exploratory and presented on a

pamphlet; it gives this research work a good background. However, the present work intends

to give a more detailed and comprehensive history of the College beyond the start of the civil

war and the period of government administration.

S.K. Okpo, A brief History of the Methodist Church in Eastern Nigeria56

offers a brief

history of the Methodist Church from the time of the landing of the Primitive Missions in

Fernando Po, to the indigenization in 1976. It examined the efforts of the Methodist Mission

in spreading the gospel in various parts of Eastern Nigeria. The contribution of foreigners as

well as Nigerians to the mission was greatly appraised by Okpo’s work.

55

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College Uzuakoli: A Short History (Owerri: New Africa Publishing Ltd, 1995) 56

.S.K. Okpo., A brief History of the Methodist Church in Eastern Nigeria (Oron: Manson publishing Company, 1985)

36

36

The interest of the work to this research is the author’s concise narrative of the efforts of

the mission towards the development of education starting from the Oron Institute; Ibo Boys

Institute; and efforts at women education championed by Miss Amy Richardson and Mrs.

Langley. On the whole, the work details the contributions of education as it concerns the

training of ministers for evangelizations. The work is very useful to any enthusiast of the

Methodist faith and history, as it details the efforts of the Methodist Missionary enterprise in

Eastern Nigeria, but did not extend to 2012. Hence, the need for this research.

Francis Anyika’sMethodism in Igboland, Eastern Nigeria, 1910-193257

, offers a

detailed analysis of the beginning of Primitive Methodism in Nigeria, to the time of its

unification with the Wesleyan Methodist sect, which was predominant in Southwestern

Nigeria. Anyika divides the thrust of the primitive mission in Igboland into three stages,

namely: the first advance, which covered the period, 1911-1914; the second advance which

covered 1915-1919; and the third advance covering 1920-1925. The work by Anyika also

treated factors that threatened the evangelization drive; varying from the hostility of some

Igbo communities, the paucity of personnel and outbreak of the First World War. This

informed the need of the mission to educate the indigenous populace to compliment the work

of the few Europeans in Igboland. Anyika’s book further looks at the establishment of the

Methodist College and its development up to 1932. Beyond this date, further development of

the College was left untreated.

57


Ltd., 1997)

37

37

F. K. Ekechi’s,Missionary Enterprise and Rivalry in Igboland, 1857-191458

concentrates on the Anglican Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.) and the Roman Catholic

Holy Ghost Fathers (C.S.Sp.). A major theme of the work is the rivalry of these two

missionary bodies, and in examining this, he makes considerable use of the archives of both

societies. With the penetration of the interior by the missionaries there also came rivalry, and

with its policy of education, the Catholic missionaries gained the upper hand. The C.S.Sp.

were quick to cooperate with government educational plans: they realized the status-

conferring quality of education and the attraction that this might have for the Ibo. The C.M.S.

lost many of their students to the 'secular education' of the Catholic mission. The story was

similar in Calabar, as the Efik grew dissatisfied with the education offered by the Presbyterian

mission: they thought it 'too religious'. The Catholics seemed to have been able to foresee the

attraction of education earlier than the C.M.S did. The work by Ekechi is basically on the

rivalry between two mission societies in South-Eastern Nigeria and its implications for

educational development in Eastern Nigeria. Though the study takes Onitsha, as it’s focal, the

facts therein are a reflection of the general state of affairs of missionary education during the

colonial era in other areas of Igboland.

C.N. Ubah’s, “Western Education in Africa: The Igbo Experience, 1900-1960”59

gives lucid

details of how Western type of education was introduced and developed among the Igbo of

South-Eastern Nigeria. It focuses attention on three features of Igbo experience, namely, the

58

C. M. Cooke, “The Missionaries and Ibo,” review of Ekechi, F. K.Missionary Enterprise and Rivalry in Igboland

1857-1914, The Journal of African History, 14, No. 1 (1973): 154-155.

59

C.N. Ubah, “Western Education in Africa: The Igbo Experience 1900-1960” Comparative Education review. 24,

No. 3 (1980): 1-19.

38

38

factors that impeded or aided the development of the education system, the objective and

problems of Christian missionaries in the field of education and the position of teachers and

curriculum. Though the work takes Otanchara and Otanzu as case studies, but the experiences

are marginally true of the general Igbo experience and that of this study.

Magnus Bassey’s “Missionary Rivalry and Educational Expansion in Southern Nigeria

1885-1932”60

traces the origin of the 19th

century missions in Nigeria. It limits its research to

the Anglican Church Mission Society and the Roman Catholic Mission (RCM). Also

mentioned, were the responses of the people of Southern Nigeria, in relation to acceptance and

rejection of missionaries. As the missionaries realized the importance of Western education as

a veritable avenue for conversion, this perception brought a big rivalry and rush by the

missions to establish schools as a way of winning more converts to its side, training African

catechists and workers. Thus, a rapid expansion of education in Southern Nigeria was

witnessed between the periods under review. To this end, the author argues that the high

expansion of education witnessed was actually an accidental outcome of church and

missionary rivalry rather than an altruistic policy to provide expanded educational

opportunities for the African populace. Though, mentions were made of Wesleyan Methodist

Mission educational achievement in Southern Nigeria, the author generally limits his study of

missionary rivalry to the Roman Catholic and Church Mission Society around the Onitsha

axis of Igboland. It thus, offers a hint to the speedy establishment of schools in parts of

Igboland, which experienced the result of mission rivalries.

60


Education 60, No. 1. (1991): 36-46.

39

39

In S.N. Nwabara’sIboland: A Century of Contact with Britain, 1860-196061

focuses on

the methods of British penetration into Igboland from 1860 to Nigerian independence in 1960.

For the purposes of this review, it may be convenient to divide the book into three major

sections: (1) British penetration of Igboland through trade, religion (Christianity), and

education; (2) Anglo- Igbo military encounter; and (3) colonial administration, conflict, and

decolonization. The book’s treatment of the role of the Christian missions in the furtherance

of the imperialistic concerns of their home country is of interest to this work.

Nzekwu, Tobechukwu’s “Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha 1925-1998”62

is an

appraisal of the efforts of the Church Mission Society (CMS) and its agents to establish a

Grammar School in Eastern Nigeria. The aim was to help in the evangelization of Onitsha and its

environs, through training of indigenous agents to help carry the gospel further into the Igbo

hinterlands and win more converts to its denomination. Schools were seen as a veritable agent of

these evangelization efforts. Nzekwu chronicles the history of the School from the colonial

period of its establishment to the end of the Nigerian Civil War, bringing out the developments

that had taken place. The work is relevant for this study as it offers a comparative term of the

history of a mission school in the frame of Methodist College, Uzuakoli.

Ogbu Kalu’s “Primitive Methodist on the Railroad Junction of Igboland, 1910-1931”63

analyzes the missionary enterprise of the primitive Methodist Mission in Igboland until they

lost their ‘Primitive stripe’ in 1932. The accounts of Reverend Fred Dodds dominate the

61

S.N. Nwabara, Iboland: A Century of Contact with Britain, 1860-1960, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1977) 62

Nzekwu, Tobechukwu, Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha 1925-1998” (B.A project, University of


63 K. Ogbu, “Primitive Methodist on the Railroad Junction of Igboland, 1910-1931” Journal of Religion in Africa, 16,

No. 1, (1986): 44-66.

40

40

author’s narratives of the Primitive Methodist in Igboland. He asserts that the writing of

church history should not only concern the activities of European missionaries, but should

also include their African agent and the responses by locals to the new religious ideas of their

guest.

The work is divided into two parts by the author for easy comprehension. In the first section

named, ‘The home base’, the work highlights the character of the Primitive Methodist

Missionary Society in Britain, starting from its split from the Wesleyans, to the political,

economic and religious determinants of the evangelical revival of the 19th

century. The

second section named ‘the field,’ is basically a follow up of the first. It outlined how in spite

of the size, difficulties and limitations of the Primitive Missionaries men on the field in

Igboland, made spirited efforts to evangelize much of the railroad junctions in Igboland,

overcoming rivalries from other missions, antagonism from many communities and shortage

of funds and men. Progresses made in evangelization, education and healthcare were recorded

at great length, in this, two primitive missionaries names stood out in the author’s narrative,

namely Reverend Christie and the ‘charismatic’ Reverend Dodds. The author asserted that

the frequent Conference between the various Missionary societies in the Igbo hinterland

prevented intense rivalry in the area that would have resulted in rapid educational expansion

which was the case in the Onitsha axis of Igboland. The work is important to this study as it

offers a peep into the early days of the Primitive Methodist mission in Uzuakoli and environs

and events leading up to the establishment of the College.

41

41

Another useful work is Lawrence Amadi’s, “Public Education Edict, 1970: Educational

Transition in East Central State, Nigeria”64

According to the author, the introduction of the

Public Education Edict, 1970, in East Central State, was an important episode in the history of

education by the State, and possibly in the whole of Nigeria. Its potential impact was not only

educational but also political and social. The purpose of Amadi’s work was to analyze and

examine briefly the edict in relation to the society. Emphasis was placed on the background

leading to the Edict, its implications and implementation in a post civil war East Central State

of Nigeria. It traced the history of education in Nigeria from the time of missionaries to the

various educational ordinances in Nigeria from pre-colonial to colonial times. The author

made a critique of the lack of unity of curriculum, especially among the various mission

schools that dominated education during the pre-colonial to early independence period in

Nigeria. The work is, however, important for it offers first-hand appraisal of the Education

Edict of 1970. On the whole, it offers a one-sided assessment of the pros and cons of the Edict

as it totally appraises the Government of East Central State while being critical of the

missions. The work is important in understanding the post-civil war educational policy of the

East-Central State of Nigeria and accompanying developments that followed.

K.O. Umezurumba, Christianity and Western Education in Umuahia, 1917-199165

examines

colonialism and the import of Western education into Umuahia and the impact on Igbo

political, socio-cultural and economic life. It takes Umuahia, the capital of present day Abia

State in Nigeria as a case study. The work highlight the efforts of the various Missionary

64


Education 48, No. 4 (1979): 530-543. 65

K.O. Umezurumba, “Christianity and Western Education in Umuahia 1917-1991” (B.A project, University of


42

42

societies in Umuahia and its environ to establish Western education, it also highlights the

various clashes the ‘new religion’ brought by the missionaries had with the traditional Igbo

culture and how colonialism brought contradictions to the political cum socio-economic life

of the Igbo society. It discusses the reasons the Igbo were receptive to the western styled

education. The work is useful in detailing the development of Western education in colonial

Umuahia and stops at that. Little detail is given of the development of education in the post-

colonial era, unlike the present research that extends to

M.M. Familusi’s, Methodism in Nigeria, 1842-199266

is an attempt at reconstructing

the history of the Methodist Church in Nigeria from 1842, when the first Wesleyan

missionaries landed in Badagry, to 1992 when the Church celebrated its 150th

anniversary in

Nigeria. Familusi’s work details the development of the Church all over Nigeria and some of

the agents of this development, but the bulk of the work focuses on Western Nigeria and little

on Eastern Nigeria and other regions in Nigeria. The stride of the Church towards educational

development in Nigeria received the author’s attention. In the author’s analysis of the

Nigerian Civil War and the breakaway of the Eastern Methodist Church, one doubts if

Familuisi is guided by the facts of the war or writing on mere sentiments. The work is a good

tool for any church historian who has the Methodist Church as a focus. It is also important to

the study as it chronicles development of education (via establishment of schools) by the

Methodist in all parts of Nigeria. Having known that the literatures above could not include

the Methodist College, Uzuakoli from 1923-2012, this researcher had no alternative than to do

this work.

