By Sunday Ani
The success story of Phidel College, located in Isheri-Idimu, Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, is no longer localized; it has attracted global attention.
This is because, over the years, the performances of students who graduated from the school in various universities outside the shores of Nigeria have earned the school a place among the world’s leading secondary schools.
In the past 11 years, students of the college have consistently shattered the academic ceiling in various internal, external and international examinations, like the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), Intermediate General Certificate for Senior Education (IGCSE) Exams, and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Exams, among others.
The 2025 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) was not an exception. Out of the 53 students that sat for the exams, all of them came out in flying colours.
An analysis of their results showed that 100 percent of the students scored ‘A’ in Geography, Financial Accounting, Visual Arts and Commerce. Further breakdown of their performances showed that 81 percent of the students got ‘B’ in English; 90 percent got ‘A’ in Chemistry; 64 percent got ‘B’ in Biology; 88 percent got ‘A’ in Physics; 92 percent got ‘B’ in Further Mathematics; 100 percent got ‘B’ in Literature in English; 100 percent got B in Technical Drawing while 73 percent got ‘B’ in Christian Religious Knowledge.
From the analysis of their results, the first 10 students scored between 6As and 5As, with the lowest student getting 3A. The first 10 were Obende Onomeyimi (6A,3B); Olowolaiyemo Oluwatosin (6A,2B); Ayodele Demilade (6A, 2B); Martins Caleb (5A, 4B); Etaborunu Giovani (5A, 3B, 1C); Mohammd Aisha (5A, 3B, 1C); Adedeji Mosinamofan (5A, 3B, 1C); Nubu Oluwatise (5A, 3B, 1C); Rodayo Moyosore (5A, 2B, 1C) and Idam Chinonso (5A, 2B, 2C).
As earlier stated, the school’s sterling performance goes beyond the WAEC conducted exams. The students equally proved their mettle in the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), with 11 of the students, including Olowolaiyemo Oluwatosin, Ogundipe David, Elodi Miracle, Obinna Innocent, Obidi Amarachi, Bright Oridami, Martins Caleb, Oyetunde Halimat, Ofoegbu Munachiso and Yunus Kudirat, already offered admission to study medicine and surgery in various universities across Nigeria and overseas.
Also, Obende Onomeyimi and Soetan Korede, as well as Sanyaolu Rebecca and Nwaorah Onyinyechi have equally secured admissions to study engineering and law, respectively.
Speaking about the winning trend, the Chairman of the College, Pastor Ayodele Adelusi, attributed the consistent successes of the school to prayer and the quality of teachers that the school parades.
He said: “We don’t joke with God because without Him, we can’t do anything. So, prayer is key to all that we do. The teachers are also professionals and when you talk about professional teachers, you are talking about people that are motivated by passion and not money.
“It is not money that motivates them; it is the passion they have for education: the passion to see the children turn out great in future. There is no amount of money that you pay them that will be sufficient for the kind of effort they put into their job.
“Are you talking about their sleepless nights or coming during the weekends to teach the students? So, they are motivated by what the children will become tomorrow.”
He also said the management equally ensures that it fulfills its part of the bargain at all times. He further said: “In our own little way as employers of labour, anything we can do to make them comfortable and be able to discharge their duties, we do it, within the limit of what we have. We don’t joke with their welfare and we don’t joke with their salary.
“There has never been any kind of salary delay since the inception of the school. The salary has never spilled over to another month and we do increment almost 100 percent and, when you are hardworking, we compensate you.
“We motivate them and, by the Grace of God, our efforts have been working. We believe so much in God because with Him everything is achievable.”
He also said the students are always motivated to read their books, sometimes using sports as a bait. “For instance, we can tell them that if they read for like four hours, they would be allowed to play football for a certain time. We can also deny them the opportunity of playing football or other games if they don’t study enough. So, we employ the punishment and reward strategy and it has been working very well.”
He also decried the high cost of running private schools currently in Nigeria and urged the government to give free tax incentives to private school owners in Nigeria.
“That way, school owners can remain in business. If you check in the last two or three years, many private schools have shut down because the owner can no longer cope with the financial burdens of running a private school. Private schools should be tax free; that’s how it is done in the advanced countries,” he said