66

M.M. Familusi, Methodism in Nigeria 1842-1992 (Ibadan: Olusanmi Printing works, 1992)

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43

Sources, Methods and Organization

This study is approached from the historical method of narration; it combines qualitative

method with analysis of facts.The qualitative approach aims at in-depth understanding of

behaviors of the missionaries that administered the school and reasons that govern such

behavior. This will help in the analysis of facts gathered. The study also applies

interdisciplinary approach and uses facts from the discipline of religion and education to

complement history.

Data for the study was gathered from two sources namely primary sources and secondary

sources. Primary sources were derived mainly from oral interviews, communiqué, official

documents.To better understand various periods of the College’s development, Old Boys who

had attended the College at diverse periods were interviewedin Lagos, Umuahia and

Uzuakoli, also interviewed were past and present Principals and staff of the College. In

Uzuakoli where the College is located, traditional rulers, elders and women leaders were

interviewed, with a view to get a better picture of the impact of the College in Uzuakoli and

its environs. Information gathered from oral interviews were augmented with government

gazette, communiqués and written records sourced from National Archives, Enugu; Institute

of African Studies, Nsukka; Methodist College, Uzuakoli Library; and the Nnamdi Azikiwe

Library, Nsukka. The secondary sources were derived mainly from books, online and print

journals, magazines, unpublished project works and other related articles on print and online

media.

The work is divided into five chapters; Chapter one is the background to the study. Chapter

two looks at the College from its formative years till 1960. Chapter three looks at the history

44

44

of the College from independence to the end of the Nigerian civil war in 1970. Chapter four

assesses the College under government control. Chapter five summaries and concludes the

work.

CHAPTER TWO

METHODIST COLLEGE, UZUAKOLI, 1923-1960

One of the first things the missionaries did on taking possession of a town was to plant a

school. This action was not always motivated by any interest to bless the converts with

Western education; rather uppermost in their minds was proselytization. This is because

educational institutions provided very fertile grounds for winning converts in large numbers.

Before graduating from the school, the pupil was urged to embrace Christianity by the

tremendous doses of Christian instructions, which he had received.67

Thus, because of its

proselytizing role, schools were opened with remarkable regularity. As this was the case

among missionaries, the Primitive Methodist Mission was no exception and on their

settlement in Archibong Town, a school was built alongside a church in 1895. But the first

real step towards the development of a Western education started a decade after, at Oron,

where aTraining Institute for Boys (boarding) was built in 1905. This was a direct outcome of

67

Francis Anyika, Methodism in Igboland…, 126.

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45

a proposal made on 16th

June, 1904 by Reverend Nathanial Boocock to the Primitive

Methodist Missionary Society (P.M.M.S) Executive Committee. During its meeting in

Birmingham, Boocock argued:

That Training Institute to be erected at Oron where we can receive

Boarders from our mission schools in Fernando Po and also the most

promising youths from our mission schools in mainland (Nigeria). That

while a general education be given which may include instruction in

Carpentry and other useful trades, the pre-eminent aim of the masters

shall be to train the youth with a view to their becoming Native Teaching

Evangelists.68

When the PM arrived in Bende in 1910, a small school was also planted there under the

guidance of Reverend Christie. With the establishment of schools and PM stations in

Igboland, the mission ran out of capable hands as there was dearth of Europeans to help in

proselytization and educational programme. Reverend Dodds had initially sought to solve this

problem in 1913 by sending pupils from Igboland to Oron for training as teachers and

Catechists. Oron was too far away and the transport system in place at that time did not help

matters. The only other near Institute was located at Awka and it was owned by the CMS, so

naturally the need for an Institute in Igboland started gaining momentum. Even the Education

Ordinance of 1916 did not help the fate of these PM schools as it asserted government’s firm

control over education. The Amended Ordinance No. 8 of 1919 gave more powers to the

Inspectors by allowing them to inspect any school, whether assisted or non-assisted and also

empowered the Education Board to, upon the recommendation of Inspectors, close non-

performing schools.69

Notwithstanding, conditions for setting up of a training institute was

68

Francis Anyika, Methodism in Igboland…, 128. 69

Martins Fabunmi, “Historical Analysis Of Educational Policy Formulation In Nigeria: Implications For Educational

Planning and Policy” Department of Educational Management, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. (2005): 1-7

46

46

also very favorable as the locals were becoming very eager for it that they raised in 1921

alone 600 pounds for the payment of teachers salary. The education ordinance also made

grants available to the government and mission schools that met their criteria.70

Land Acquisition

Land has remained the most valuable property in the life of man. It is a source of wealth to

those who have it and the mother of all properties. In other words, virtually all the basic needs

of human existence are land dependent. In view of the importance and usefulness of land, the

missionaries and their colonial partners sought land upon arrival in any community, as this

facilitated the effectiveoccupation of that community. The Primitive Methodist Mission was

no exception. According to Reverend Dodds;

It was to support Dappa and try to persuade the chiefs to give a piece

of land for a school that I went to Uzuakoli in January 1911...I found

the people strongly opposed to the mission coming to the town at all.

They gave me a strange reception.71

From the above quote by Reverend Dodds, one could see that the PM had in 1911 desired

land in Uzuakoli, to begin the gradual process of missionary activities. A school was

envisaged, but not the scale of Training Institute. A primary school where mostly religious

and moral instruction will be the subject offered. The Uzuakoli people were greatly opposed

to the mission presence as Reverend Dodds’account showed. The people were suspicious of

the white man (and rightly so), who they felt would interfere with the ancient customs of the

70


A. J. Fox , Uzuakoli: A Short History…, 96.

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47

town and the regular trade in slaves at the Abangwu market.72

The thinking was that a slave

could easily escape to the white man’s school and be set free; this thinking among the

Uzuakoli chiefs hindered the quick establishment of a mission at Uzuakoli. Promptly, the PM

set about establishing missions in other nearby communities like Ovim, Amuda, Umuawa,

Ihube, Ogboko Ozuitem, Okoko Item, Ohuhu.73

The fear of the Uzuakoli chiefs to the

intentions of the missionaries towards their ancient traditions and customs were a valid one, as

European narratives of the pre-colonial and colonial era viewed everything African as

paganistic and devilish. Africa was seen as being in need of emancipation from his

traditionalways by a total rejection of his old ways of life and embracing the Christian religion

the Europeans offered.

The need for Training Institute in the Igbo hinterland, gained more momentum as the

expansion drive of the PM into Igboland increased, new schools and churches were built, the

demand for qualified teachers and catechist greatly increased too. Also as the expansion drive

by the PM into Igboland increased, so did acceptability of Igbo people vis-a-vis the Uzuakoli

people to the PM increase. A number of factors can be deduced for this gradual change of

heart. These were the perceived support of mission by government, security (which comes

with government support), inter-village rivalry, personality clash and the building of a railway

across Uzuakoli which brought close government presence and also reduced the client and

importance of the Abangwu market in Uzuakoli.

At the present College site, was formerly a government rest house. With the coming of the

railway, the government built another rest house nearer the railway station and thereafter

72

A. J. Fox , Uzuakoli: A Short History..., 97. 73

Ogbonnaya H.C et al, Methodist College Uzuakoli: A Short History (Owerri: New Africa Publishing Ltd, 1995), 1.

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48

abandoned the old rest house, it was at this site that Uzuakoli elders led by Chief

Iheukwumere74

agreed with the PM to build a school and training college. The new site

became a mission station of the PM in Uzuakoli; a church/school was established there. It was

not until 1922, after several deputations that Holborn Hall instructed that work on the

proposed site should commence without further delay. After Uzuakoli became the obvious

choice for the building of the Institute, the mission station was seen as the ideal location for a

school. Thus, it was decided to build the College at its present location, while the mission

station was relocated to another site. The PM thus had two enormous projects to execute in

1922, namely, to erect an Institute and to establish a new mission station.

Building of the College

The task of building any great structure with minimal monetary budget always poses great

problem to any builder. So when the task of erecting the first structures for the proposed PM

Boys Institute in Uzuakoli, Reverend Robert Banhamwas contacted. Banham had earlier in

1905 been in charge of building the Oron Training Institute, which was the first boarding

school (primary) that the PM established for Boys in Eastern Nigeria (the Teachers Training

and Secondary school sections were added some years later). Consequently under the

supervision of Banham, the first buildings right from the classrooms to the Principal’s house

were entirely made of mud and was finished at the end of 1922 for the grand opening of the

Institute on 11th

January 1923.75

Thus the dream of a boarding Institute for Boys in the Igbo

74

Chief Iheukwumere though agreed to grant a land to the PM Mission after many persuasions/inducements

including that of training one of his sons in the PM school, that he never converted to Christianity throughout his

lifetime, speaks volume of the resilience of Uzuakoli customs and traditions in the face of foreign opposition see A.

J. Fox (ed.), Uzuakoli: A Short History (London: Oxford University Press, 1964), 98. 75

F. Anyika, Methodism in Igboland, Eastern…, 130.

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49

hinterland by the PM was born. The Institute had the Reverend J.B. Hardy as its first

Principal. No one captures the mood of PM than the builder Reverend Banham who enthused:

One feels the thrill of it all and rejoices over a successful opening of the

Institute. There was never any doubt about the success of venture

ultimately but to have such a glorious beginning augurs well for the

future and confirms ones faith in the work.76

As much as literature on the early day of the College have been fast to table all credits to

building of the College to Reverend Banham, it is worthy to note the efforts of many

individuals from Eastern Nigeria like Mr. Pita Nwana who was a good carpenter and did most

of the early carpentry works on the first school buildings.It is also worthy to note that during

the period under review, the school made most of the instruments and furniture used in the

school. Pita Nwana was to later become a permanent foreman in the College and was an

instructor on carpentry in the College workshop. Several other easterners contributed

immensely to helping set up the first buildings of the College, which wouldn’t have been

possible with European standard of wage for labour. The easterners provided cheap labour

that enabled the PM with its very thin budget to complete works on the Institute on time for

eventual takeoff in 1923.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

The Institute under Reverend J.B. Hardy

The Institute started in January 1923, with Rev. J.B. Hardy as Principal, other staff members

included Mrs. Hardy, Mr. Udo U. Awa and Mr. Eyo. From Hope Waddell Training Institute

76

Banham to Barkby PMMS Archives, London, MMS/1163, 9th

February 1923 quoted in Francis Anyika, Methodism

in Igboland…, 130.

50

50

Calabar, came Mr. Obiaku Ibezim, Mr. Iheukwumere, Ndubueze Ogbonna and Daniel Mba.

The Institute began with these staff and a syllabus for primary school; the only difference was

that the scripture was on the timetable. The school fee was set at fifteen shillings per term; out

of the fifteen shillings, each pupil received a shilling per week for his feeding and the term

lasted for twelve weeks.77

This meant that each pupil paid only three shillings for both tuition

and boarding fees.

Though Reverend Hardy had the enviable position of being the pioneer principal of the Ibo

Boys Institute, he set about his duty swiftly. As soon as normal academic work started, Rev.

Hardy introduced sporting activities. In the same year, school inspectors Messrs Flemings and

Clarke from Bonny visited the school from 19th

to 22nd

March 1923.78

The School held its first

annual sports meeting on 15th

June 1923; the event attracted the Assistant District School

Officer and his wife, Captain and Mrs. Cribble. September 1923 was a month of great stride

for the Institute as in this month, the Inspector of Government Assisted Schools, Mr. W.B.

Stimson visited and inspected the school, and consequently, the Institute was recognized by

the government and included on the list of government assisted schools. Mr. Stimson also

approved of all the Institute teachers but one, the said teacher was promptly replaced after the

inspector’s departure. In 1924, Reverend Hardy left the College

The Institute under Reverend Williams (1924-1939)

77

The boys were responsible for their own feeding as there were no dining facilities in those days, some buying

their food at the Eke Market while others received supplies from home or by relatives who came to the market.

The later set were also refunded the twelve shillings due them for feeding from the Institute 78

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College…, 4.

51

51

Reverend H.L.O. Williams took over as Acting Principal upon Reverend Hardy’s departure

for leave to England. He was later made the substantive principal as when Reverend Hardy

failed to return back to Nigeria. According to H.C. Ogbonnaya, “Reverend Williams was a

man of vision, he visualized an African society, organized and ruled by Africans.79

Thus he

worked towards a time when an African would be principal of the Institute.In 1925, a new

dormitory was added. Furthermore, an infant department was added in August 1925. Also, the

House system was introduced, thus the four dormitories were now termed Houses and were

now to be known as Houses A,B,C and D. For each House, a captain was appointed.80

The

House system increased competitiveness in sports as inter-house Football, Volleyball and

Cricket were keenly contested and a flag was awarded to the winning House with all the

bragging rights.

The Uzuakoli Boys Institute attained the status of a training College on January 1926

when a normal (Teachers) training department for teachers was added. Subsequently, the

school was renamed The Training Institute, Uzuakoli. Thus, the teachers’ training started

under the watchful eyes of Reverend Williams with 13 pioneer students.81

The only limitation

was that Reverend William was the only one qualified to teach both Form 1 and the Teachers

Training Department in all subjects.Reverend Williams besides teaching all subjects in the

Secondary and Normal Departments and exercising pastoral oversight over all students, he

also bore the entire administrative burden. One can only marvel at how one man can

satisfactory perform this duties promptly. It calls into question how little the Primitive

79

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College…, 12. 80


F. Anyika, Methodism in Igboland, Eastern…, 131.

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52

Methodist mission were willing to invest in quality education for Africans, commiserate with

that of European educational standards other than basic education needed for clerical and

evangelical works. It can be argued, and rightly so, that if the missionaries had a way of

converting Africans without educating them, they would have taken that option as a

missionary, Father Legeune affirms; education is the only way ahead in Africa, there is no

other way to convert the people.82

Thus, starting as a primary school, a secondary wing

emerged, and an infant school was started to feed the primary school; while the primary

school fed the secondary school and the primary school also served as a practicing school for

the teacher training students. In September 1926, the principal Reverend Williams went on

leave, while Reverend Wiles took over for the seven months period the leave lasted83

. On the

return of Reverend Williams in May 1927, he and Wiles worked together in the Secondary

and teachers training section of the Institute (Reverend Williams had been the only tutor for

these sections before Reverend Wiles joined the Institution).

The 1926 Education Ordinance was the first ordinance since the establishment of the College.

Therefore, it was a test as to the strides the Institute has made as far as such prescribed areas

as; adaptation of formal education to local conditions, study of vernaculars in schools,

thorough supervision and inspection of schools, emphasis on religious training and moral

instructions. The recommendations of the 1926 Education Ordinance also included, making

registration of teachers a pre-condition for teaching in any school in Southern Nigeria.84

82

P.B. Clark “The Methods and Ideology of the Holy Ghost Fathers in Eastern Nigeria, 1885-1905”, in O.U. Kalu (ed)

The History of Christianity in West Africa (Essex: Longman, 1980)

83F. Anyika, Methodism in Igboland, Eastern…, 131.

84Martins Fabunmi, “Historical Analysis Of Educational Policy Formulation In Nigeria: Implications For Educational

Planning and Policy” Department of Educational Management, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. (2005): 1-7

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The missionaries controlled the Nigerian School Curricula between 1842 and 1882. From the

latter date, the Government gradually involved itself in the provision of education and in

curriculum development. At first, government involvement took the form of meager grants to

the missions and the promulgation of education ordinances and codes.

After Inspections based on the new policies, the Institute was graded an ‘A’ the only boys

school apart from Kings College to get that mark. The College had a variety of subjects taught

as part of its curriculum. According to an old boy;

Everything under the sun was taught with the exception of Latin and

French (French was later introduced after I left). Methodist College was

also very concerned that their student is equipped practically, so there

was a very big workshop where I learnt woodwork for 3 years. We also

had a junior science lab where you were taught general science and when

you enter the senior classes, you then had the Physics, Chemistry and

Biology lab, the lab equipment in Uzuakoli Methodist College at that

time would successfully rival that of any University in the country

presently. Practical agriculture was also introduced; English was the

language of instruction in the College. Uzuakoli was the cradle for the

development of the written Igbo…85

During this period (1924-1939), the College participated in the first scholarship examinations.

This led to 3 of its student securing three scholarships offered by the government as medical

trainees (as Dispensers) in King’s College86

and a further three as agricultural trainees at

government plantation Ibadan. Furthermore, fourteen out of sixteen of the Institute students

passed the government clerical entrance examination and thus came under the employment of

the colonial civil service. Further fame came to the College through the efforts of one of its

85

Uchenna Emezue, 68 years, interview cited.

86 Dr. Michael Okpara (Premier of Eastern Nigeria during the First Republic, 1959–1966) was a beneficiary of one

such scholarship. He won a scholarship to study medicine at the then Yaba Higher College, Lagos Completing his

medical studies at the Nigerian School of Medicine

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scout in far away United Kingdom as one of her students, Dick Ogan, who had gone as part of

the Nigerian contingent to the scout jamboree won the first price in diary keeping. Meanwhile,

apart from the products of the Institute getting scholarships and government/commercial

employment, they were also being yearly ploughed back into existing schools as

schoolmasters. The gradual but steady growth in their number was increasing the ability of the

mission to staff its schools with trained and certified Methodist teachers.87

These

developments were speedily fulfilling the aim of the missionaries for establishing the Institute

in the Igbo hinterland (to help prolysterization through education). Most importantly, the

educational needs of Africans were also met as a new elite class versed in western knowledge

began to emerge. However, there were some missionaries who were cautious of the gains of

Western education to Nigerians outside of prolysterization. One of them Reverend A.W.

Hodgetts was of the opinion that:

…employed by mercantile firms or in Government have more money

than they ever have before, and all allurement of wickedness are about

them. By reason of their book knowledge they imagine they are far above

their brethren who have not learned to read and write, indeed they look

down upon them with more disdain88

The opinions of men like Reverend A.W. Hodgetts threatened to nullify the gains of Western

education in Igboland. To this, Reverend H.L.O Williams wrote a memorandum to the

Methodist Conference in London in June 1929 in which he captioned “In Defence of

Education Moving side by side with Religious Evangelism.” In the memo, Reverend William

sought to justify education for Nigerians viz-a-viz why the church should still support

87


A.W. Hodgets, “A New Venture in Opodo” Advance January 1931, quoted in F. Anyika, Methodism in Igboland…,

13.

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educational work against the ‘wrong conceptions from many dissatisfied minds’. Despite

these occasional drawbacks, the Institute continued to make giant strides in educating the

future leaders of Nigeria.

At that time (of the early 1920s and 1930s), educated people were few and jobs were

plentiful, almost all those admitted into the Teachers Training Section of the Institute were on

mission scholarship and to avert desertion after training, Teachers signed an agreement to

serve the mission for five years after training. With this, the Institute was able to retain a good

number of homegrown and qualified teachers that gave it a favorable edge in staff strength

and quality education.89

It is little wonder that the Institute maintained a steady high remark in

Inspection report by the colonial government that made sure it was able to access the yearly

grants offered by it.90

To deal with the issue of insufficient staff in the post primary classes,

students were taught by an individual assignment system of which a small Library was

provided. This Reverend Williams hoped will develop more initiative and alertness than the

older parrot-like memory instruction.

From the 1930s, Reverend Williams began an expansive rebuilding effort at building some

of the permanent structures that stay all through the golden era of the College. Funds were

sourced from the home base in England and other Christian endeavor societies. Mr. Pita

Nwana who supervised the building of all the initial permanent structures in the College

helped him in this task. He later became a foreman for all works done in the College. In 1932,

the College was given a College and middle school status with the full recognition as

89

This statement was very true of the Primary classes, but the post primary classes had a dearth of qualified staffs

during the period under review and most of the time wholly relied on just one or two foreign missionaries handling

all the post primary classes. This was due to the fact that the Institute had only a Teachers grade two certificate on

offer during that time. 90

N.A.E UMED2/1/8 Inspection of Schools 1923-47.

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determined by the educational code of 1931.91

Other schools given this status in Nigeria

included, Hope Waddell Calabar, Dennis Memorial Grammar Onitsha, Wesleyan Methodist

School and CMS Grammar School both in Lagos.

From January 1926 to December 1932, 37 teachers were trained at the Institute, 33 remained

at the service of the mission with the exception of 4. In the following year (1938), the

Institute’s name was changed to Methodist College Uzuakoli.92

This being the last act done

under the watchful eyes of Reverend H.L.O. Williams93

before he was posted to Port-Harcourt

the following year (1939). Reverend Williams had served for a very progressive fourteen

years during which he had worked hard and had firmly established the College on the path of

excellence in academics, moral discipline, sports and games, self-reliance through practical

use of the hands. In his book H.K. Offonry wrote of Reverend HLO Williams thus,

His dedication to duty, sense of drive and organizing ability were so

strong that he appeared to be able to achieve even the impossible. His

striking achievement was not just converting a piece of jungle into an

impressive campus but also successfully establishing systems which

place emphasis on merit, self-development, personal discipline and

hard work. 94

His brother Mr. R.S.D Williams succeeded Reverend Williams in 1939; Mr. Williams was

removed the same year and replaced by Reverend W.J. Wood,95

who was trained by the

91

N.A.E MINED 1/1/36 Methodist Institute Uzuakoli 1927-32. 92


The name of the School was changed from the Training Institute Uzuakoli to Methodist College Uzuakoli in 1938

as part of the measures to fully reflect the unification of the Primitive Methodist Mission Society and The Weslayan

Methodist Mission Society in 1932. 94

H. K. Offonry,Portrait of a leader: The biography of Dr. Michael Okpara (Owerri: New Africa Publishers, 1983), 5. 95

The short term Mr. Williams spent as Principal helps to reinforce the notion that the church only prefers

ministers of the gospel as principals.

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mission on sciences in the University, so as to undertake the teaching of same in the Nigerian

Mission.

Reverend W.J. Wood’s Tenure

Before the appointment of Reverend W.J. Woods as Principal in 1939, he had worked under

Reverend Williams in 1932. Wood was a classroom teacher, a carpenter, a scout, a sportsman

and above all, a minister of the gospel. He was more or less a protégé of Reverend HLO

Williams.96

It was no surprise that the College continued in the same path under Wood as it

had done under Williams. In 1941, the first set of class VI students took the Cambridge

Overseas School Certificate Examination and scored 100% pass. Pipe-borne water was

introduced in 1942.97

In 1942 also, the Higher Elementary Teachers Grade II was introduced

to train teachers to teach in higher classes, all under the management of Reverend Wood.

From 1946, separate administration for sections of the College started,98

as Mr. E.H.

Longbottom took over as Headmaster of the Secondary School. In 1947, Reverend A.B.

Macgarr headed the Elementary Teachers Centre, while Reverend Wood now manned the

Higher Elementary Training Centre and was overall head of the whole College. This system

was adopted to ease the burden on just one man managing all the sections of the College and

to allow for greater efficiency in administration.

It is worthy of note that despite the separate administration of the different sections of the

College, one of them doubled as the overall administrator of the College and in 1947, it was

96


Before the introduction of pipe-borne water, students had to go to the nearby Ilo River to fetch water for their

daily usage. The pipe-borne water system also led to the introduction of the water system type of toilet as against

the bucket system that was previously practiced. 98


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Reverend Wood who was also the Principal of H.E.T.C. It seems the late introduction of the

H.E.T.C in 1942 had hampered the progress of many African teachers, as most of them who

had trained in the E.T.C from inception in 1926 were not qualified to teach in the secondary

school. This greatly affected staffing in the secondary section of the College, as teaching of

the secondary school was the exclusive preserve of the European tutors, which meant often

time just one or two persons teaching the entire Secondary School Section due to the paucity

of Europeans. It was until the introduction of the H.E.T.C in 1942 that the indigenous teachers

were able to further their teaching qualifications to be able to teach the post primary classes of

the Methodist College Uzuakoli and other neighboring town.99

In 1956, the Higher School

Certificate course started and it became part of the secondary school.100

The Higher School

was a two years post secondary school course, completion of which qualified the student to

teach in the secondary schools and above all, direct entry into any institution of higher

learning in Nigeria and the British Commonwealth. The introduction of the H.E.T.C and

Higher School course helped the meritorious rise of Africans in the College as teaching or

administrative staffs before the dawn of independence in 1960.

99

Neighboring schools depended heavily on the Teachers training Centers of the Methodist College Uzuakoli for

staffing as the College was one of the only Teachers Training Centers in the Igbo hinterland for a long period of

time.

100 N.A.E MINED 8/1/138 Methodist College Uzuakoli Minutes of Board meeting 1948-56.

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CHAPTER THREE

METHODIST COLLEGE UZUAKOLI 1960-1970

The 1950s and 1960s was a time of accelerated political change in Africa, as an

unprecedented number of African countries were gaining political independence. Examples

are Libya (1951), Morocco (1955), Tunisia (1956), Ghana (1957) and Guinea (1958). It was

only a matter of time before Nigeria followed in the line of independent African nations and

she attained hers in 1960. During this period of rapid political change in the African

continent, Nigerians had begun to occupy important positions in politics and in the civil

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service, though many Europeans still manned most of the administrative positions in the

civil service.

The steady rise of Nigerians in the civil service and political activities was also witnessed in

the administrative makeup of the College. In1954, a Nigerian, Mr. U.U. Okure, became the

Headmaster of the Secondary School Section of the College and by 1958, two years before

Nigeria’s independence; a Nigerian became a senior Principal in the person of Mr. K.

Achinuvu.101

These rise of Nigerians in the administration of the College cannot all be

attributed to the events in the political environment but also mainly due to the creation of the

H.E.T.C in 1942 as earlier stated in chapter two and the later creation of the Higher School

Certificate course in 1956. These developments helped in raising the educational attainment

of the Nigerians in the College and in other nearby schools.

Curriculum

From the year 1910 when Cambridge Local Examinations were introduced into Nigeria, the

Nigerian Secondary School curriculum were to a large extent determined by the Cambridge

Local Examinations Syndicate, because these schools prepared their pupils for subjects

normally examined by that body.102

The curriculum of the primary school included Writing

and Dictation, Arithmetic, English (Grammar and English Composition), Religious

101

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College Uzuakoli: A Short History (Owerri: New Africa Publishing Ltd, 1995), 58. 102

A. A. Adeyinka, “Major Trends In Curriculum Development in Nigeria” Department of Educational Foundations,

University of Ilorin, Ilorin. (1988): 1-10,

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Knowledge, History and Geography. Pupils were prepared for the Middle Four Examination

organised by the Department of Education established in 1903.103

Most of the grammar

schools of the time had primary departments. The teacher training institutions also followed

an academic curriculum, but they combined this with pedagogical training, they provided

instructions in the basic Arts subjects, Elementary Science, domestic duties and infant care

and teacher education in general. Each of these institutions paid considerable attention to the

teaching of Physical Training and Christian Religious Knowledge,104

apparently to aid the

physical, moral and spiritual development of the students.

In 1959, for example, the former Eastern Region revised its primary school curriculum

for the First School Leaving Certificate Examination and also the Secondary School

Syllabuses in English, History and Geography. Moves were also made to revise the teacher-

training curriculum.105

The reason for this change was basically political. In preparation for

political independence, which was promised for the following year (1960), the former

Eastern Region realized the need to throw away part of the British-type academic

curriculum and replace this with one that was more relevant to the needs of the people.

Efforts were also made in other regions of the country to bring about changes in the

education system. During the year immediately following independence, the West African

Examination Council (WAEC) undertook a gradual revision of the School Certificate

Syllabuses, especially in History, Mathematics, French, English Language and Literature

(now Literature in English), Physics, Chemistry and Biology. It also increased the number

of its examinable subjects. Secondary Schools in the country accordingly revised their own

103

A. A. Adeyinka, “Major Trends In…,1-10. 104

T. T. Solaru, Teacher Training in Nigeria (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1964), 1. 105

A. A. Adeyinka, Major Trends In…,1-10.

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curricula. This gradually led to a swing of candidates from the traditional subjects to the

new ones, and also to such science subjects as Physics, Chemistry and Biology, presumably

because there are now better qualified teachers of this subject and better equipment for

teaching them.

The Development of the Study of Igbo Language, Culture and History

Long before the Europeans arrived, education had been part of Nigerians. The Children

were taught about their culture, social activities, survival skills and work. Most of these

education processes were impacted into the children informally; a few of these societies

gave a more formal teaching. In these societies, there are formal instructions that governed

the rites of passage from youth into adulthood, the youths is expected to have attained the

necessary social and survival skills as well as having a grounded knowledge in the cultures

and the indigenous language which was a big part of that society’s education. These are the

foundations of education in Igboland and Nigeria upon which Western education

implemented upon inception.

When the Primitive Methodist first came into the Igbo hinterland, they passed across their

messages in English and have them delivered through the help of an interpreter who often

time distorted the messages of the missionaries.106

The Primitive Methodist mission found it

imperative to encourage the learning of the Igboland by its agents as they reasoned that it

106

Chikezie Ogwudinanti, 70 years, Old boy, interviewed at Umuahia, 21st

November, 2013.

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would further prolysterization efforts and also help attract many pupils to their schools.107

It

also encouraged the study of the Igbo language right from inception. Though English was

the language of instruction, the Igbo language was encouraged, both in teaching of it and

speaking of it within the College. Those not of Igbo origin were not exempted from this

practice. Its efforts at the advancement of the Igbo language and culture received its

recognition when in 1933 the Institute of African Language and Culture London set a

competition of essay writing in Igbo. Mr. Pita Nwana,108

a staff of the College entered and

won the first prize with an essay ‘Omenuko’.

The winning essay from the College was later published as a book in 1933 also under

the title ‘Omenuko’.109

This book played a very important role in the study and development

of the Igbo language and culture. It was included in the syllables for Igbo language study by

the West African Examination Council (WAEC). This book helped lay a solid foundation in

the study of Igbo language and culture. Other pioneers in the study of Igbo language and

culture among the old boys of UZUMECO included Mr. Kanu Achinivu, among his early

works were Okwu Igbo nke mbu and Ila Oso Uzuakoli. Other pioneers are Messrs. G.E.

Igwe, J.C. Iroaganachi, S.W. Chianakwalam, D.N. Achara, H.C. Ogbonnaya and R.A.

Igwe.110

Some of the Old boys of the College have written or participated in writing. They include

the following:-K. Achinivu, et al-Ememe ndi Igbo, D.N. Achara- Ala Bingo, D.N. Achara- A

107

Kalu Ogwo, 82 years, Old Boy, interviewed at Lagos, 12th

July, 2013. 108

Pita Nwana was a foreman (Carpenter) in the College when he wrote the book Omenuko 109

Omenuko is the first novel of any consequence written in Igbo language, the work depicts the life of the Igbo

man. 110


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premier of Igbo Etiquette, D.N. Achara, et al -Elelia na ihe O mere, G.E. Igwe et al -Igbo

Language Courses1-3 and H.C. Ogbonnaya- Igbo Language and Culture –111

Igbo language is still studied in all classes of the College and students have continued to

perform well in the subject. In 1973, the College won the first prize for the best

performance in School certificate Igbo. The promotion of Igbo culture and history

culminated in the writing of the book A short history of Uzuakoli by A.J. Fox, a European

with the aid of the students of the College who were in the history society of the College.

Also, ‘Igboness’ has continued to be promoted in the College till this day through the study

of the Language and history and activities of the various societies in the College that

includes History and drama societies.112

The Expansion of the College Site

Under Reverend Wood, plans started for the expansion of the College site at the current

Secondary School’s location. The reasons ranged from allowing more rooms for games,

total separation of men in the Teachers Training Centers and boys from the secondary

school who had different independence and disciplinary standards. It was also to admit more

students to meet with the ever-increasing demand for education. The Education Ordinance

of 1948 decentralized educational administration113

. It created a central board of education

and four regional boards (in the East, West, Lagos and North) in keeping with the crux of

the Richard constitution. It also recommended the establishment of Local Education

111


E. Uchenna, 68 years, Old boy, oral interview cited. 113


Education 48, No. 4 (1979): 530-543.

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Committees. By this ordinance, Government sought to take a more active role in direct

decision-making in voluntary agencies schools other than restricting itself to only

supervision and giving of grant-in-aids to these schools. Consequently, a board of governors

was constituted in 1948 comprising of 5 nominees from the Methodist Church of Eastern

Nigeria, 2 nominees from the Senior Resident of Owerri Province and 1 nominee from the

Ministry of Education. This board became the final decision making panel for the College,

deciding on issues ranging from staff appointments, grants approval, welfare and facilities.

The implications of this board to the College was that decision-making was delayed a great

deal, the expansion of the College site was reported in 1948, but approval only came in

1956.114

In November 1959, the buildings for the ‘New site’ were officially opened as the

beginning of a new compound for the Secondary school, one housing unit and two staff

houses were ready. Consequently, 59 students in form I and II and 4 staffs moved over to

the new site, to which the whole Secondary school was to be transferred in due course. But

in 1961, the H.E.T.C was moved to the new site permanently while the form 1 and II moved

back to the old site115

, the change of plan originated from the enormous financial cost of

building a completely new Secondary School. The HETC thus had independence from the

Secondary school and a chance to develop on the new site.

Indigenous Administrators of the College

With the match towards independence and regionalization of Nigeria occasioned by the

Richards constitution of 1946, education was regionalized along with political

114

N.A.E MINED 8/1/138 Methodist College Uzuakoli Minutes of Board meeting 1948-56. 115

HETC Principal Report by D.A. Clutterbuck Eastern Star Magazine K.R. Cracknell, et al, No. 3, (1963): 24.

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regionalization in 1954. The gradual but steady Nigerialization116

of different areas of

government and civil service were on the rise. Mission schools like Uzuakoli were not left

out of the fray. By 1954, two Nigerians had held exalted positions as Headmaster of the

Secondary School (U.U. Okure) and Principal of The E.T.C (K. Achinivu). This ‘progress’

was followed with K. Achinivu becoming the Senior Principal117

of the College (1958-

1959) and O. Onokala, the Secondary School Principal in 1958.118

Though all these were

before flag independence in 1960, but it was the beginning of what was to become a partial

Nigerialization of the Administration of the College. After independence, only two

Europeans held administrative positions Reverend E.B Hall Principal of the Secondary

School (1959-64) and D.A. Clutterbuck as Principal of H.E.T.C (1961-1966). The tenure of

the first indigenous Principal of the Secondary School section of the College (U.U. Okure)

will be appraised below.

Udo Udo Okure

Udo Udo Okure was born in 1914 to Late Obong Okure Umoton and Nne Okure of Nto

Abatekpe family of Ikot Ekpene village, Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of Akwa

Ibom State (then part of the former Old Calabar Province) After attending mission schools

in his home town of Ikot Ekpene, he was awarded a scholarship to study abroad in England.

Okure studied in Oxford University in England where he obtained a bachelors degree in

116

Nigerialization in the context is taken the mean the replacement of European Manpower with that of Nigerians

in the civil service.

117 With the expansion of the College into 3 centers of learning, it became necessary for the College to have a

Senior Principal to oversee the overall activities in the College. 118

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College…, 22

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Government. He also obtained a bachelors degree from Exeter University in England. After

completing his studies in England, he returned home and began his teaching career. He

served as the Principal of Uzuakoli Methodist College between 1954-1956.

Under his Principalship, the idea of starting the Higher School Certificate Course was

presented to the Board of Governors by him and approval came in the next meeting of

November 29, 1955. The Higher School Certificate Course formally started in 1956 and

became part of the Secondary Section of the College where U.U. Okure was the Principal.119

It was still under U. U. Okure that the planned expansion and movement of the Secondary

School Section of the College to a ‘New site’ was in top gear, as the proposal was submitted

and summated by his administration. The New site was finally acquired and work started

during his final years at the College (1956).120

After an eventful stint in the College, the

Eastern Nigeria Government appointed U.U. Okure as Public Service Commissioner. He

traveled extensively abroad to recruit and bring back many Eastern Nigerians who were

living or studying abroad.121

In recognition of his outstanding service to Nigeria and the

former British Colonial Government, Queen Elizabeth 11 of England awarded Okure the

high honor of OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire). The Order of the British

Empire recognizes distinguished service to the arts and sciences, public services outside the

Civil Service and work with charitable and welfare organizations of all kinds. Because of

119

N.A.E MINED 8/1/138 Methodist College Uzuakoli Minutes of Board meeting 1948-56, 68. 120

N.A.E MINED8/1/138 Methodist College…, 67 121

Biography of Chief Udo Udo Okure, B.A; O.B. ELast modified March 19, 2011

http://icmsinc.blogspot.com/2011/03/biography-of-chief-udo-udo-okure-ba-obe.html

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his commendable performance as a Principal of the College, many other Nigerians came to

occupy administrative positions in the College after his tenure.

Methodist College Uzuakoli and the Civil War

In 1966, a series of military coups resulted in the execution of Nigeria’s political leaders and

the rise of a new government ruled by the northern military leader, General Yakubu Gowon.

The coup incited months of rioting and reprisals as Northern fighters targeted Igbo army

officers and roving mobs slaughtered tens of thousands of Igbo civilians. Those Igbo who

survived fled back to the southeast, carrying tales of Federal Governmental sponsored

violence and betrayal with them.

In response to the massacres, and creation of unilateral 12 states, Colonel Odumegwu

Ojukwu declared an independent Republic of Biafra for the Igbo people on May 30th, 1967.

War began on 6th of June and lasted for three bloody years. The Nigeria Civil War marked a

new era in the fortunes of Methodist College Uzuakoli. When the war formally started in

June 1967, all schools were closed down as expected and all students returned to their

various places of origin122

. As the students left, so also did the members’ staff and

missionaries leave, as the Europeans were ordered back by their home government and

Missions and the College thus was deserted. As the war efforts thickened, the Biafran side

of the civil war was running out of weaponry and essential food supplements like salt. It

decided to look inward to produce some of what it needed to survive the war subsequently.

122

Before the start of the Nigerian civil war, the Methodist College Uzuakoli was made up students from the

current Southern Eastern states and South-South states, a small population from the Southwest and others from

neighboring African nations of Cameroun and Equatorial Guinea

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For this reasons, the College was turned into a Biafran Research and Production Directorate

(R.A.P) because of it laboratory facilities.123

This research unit among other things built an

oil refinery in the College, made salt from the salt pond constructed on the College

playground and lastly made the now famous and fearful Ogbunigwe bomb at the College.

With these researches and productions, the College’s Laboratory facilities were stretched to

their limits. The classrooms and staff quarters were massively looted during the war; the

dormitories also which served as a refugee camp was also looted.124

The most painful of the

loses during the war to the College was the looting of its Library and offices. In the former

case, many valuable books were destroyed and burnt, in the later, the documents and records

that have been carefully preserved from the foundation of the College were all lost.125

Apart

from the destruction the College suffered, its usage as a research centre for weaponry, made

it an easy target for the Nigerian soldiers so much so that during federal troops

bombardment of Umuahia, Uzuakoli was also touched because of the role of the College

site in the Biafran war efforts. For the first time in its history, the College posed a very grave

threat to Uzuakoli Indigenes and refugees alike.

The outbreak of the war marked the end of an era in the history of the College and the

beginning of another. The old era before the war was termed as the ‘golden era’ by an old

boy, while the post civil war era is tagged the ‘dark age’ of the College’s existence.126

No

one understands these terms better than one who had witnessed both eras as. The former era

123

E. Uchenna, 68 years, old boy, oral interview cited severally. 124

E. O. Ndubueze, 66 years, old boy, interviewed at Akaekwo Uzuakoli, 22nd

July, 2013. 125

H.C. Ogbonnaya, et al, Methodist College Uzuakoli: A Short History (Owerri: New Africa Publishing Ltd, 1995),

44. 126

E. Uchenna, 68 year, cited severally.

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was characterized by a high sense of moral and religious discipline, strict admission process,

competent staffing and high educational standards and the later era that now witnesses an

erosion of this characteristic the College had come to be associated with. Now that the Abia

State Government has handed back the school to its original owners, the Methodist Church;

one anticipates a qualitative improvement in the affairs of the premier institution.

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CHAPTER FOUR

METHODIST COLLEGE UZUAKOLI UNDER GOVERNMENT CONTROL, 1971-2012

At the end of the bloody civil war in 1970 which ended with an unconditional surrender of

Biafra, the College laid in ruins, the federal side which obviously won the war had inflicted

serious human and material loses on the former Biafran republic. Many infrastructures have

been greatly damaged in the Eastern side of the Nigeria divide, virtually all schools lost their

library collections and equipment to looting and bombing127

the college inclusive. The Federal

Government proclamation of the 3Rs (rehabilitation, reconstruction and reconciliation)

afterwards was a step in the right direction for the whole of East Central State (now South

Eastern Nigerian made up of Abia, Anambra Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo States). The College

was not left out of these rebuilding efforts as it had also suffered greatly from the war.

In the immediate rebuilding of the College, the host community of Uzuakoli offered the first

hand of help by helping in recovering most of the looted College properties by organizing a

search party that went from house to house to look for these properties.128

The second helping

hand came from the Parent-Teachers Association through their goodwill donations to the

school for rebuilding efforts, and thirdly the ever present Old boys Association of the school

127

P. Obi-Ani, Post-Civil War Political and Economic Reconstruction of Igboland, (Nsukka: Great AP Express Pub.,

2009), 36. 128

E. O. Ndubueze, 66 years, old boy, interviewed at Akaekwo Uzuakoli, 22nd

July,2013.

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contributed their lot to get the College back on its feet.129

The oil-price boom, which began as

a result of the high price of crude oil (the country's major revenue earner) in the world market

in 1973, increased the federal government's ability to undertake huge tasks. Subsequently,

students feeding were subsidized. Beds, mattresses, lockers; chairs and tables were supplied to

the school by the government. New dormitory and classroom blocks were built both in the

secondary school and teachers training section.

Government Control

Education commissions characterized the period from independence to the outbreak of the

Civil War. The primary objectives of these commissions both at the national and regional

levels were to evaluate, suggest, and recommend possible changes in the educational system.

Among such Commissions were the Ashby Commission on higher education in Nigeria, Dike,

Ikoku, Oyewole Asabia, Adefarasin, and the Banjo commission.130

While the

recommendations of these commissions were varied, there was a common agreement that the

state should assume total control of the education of its youths. They recommended the

centralized state control of education at both state and federal levels. Also, there seemed to be

a general agreement in the Federation "'that education should be reoriented to suit African or

Nigerian need.131

The end of the Civil War in January, 1970, increased the anxiety of the

people about education. This was especially so in East Central State where schools were not

in operation during most of the period of the Civil War. The government of East Central State

129

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College Uzuakoli…, 44.

130

Eastern Nigerian Official Document No. 19 of 1963; No. 25 of 1964; and the Public Education Edict Pamphlet No.

1. 131

S. J. Cookey, "The Need to Review the Purpose of Education in Present-Day Nigeria," West African Journal of

Education, XIV (1970): 11.

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led by the administrator Ukpabi Anthony Asika, established the Public Education Edict in

1970.132

The Public Education Edict of 1970 was an attempt by the government of the East

Central State of Nigeria to see that:

The schools in the State become functional within the shortest possible

time after the vast destruction and damage suffered by existing schools in

the course of the Civil War. It is desirable and necessary that the state

takes over all schools within the state and their control, management and

supervision, in order to secure central control and an integrated system of

education which will guarantee uniform standards and fair distribution of

educational facilities and reduce the cost of running the schools. The

take-over will ensure that schools which are in effect financed by the

people and managed by their accredited representatives will more readily

provide stability, satisfy the people's basic educational and national

needs, combat sectionalism, religious conflicts and disloyalty to the cause

of a united Nigeria.133

Changes and Developments

The massacre of the Igbo people in different parts of the Nigerian federation preceded the

Nigerian civil war. It led to massive movements back to the Eastern Region of Nigeria of

many indigenes who had lived and raised their families in the North. This situation led to a

refugee outbreak, thus overpopulating the region with adults and children alike.134

At the end

of hostilities after over 30 months of warring, many children who were supposed to have left

school had to return to school as the schools were closed down during the war, those who

came back from other parts of Nigeria had to settle for schooling in Eastern Nigeria due to

both security and monetary considerations. Some, who had not reached schooling age before

132


Education 48, No. 4 (1979): 530-543. 133

Public Education Edict, 1970: East Central State of Nigeria. Gazette No. 37, January 21, 1971, p. 1. Quoted in E.

L. Amadi, “Public Education Edict, 1970: Educational Transition in East Central State, Nigeria” Journal of Negro

Education 48, no. 4 (1979): 530-543. 134

Uwadinachi Okorie, 58 years, old boy, interviewed at Quarters Uzuakoli, 22ndJuly, 2013.

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the war were all now old enough to start schooling. All these issues meant that the number of

children eligible for schooling in post civil war Igboland, more than doubled as compared to

their numbers before the war. Also, the Manpower available was greatly depleted as a result

of those that died during the war.

Owing to the above situations and government take-over of schools, the name of the College

was changed to Boys’ High School, Uzuakoli135

while the H.E.T.C was renamed Teachers’

College Uzuakoli. There was large number of students admitted into the College, majority of

them as boarders, which led subsequently to shortage of accommodation.As a result, the

College workshop was turned into a dining hall andexpanded, as the former could not hold the

new population. The oil boom of the 1970s helped the government build a new dormitory,

classroom blocks and even new schools.136

There were massive recruitment of cooks,

watchmen, clerks, messengers, laboratory attendants/assistants, library attendants, bursar,

accounts clerks, caretakers, cleaners and many other posts unknown in the school before the

war. The downside of all the massive employment and ongoing construction exercise in the

College was that when the oil boom ended, there was massive retrenchment of workers in the

College and skeletons of unfinished buildings dotted various corners of the college

compound.137

135

In 1976, the College was allowed to regain its former name of Methodist College, Uzuakoli due partly by

lobbying from the old boys association of the College. 136

The building of new schools by the government/communities in different areas in East central state during the

oil boom helped to depopulate the school. 137

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College…,45.

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As a result of the creation of new states after the war, the Efik, Ibibio, Idomah, Ijaw, Yoruba

and other non-Igbo/foreign students138

were no longer seeking admission into the school. The

College, which had hitherto assumed an international Centre of excellence in education, was

now just a regional educational citadel. As time rolled on, the building of community schools

in nearby Enugu, Anambra and Imo states meant that the College was reduced to a

state/neighborhood day school, a departure from its golden era when boarding was

compulsory and day studentship was by application. The greater populations of students at the

College now are day students from Uzuakoli and the nearby Villages.139

Furthermore, as the

different regimes of governments came and went, so did staff and Principals. These new set of

staffs were ignorant of the Methodist College, Uzuakoli traditions and ways140

and whose

only concerns were just coming to work to mark registers in the spirit of the civil service. The

College suffered from many years of neglect and disrepair from the government that took over

its management and administration. Their only serious inputs were only those done during the

time of oil boom in the 1970s. The only consistent helping hand to the college has remained

that of the old boys association of the College who are scattered all over the nation and in

diaspora. As mentioned earlier, one hopes that the recent return of the school to its original

owners, the Methodist church will usher in freshair of development to the institution.

138

Students from other African Countries left as a result of the civil war and most of them never returned probably

because of the uncertainty of post-war Igboland.

139Ogbonnaya Ndubuisi Nathaniel, 67, former Principal/old boy, interviewed, Umueze-Uzuakoli, July 25

th 2013.

140 The College among other principles had a strict admission process, demanded a high sense of religious/moral

attitude from its students, boarding was compulsory unless in special considerations and every actions of the

students on and off the class were graded. These were some of the old traditions of the College jettisoned under

government control.

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Uzuakoli Methodist College Old Boys Association (UMCOBA)

The evidence of the productivity of any educational institution lies in the fineness of its

products in impacting upon their immediate community. Though the Methodist College

Uzuakoli has passed through a period of mixed fortunes in its history, one thing that has

remained constant is the quality of its products. The College has produced men in arts,

medicine, history, architecture, accounting, politics, religion, business, engineering and many

other works of life. The College has acted as a very worthy springboard for these men to reach

the apex of their careers, these grateful, successful and eminent old boys have shown immense

devotion to the Old Boys Association of Methodist College Uzuakoli.

The Old Boys Association traces its history to 1927 when the then principal Reverend H.L.O

Williams in an effort to establish links with the increasing number of old boys sent out

quarterly letters to all old boys. This was followed in 1931 by a reunion of all the teachers

trained at Methodist College Uzuakoli organized by the principal from April 13th

to 20th

1931.

At the end of the festivities, participants resolved to form an Uzuakoli old boys association

and a committee was set up to work out the modalities for such an association and 1933 was

chosen as the next meeting date of the old boys, but there is no available record that the

meeting held (it may have been probably lost during the Civil War). This appeared to be the

earliest efforts at forming an old boys association.141

The link established by Reverend Williams in 1927 was continued as old boys were invited

through letters to important occasions in the College like the Sports day, Prize giving day and

141


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the founders week also referred to as the Old boys weekend. Furthermore, when the Eastern

Star magazine started, many old boys were subscribers, later on old boys associations

emerged sporadically in the universities, big cities and in London. These branches and

individuals undertook projects and made donation of trophies to the College. In 1958, the

London branch sent 25 pounds to the chapel building fund and within the country; old boys

raised the sum of 175 pounds, 5 shillings and eight pence towards the same project.142

Subsequent efforts were made to form a national Old Boys Association. For example, during

the Old Boy Weekend in March 1959, it was decided to have one day in a year when the old

boys from all the branches will meet at the College and not mix their meetings with the Prize

giving or Sports day. October was chosen as the ideal month for such a meeting. According to

the College Magazine, it held on October 27-28th

, by this time, O Onokala was the secretary

of UMCOBA. He tried coordinating all the other branch activities through their secretaries; he

did all these from College grounds before he was posted out as Principal to the new Methodist

School in Ihube.143

The present structures of UMCOBA was brought together during the Golden Jubilee

Celebration of the College in 1973, and during that event, an #8,000 school prizes endowment

fund was launched. A National Executive Committee was elected under the presidency of

Chief C.N. Ukanwoke. In 1983, the school celebrated its DIAMOND Jubilee, during that

occasion, the Old boys raised funds for the building of a new College Library with the

foundation laying performed by Dr. M.I Okpara and work started in 1987 when the

142

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College…,49. 143

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College…,50.

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Association came under the leadership of Sir (Chief) H.K. Offonry OFR.144

Again, on 25th

September 1987, the Association was registered with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Still

under the sound leadership of Chief H.K Offonry, the Association completed the library

building and it was commissioned on November 9 1991.145

In 2006, under the presidency of

Sir Abbey Hart, on the 83rd

anniversary celebration of the College, UMCOBA launched a

#500 million rehabilitation fund, as staggering as the amount sounded, it represented the high

sense of patriotism the Old boys have for their Alma mater. Other branches and individual old

boys have come up with their project(s) independent of the national body like the building of

a new gate and signpost undertaken by UMCOBA-USA, the renovation of the castle gates

done by a concerned Old boy and rebuilding of the College Chapel done by Chief Onyema

Ugochukwu (former NDDC chairman).146

The efforts the Association has not been limited to fund sourcing/ contributions, the

Association was at the forefront of lobbying for the return of the College’s name back to

Methodist College Uzuakoli after it was changed to Boys High School Uzuakoli following

take over by East Central State Government in 1970.147

Also following government takeover,

it kept on insisting that only Old boys be appointed as Principals of the College, so that a level

of the academic, moral and spiritual discipline associated with the College could be

maintained. Their passion for the College also manifested through its continuous lobbying of

the state government asking for the Old boys to have some say in the affairs of the College or

a total handover of the College to the Methodist Church Nigeria. The Old boys have also

144

H.C. Ogbonnaya et al, Methodist College…,52 145

“Methodist College Uzuakoli, Rehabilitation fund Programme” 18th

November 2006, 11. 146

Best Enyinnaya Okike, 57, Present Principal/old boy, interviewed, Umuachama-Uzuakoli, July 20th

2013. 147

Elder Kalu Ogwo, 84 years, Old boy, interviewed at Surulere-Lagos, 12th

July,2013.

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attracted many projects from government and private firms like the School Access

Programme (SAP) in 2010, which furnished the College with a computer room filled with

about 70 computers and also the telecommunication firm MTN donated over 100 laptops to

the College through the efforts of the Old boys all to increase the ICT know how of the

students.148

The products of Methodist College,Uzuakoli are found in nearly all parts of the

world and in all fields of human endeavor. Among this list are top executives, educationists,

Judges, religious leaders, community and political leaders, medical doctors, professors,

engineers, administrators and successful business men, suffice it write a brief biography of

three of them.

Dr. Michael Iheonukara Okpara

Dr Michael Okparawas born on December 1920 at Umuegwu, Ohuhu clan in Umuahia North

LGA, in present-day Abia State of Nigeria. After he finished his primary education at Afugiri

Central School, he went to the Methodist College Uzuakoli. He was a bight and brilliant

student, he won a scholarship to study medicine at the then Yaba Higher College, Lagos.149

He

completed his medical studies at the Nigerian School of Medicine in 1948 as a medical

doctor. Dr. Okpara worked briefly as a government medical officer at Maiduguri, before

resigning and setting up his private practice in Umuahia. While carrying on his practice, Dr.

Okpara showed great interest in the Zikist Movement, the militant wing of Dr. Azikiwe's

NCNC, which brought the independence struggle to a head in the late forties. After the

shooting of the innocent, harmless coal miners at the Enugu coal mine in 1949, Dr. Okpara

148

E. O. Ndubueze, 66, old boy, oral interview cited. 149


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was one of the members of the Zikist Movement arrested by the government for allegedly

inciting the workers to riot.150

He was later released. Following the granting of internal self-

rule by Britain, Dr. Okpara was elected into the Eastern Nigerian House of Assembly in 1952

on the NCNC platform. Between 1952 and 1959, he held various Cabinet positions in Eastern

Nigeria, ranging from Minister of Health to Agriculture and Production. In November 1959,

when Dr. Azikiwe left active politics to become Nigeria's first indigenousGovernor-General,

Dr. Okpara was elected leader of the NCNC and Premier of Eastern Nigeria during the First

Republic (from 1959–1966). Dr. Michael Okpara was a strong, outspoken, astute and

charismatic leader.

Dr. Michael Okpara ruled at time of relative non-oil prosperity, and from the proceeds from

agriculture through the Eastern Nigeria marketing board he was able to fund the establishment

of the University of Nigeria Nsukka; a Land grant institution modeled on the US Michigan

State University system151

. It successfully challenged the University of Ibadan (formerly

University College of Ibadan (UCI). Michael Okpara’s government set up series of industries

among them was the Golden Guinea Breweries Umuahia (Independence Brewery) and the

Ceramics Industry, Umuahia. He ran a government of skilled intellectuals and professionals.

He set up various educational industries in Enugu, Owerri, Afikpo and Umuahia et cetera,

which were of very high standard in teaching and learning. The region was prosperous, food

was abundant and cheap and farming was the main employer and the population was mostly

rural. Under his regime, people were happier and well fed than they are today. In the urban

150

http://naija-happenings.blogspot.com/p/biographies.html accessed on 23 April, 2014. 151

Okechukwu Mezu, “Dr. M.I. Okpara” accessed 26th

April, 2014

http://www.blackacademypress.com/?p=19

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areas, there was light from the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN), it was steady, regular

and reliable.152

The Post Office was efficient and mails from Nigeria to the United States were

delivered reliably and on time. Scholarships to colleges and the Universities were provided to

the few students then accommodated on the basis of excellence and need both on the

Divisional, Provincial and Regional level.153

He also received the award of Grand Commander

of the Order of the Niger (GCON), Nigeria's second highest honours, in 1964. He was both

the chancellor of University of Nigeria when he was premier and the chancellor of the

University of Benin from 1984 till his death.

The regime of Dr. Michael Okpara was cut short by the coup d’etat of January 15, 1966

masterminded by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. During this coup the Premier of

Northern Nigeria (Sir Ahmadu Bello), Prime Minister of Nigeria (TafawaBalewa), Minister of

Finance (Festus OkotieEboh), Premier of Western Nigeria (S. L. Akintola) were killed

amongst others. Dr. Michael Okpara could have been killed, but the presence of Archbishop

Makarios who visited the region and the lack of a senior army officer to coordinate the coup

in the East, saved his life.

Dr. Michael Okpara supported General Ojukwu during the Biafra War. Dr. Okpara stayed

with Biafra till the end and went on Diplomatic missions for Biafra to France, Ivory Coast,

Tanzania and Zambia whose governments Dr. Okpara supported and funded during their

struggle for independence. Dr. Okpara went on exile with Ojukwu to Ivory Coast and after the

152152

Okechukwu Mezu, “Dr. M.I… 153

Many students of the Methodist College Uzuakoli were beneficiaries of his scholarships; he also funded prices

for outstanding students in the College.

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war returned to Imo state before the 1979 elections. 154

Dr. Okpara died on December 17th,

1984. For the selfless service he rendered to Nigeria, the Michael Okpara Way, in Abuja

Nigeria’s capital city, is named after him. So are the Michael Okpara University of

Agriculture, Umudike, the Okpara Squares with his statues at Enugu and Umuahia

roundabout, just to mention a few. People feel nostalgia when his regime is mentioned

because of the legacies he left behind.

Dr Edwin OgebeOgbu

HRH, Dr Edwin OgebeOgbu was born on 28th December 1926 to Chief Ogbu Iyanga, the

paramount Chief of Utonkon and Mrs EjeOgbu. He attended primary schools in Utonkon and

Igumale before proceeding to the famous Methodist College Uzuakoli in 1938 where he

excelled and came out with division one in the Cambridge School Certificate Examination

(one of the precursors to modern day Senior School Certificate Examination) in 1945. In

1948, Edwin Ogbu gained admission to Bethune Cookman College (now Bethune-Cookman

University) in Daytona Beach, Florida and graduated with a combined honours degree in

Sociology and Anthropology in 1951, making Edwin Ogbu the first degree holder from

Northern Nigeria. In 1953, he proceeded to the prestigious Stanford University, Palo Alto in

California and graduated in 1955 with an MA in Education.

Edwin Ogbu returned to Nigeria in 1956 and joined the Northern Nigeria Government in 1956

as Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. He was the third most senior official in the

ministry after the Finance Secretary and Senior Assistant Secretary. As Assistant Secretary, he

154

Okechukwu Mezu, “Dr. M.I. Okpara….

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was involved in formulating and implementing the monetary policies of the Northern Nigeria

Government.155

In 1958, he transferred from the Northern Nigeria Civil Service to Federal Civil Service and

was posted to the Nigerian High Commission in London as Deputy Secretary in charge of

Students Affair. As Deputy Secretary, he used his experience as a foreign student in the US to

great effect and the High Commission was able to provide quality consular services and

support to Northern Nigerian students in the UK.

Edwin Ogbu returned to Nigeria upon independence in 1960 and was appointed Secretary of

the Federal Civil Service Commission where he championed the case of recruiting suitably

qualified people into the Federal Civil Service, which he considered the bedrock of the

Federal Government. He was at the Federal Civil Service Commission until 1962 when he

was promoted to the position of Permanent Secretary at Federal Ministry of Works & Survey.

At the Federal Ministry of Works & Survey he was heavily involved during the planning

stages for the construction of River Niger Bridge in Onitsha and Kainji Dam.

In 1963, he was transferred to the Federal Ministry of Finance as Permanent Secretary to help

realize the objectives of the First National Development Plan (FNDP) introduced the previous

year. Dr Edwin Ogbu remained at the Federal Ministry of Finance until after the military

coups in 1966 when he moved to the Federal Ministry of External Affairs as Permanent

Secretary where he helped formulate the foreign policy of the new military government.

He was with the Federal Ministry of External Affairs until February 1968 when the Federal

Government of Nigeria posted him to United Nations (UN) in New Year as Nigeria’s

155

Y.A. Ochefu, Edwin Ogbu, ed (Makurdi: Aboki Publishers, 2004) pg. 17

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ambassador to the UN. This appointment was during the height of the Nigerian Civil War and

it was evident that his diplomacy skills were needed to articulate Nigeria’s position as the war

raged. Even after the war ended in 1970, he continued at the UN until September 1975 when

he retired from public service, making him one of the longest serving Nigeria’s ambassadors

to the UN.156

While at the UN, he was a member of prominent UN committees and in 1973, he

became the Chairman of the Committee against Apartheid. He also headed the Committee on

Namibia and the Committee on Global Peace Keeping Operations. He rose to international

prominence in 1974 when he successfully challenged the credentials of the South African

delegation, which had attempted to obtain UN recognition of the apartheid government.

During his stint with the UN, he was also the Nigerian High Commissioner to Jamaica,

Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago from 1970 to 1974.157

Despite his status as a diplomat in the 1970s, Edwin Ogbu still paid close attention to events

in Idoma land and was part of the group that were instrumental in the establishment of Idoma

Community Secondary School, Otobi (now Federal Government College) in the early 1970s.

During his lifetime, Edwin Ogbu received numerous recognitions for his meritorious services

to humanity. In 1974, his Alma Mater, Bethune Cookman College awarded him an honorary

Doctor of Law degree for his service to public service. Other Universities that conferred

honorary doctorate degrees on him include University of Lagos (Doctor of Law in 1986),

University of Jos (Doctor of Law in 1986) and Benue State University (Doctor of Letters in

1992).

156

HRH, Agabaidu Edwin Ogbu- Ochi’Idoma III” Last modified 12 November 2013,

http://www.idomaland.org/hrh-agabaidu-edwin-ogbu-ochidoma-iii 157

Y.A. Ochefu, Edwin…, 31.

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After the creation of Benue State in 1976, Dr Edwin Ogbu was appointed the Chairman of the

Governing Council of the newly established Murtala College of Arts, Science and

Technology, Makurdi (present day Benue State Polytechnic Ugbokolo). He was also the first

Chairman of Council and Pro-Chancellor of University of Maiduguri and in 1992, he was

appointed the first Chairman of Governing Council & Pro-Chancellor of Benue State

University, Makurdi; the first State owned university in Northern Nigeria.158

The achievements of Dr Edwin Ogbu were also recognized by Idoma people and in 1995, the

Och’Idoma II, HRH Dr. Ajene Okpabi, made him the “Ochojila K’Idoma” a traditional title

which translates into leader of Idoma people. The title was conferred on him in recognition of

his contributions to the development of Idoma land.159

Dr Edwin Ogbu continued his service to Idoma community and when Ajene Okpabi passed

away, he was made the chairman of the Central Planning Committee of the transition of

Och’Idoma following the death of Ajene Okpabi in late 1995.When the search for a successor

to Ajene Okpabi began, Dr Edwin Ogbu was an overwhelming favorite to become Och’Idoma

and he was announced as the Och’Idoma III on 10th January 1996. His ascension to the

throne, gave the position of Och’Idoma more prestige and credibility due to the status of Dr

Edwin Ogbu in world politics. Unfortunately, HRH, Dr Edwin Ogbu passed away in 1997

before he could really establish his mark as Och’Idoma. HRH, Dr Edwin Ogbu has a place in

Idoma folklore, as there is a popular saying that translates to “no matter how hard you study,

158

Y.A. Ochefu, Edwin…,50. 159

HRH, Agabaidu Edwin Ogbu- Ochi’Idoma III” Last modified 12 November 2013,

http://www.idomaland.org/hrh-agabaidu-edwin-ogbu-ochidoma-iii

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you cannot be better educated than Dr Edwin Ogbu Iyanga”. This is in recognition of his place

in Idoma history as her first graduate.160

Sir NdukweChijiokeOkoronkwo

Ndukwe Chijioke Okoronkwo was born on 23rd

May 1937 to the family of Mazi James

Okoronkwo Iro of Eluoma, Uzuakoli in Bende LGA of Abia State. He enrolled at the Methodist

Practicing School Uzuakoli in 1944 for his primary education, earning his First School

Leaving Certificate in 1951. Subsequently, he was admitted into the Methodist College

Uzuakoli, where he studied from 1952 to 1958. He immediately started his Higher School

Certificate Course still at Methodist College Uzuakoli. Upon completion in 1959, he joined

the staff of the school as a junior master which stint ended with his admission to read

Geography at the University College Ibadan. Upon graduation in 1962, Chief Okoronkwo

returned to the Methodist College Uzuakoli as a senior tutor. His second stint with the College

ended in 1964 and in the following year (1965), he came under the employment of Eastern

Nigeria Ministry of Education as an Education Officer, his time there was cut short by the

Nigeria civil war. He was later reengaged in service at the end of the war in 1970 as a

permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works, Lands, Survey and Town Planning in the then

East Central State of Nigeria. He further served the government of Eastern Central State as

Deputy Secretary Public Service Commission, Chairman Public Service Committee on the

Transfer of Federal/Public Servants from East Central State Public Service (1971-1972),

between 1973 and 1974; he was the Senior Divisional Officer of Aba Division. After that, he

160

Y.A. Ochefu, Edwin…, 50.

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was appointed the Resident for Nsukka Urban Division from 1974-1975, from 1975-1976 he

worked as the Secretary Teachers Service Commission East Central State.

On the creation of Imo State in 1976, he was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry

of Education and Information, a post he held till 1978, thereafter, he served in the Political

Department of the office of the Governor and was later appointed the Permanent Secretary of

the Ministry of Health (1979), from 1979-1982, he was Permanent Secretary Ministry of

Agriculture and Natural Resources. Ndukwe served as a Member of the Governing Council of

the then Imo State University (1982-1983). Consequently, 1983-1985, he served as Permanent

Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government Affairs, during that period also, he was the

Chairman of the Board of Enquiries into sale and Distribution of Essential Commodities in

Imo State (1985); Member Board of Directors of African Continental Bank (1984-86);

Chairman Board of Inquiry into Disturbances at Imo Airport Site. In 1986, Chief Okoronkwo

was transferred to the Ministry of Information as Permanent Secretary again until 1987. Still

in 1987, he moved to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning as Permanent

Secretary/Director General ending in 1990. Within that period, he served as Member, Board

of Directors of Progress Bank of Nigeria Plc; Chairman, Board of Inquiry into Activities of

Imo Broadcasting Corporation 1988; Chairman of the Committee on the Creation of New

Local Government Areas in Imo State (1989-1990); Chairman, Committee on Appointment of

Chairmen and Councilors of Local Government Councils (1989); Member Technical

Committee on Privatization and Commercialization in Imo State (1989-1990). In 1991, he

was moved to the Ministry of Works as Director General, an assignment which coincided with

the creation of Abia State.

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With the creation of Abia State in 1991, he was appointed the pioneer Director General for the

Ministry of Works and Transport, Abia State (1991-1992), within the same period, he also

served as Member of the Assets Sharing Committee between Imo and Abia State. Thereafter,

Chief Okoronkwo retired from active service. In 1993, he was appointed into the Federal

Public Service as the Representative of Imo and Abia state in the Code of Conduct Bureau.161

He was appointed Secretary to the Abia State Government and Head of Service, also in 1993,

he held the two posts and he voluntarily retired from service in 1996162

. In 2001, Chief

Okoronkwo was appointed Federal Commissioner in the Federal Civil Service Commission

with responsibility for Imo and Abia State, until 2006.

Chief Okoronkwo was not only a genius in public administration; he equally served his

community and church well in different capacities. For example he was a co-founder and later

head of Uzuakoli Development Association (1982-1998) and Uzuakoli Literate Youths

Association (1955-66). Through these organizations mainly, Chief Okoronkwo initiated and

championed developmental activities in Uzuakoli spanning the areas of water supply,

electricity healthcare and schools. He was a dedicated philanthropist and church leader as he

held many leadership positions in the Methodist Church and was steadfast in giving out

scholarships to deserving students of the Methodist College Uzuakoli.

Chief Okoronkwo remains a shining light in the history of both Imo and Abia States, as he is

the only one to have held the post of Permanent Secretary in the entire Ministries in the Old

Imo State and served in various important positions in the Public Service. Furthermore, Chief

Okoronkwo is regarded as one of the founders of Abia State as he was the Chairman

161

He was to later hold this post again in 1997 up to the year 2000 162

He remains the first and only one to do so in the recorded history of Public service in Abia State

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Committee on Establishment and Take off of the Abia State Government. It’s no surprise that

the Abia State Government considered him worthy for conferment of the prestigious award of

‘EnyiAbia’ (Friend of Abia) in 2007 among several other chieftaincy awards to his name. He

was prominent in the activities of UMCOBA and was chairman of the UMCOBA

homecoming of 2009. He died in 2011 at the age of 74.163

1 The write-up for this brief biography came via Chikezie Okoronkwo the eldest child of late Chief N.C.

Okoronkwo.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Methodist College Uzuakoli was established in 1923 by the Methodist Missionaries to help in

training Africans to evangelize their brand of Christian faith. It was also geared towards

training sufficiently skilled teachers to raise standard of education in the primary and

secondary schools; training young men in well rounded education in the arts and sciences for

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National Manpower development; leadership and moral character; all these reasons made the

College adopt the motto: To serve ‘You first, before I’.

The College admitted students nationwide and from neighboring African countries such as

Cameroun and the former Fernando Po (now Equatorial Guinea).The College has had an

overwhelming impact in Uzuakoliby not only educating many of her illustrious sons, but has

also been an employment avenue for them and also ready market for some of its farm

produce. The impacts of the College are not only limited to Uzuakoli but also the whole of

Nigeria and a small band of foreigners. The products of Methodist College Uzuakoli are

found in nearly all parts of the world and in all fields of human endeavor, among this are top

executives, educationists, Judges, religious leaders, community and political leaders, medical

doctors, professors, engineers, administrators and successful business men, suffice it to

mention a few: Dr. M.I. Okpara (former Premier of Eastern Nigeria), Dr. Clement Isong

(former Governor of Central Bank Nigeria and governor Cross River State), Dr. Edwin Ogbu

(first Nigerian Ambassador to the United Nations), Dr. Sunday Mbang (Prelate Methodist

Church Nigeria), Archbishop Rogers Uwadi (first indigenous Bishop of Umuahia), Chief

Onyema Ugochukwu (Pioneer Chairman Niger Delta Development Commission), Dr. E.M.

Endeley (Physician/ Politician Cameroun), Kanu Ikonte (Ozuo II of Uzuakoli), Justice

Augustine Nnamani (Judge of the Supreme Court of Nigeria) and Mr. Okoronkwo Kanu

(member of the first Nigerian Football team).

Before state takeover of schools, Methodist College Uzuakoli was privately owned and

operated by the Methodist Mission. The College occupies a huge real estate of more than a

hundred acres of land; it consists of the original College located in the Castle (main site) and

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with expansion which includes ETC and HTC properties. Since the end of the war in1970, the

fortunes of the school have taken a precipitous decline; educational standards have fallen

dismally, the College has suffered from a dearth of funds. The current situation of the College

does not engender confidence on the quality of the product from the school as the state has

squandered the better part of the colonial heritage and its ability to manage the College by

way of adequate funding and posting of qualified teaching and administrative staff is remote.

With the recent ‘provisional handover’ of the school to the Methodist Church, Nigeria, an

improved prospect is expected for the long-term future of the College.

Conclusion

It can be said that the dreams of the founding fathers of the College were realized and even

surpassed prior to the Nigerian Civil War in 1967. As many the products of the College

became reverends in Methodist Church Nigeria, teachers and other of professions in different

works of life. Also a bunch of those who attended the College are member of the Methodist

Church.

It has been said that no nation can develop beyond the level of its education. In other

words, education is the livewire of any serious nation that aspires to attain the highest level of

development. Successive government in the country have continuously neglected the

education sector, some states like Rivers State in Southern Nigeria, have built standard

schools and equipped them with good infrastructures as part of efforts to provide quality

education in the state. Same cannot be said of Abia State where the Methodist College,

Uzuakoli, is situated which only action have been to hand over all mission/private schools to

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their original owners, this action has been hailed in some quarters, but on a second thought,

the hand over can be a way for the state government to shy away from its responsibility as

they seem to become uncomfortable with the running cost of the school as is evident from the

poor state of all the schools returned by the State government. There is an urgent need for

serious investment in education, not just at the College but also at all levels of education in the

state and the Nigerian federation.

In order to remove some of the major problems of educational development in Nigeria,the

issue of responsibility and control must be resolved and a uniform system of education

introduced and operated nation-wide. This would mean the abolition of the present

schoolsystem whereby children of the privileged class attend special schools; all schools

should be provided with adequate equipments and facilities for teaching and learning.The

Methodist Church Nigeria also has a vital role to play as the new administrators of the

College, from employment of qualified teachers, payment of staff salaries as at when due, to

improve motivation to teach and making sure the Library, Science Laboratories, Workshop

and sporting facilities are well equipped to raise the overall standard of education in the

College

The Uzuakoli indigenous old boys has been fingered by a few old boys not from Uzuakoli

as limiting developments to the College as some of them have strongly oppose outside help by

terming the College as an Uzuakoli possession that does not need any outside help. Some

Uzuakoli old boys have opposed direct development for parochial reasons. A former Principal

asserts that during his tenure, fund were sent through the Uzuakoli based old boys by Old

boys in diaspora for the rehabilitation of infrastructure in the College but the fund never got to

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the Principal nor was it used for the purpose intended. Old boys like the ones referred to by

the principal have threatened to derail the willingness of non-Uzuakoli old boys into making

tangible contributions towards the College’s development. As the non-Uzuakoli old boys are

meant to feel a non-attachment to the College and those eager to contribute don’t know the

appropriate quarters to do so. It is pertinent to point out to these Uzuakoli Old boys that

though the College is situated in their community, it is not their personal property to do as

they please and also the College has been of immense benefits to Uzuakoli people and their

action can only derail these benefits. Therefore, the overall interest of the College and

Uzuakoli should guide their judgment.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources

A) Oral Interviews

NAME OF

INFORMANT

Approximate

AGE

STATUS OCCUPATION PLACE OF

INTERVIEW

DATE OF

INTERVIEW

MODE of

interview

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1. Kalu Ogwo 82 Old boy Retired Civil

servant

Surulere, Lagos 12/7/13 Oral

2. Mazi Sam

Ndubuisi

63 Old boy Industrial

Consultant

Okeafa, Lagos 13/7/13 Oral

3. Okey Mark

Nwokolo

42 Old boy Engineer Ajao Estate,

Lagos

13/7/13 Oral

4. Chikezie

Ogbonnaya

67 Retired Public

servant

Uzuakoli, Abia

state

21/7/13 Oral

5. Godwin

Uchenna

Onyegbule

67 Old boy Retired Teacher Uzuakoli, Abia

state

22/7/13 Oral

6. Uchunwa

Chigioke

52 College Staff Teacher Uzuakoli, Abia

state

25/7/13 Oral

7. OnyebuchiKanu 60 Old boy Retired Civil

Servant

Uzuakoli, Abia

State

22/7/13 Oral

8. Emmanuel

Okechukwu

Ndubueze

66 Old boy Retired Civil

servant

Akaekwo,

Uzuakoli

22/7/13 Oral

9. Best Enyinnaya

Okike

51 Old boy Present Principal Umuachama,

Uzuakoli

20/7/13 Oral

10. Uchendu Okorie 58

Traditional

ruler Retired Naval

Officer/

Mazamaza,

Lagos.

3/7/13 Oral

11. Uwadinachi

Okorie

57 Old boy Medical Doctor Quarters

Uzuakoli

22/7/13 Oral

12. Onyemuwa

Okorie

54 Old boy Medical Doctor Ojo-Alaba,

Lagos

3/7/13 Oral

13. Eunice Ndukwe 60 Old girl

(higher

school

Course)

Retired Director

(Ministry of

Education)

Umuahia, Abia

State

14/11/13 Oral

14. Ogbonnaya

Ndubuisi

Nathaniel

67 Old boy Former Principal Umueze

Uzuakoli.

25/7/13 Oral

15. Adannaya

Okorie

87 Women

leader

Farmer Akaekwo

Uzuakoli

21/8/13 Oral

18 Uchenna

Emezue

65 Old boy Retired Head of

service

Abia State

Umuahia 14/11/13 Oral

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95

19. Chikezie

Ogwudinanti

70 Old boy Retired civil

servant


20. Obioma Nnuola 60 Women

leader

Farmer/trader Quarter

Uzuakoli

21/8/13 Oral

21. Ikedichi

Nwokoro

30 Old boy Contractor Ajah Lagos 15/7/13 Oral

22. Azubuike Ocheh 65 Traditional

ruler

Traditional Ruler Umuachama

Uzuakoli

22/11/13 Oral

23. Richard

Onyeaso

64 Old boy Retired

civilservant/ Civil

Engineer


24. Nwanosike

Iheanyi

58 Old boy

Government

College

Umuahia

Banker Asaba 12/03/14 Oral

25 Ogbonnaya

Chigozie

63 Old boy

Government

College

Umuahia

Building Engineer Umuahia 18/03/14 Oral

B) Archival Materials

N.A.E MINED8/1/138 Methodist College Uzuakoli Minutes of Board meeting 1948-56.

N.A.E MINED 6/1/89 Supervision of Mission Schools 1943-51.

N.A.E MINED13/1/35 Supervision of Mission Schools 1945-50.

N.A.E MINED 6/1/78 Methodist College Uzuakoli 1933-42.

N.A.E MINED 1/1/36 Methodist Institute Uzuakoli 1927-32.

N.A.E MINED5/1/105 Methodist Higher Elementary Training College, 1949-54.

N.A.E OKIDIST 4/3/24 Primitive Methodist Mission 1920-21.

N.A.E OKIDIST 4/7/39 Primitive Methodist Mission 1924-25.

N.A.E RIVPROF 3/4/85 Primitive Methodism Application, Bende, 1910.

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96

N.A.E RIVPROF 3/7/128 Primitive Methodism, Okigwe 1913.

N.A.E RIVPROF 3/7/292 Primitive Methodism, Bende, 1913.

N.A.E UMED 2/1/1 Financial Instructions 1925-44.

N.A.E UMED2/1/8 Inspection of Schools 1923-47.

N.A.E UMED 6/1/21 Methodist Training College Uzuakoli 1932-54.

N.A.E UMED 6/1/75 Grant-in-Aids to schools General 1939-41.

N.A.E UMED 6/1/93 Grants-in-Aid to Teachers Training Centre and Secondary School 1948-

58.

N.A.E UMDIV 3/1/599 Application for lease of land at UzuakoliBende division 1946-51.

N.A.E UMPROF 5/1/75 Methodist College Uzuakoli (II) expansion of Uzuakoli 1945-56.

Eastern Nigerian Official Document No. 19 of 1963; No. 25 of 1964; and the Public

Education Edict Pamphlet No. 1.

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Anyika, F., Methodism in Igboland, Eastern Nigeria 1910-1932: Genesis and Growth.

Onitsha: Cape Publishers Int’l Ltd., 1997.

Eke, A.Y. A New Policy on Education in Nigeria, Lagos: Federal Ministry of Information.

Ekechi, F.K., Missionary Enterprise and Rivalry in Igboland 1857-1914 Oxon: Routledge,

1972.

Fox, A. J. Uzuakoli: A Short History London: Oxford University Press, 1964.

Francis J., The History of the Nigerian Railway Ibadan:Spectrum Books, 1997.

Isichei, E., History of the Igbo People New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1976

Ludwig V. B., General System Theory New York: Braziller, 1968.

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Nwabara, S.N. Iboland: A Century of Contact with Britain, 1860-1960, London: Hodder and

Stoughton, 1977

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Great AP Express Pub., 2009.

OchefuY.A., Edwin Ogbu, ed Makurdi: Aboki Publishers, 2004.

Offonry, H. K.Portrait of a leader: The biography of Dr. Michael Okpara Owerri: New

Africa Publishers, 1983.

Ogbonnaya H.C et al, Methodist College Uzuakoli: A Short History Owerri: New Africa

Publishing Ltd, 1995.

Okpo .S.K., A brief History of the Methodist Church in Eastern Nigeria Oron: Manson

publishing Company, 1985.

Onyeneke. A., Doing Sociology: An Introduction to Sociological Perspectives in Africa

Nsukka: Spiritans, 2005.

Schein, E., Organizational Culture and Leadership San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers,

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SolaruT. T., Teacher Training in NigeriaIbadan: Ibadan University Press, 1964

Journal Articles

Amadi, .E. L., ”Public Education Edict, 1970: Educational Transition in East Central State,

Nigeria.” Journal of Negro Education 48, no. 4, (1979). 530-543.

Clutterbuck, D.A. “HETC Principal’s Report” Eastern Star Magazine, January (1963), 24-26.

Cooke, C. M. “The Missionaries and Ibo,” Review of F. K. Ekechi, Missionary Enterprise

and Rivalry in Igboland 1857-1914, The Journal of African History 14, no. 1 (1973),

154-155.

Cookey, S. J. "The Need to Review the Purpose of Education in Present-Day Nigeria," West

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Kalu, .O. U. "Missionaries, Colonial Government and Secret Societies in South-Eastern

Igboland", JHSN, 9, no.1 (1977), 75-90.

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Magnus, B. “Missionary Rivalry and Educational Expansion in Southern Nigeria 1885-1932”,

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Ogbu, K., “Primitive Methodist on the Railroad Junction of Igboland, 1910-1931” Journal of

Religion in Africa 16, no. 1, (1986).44-66.

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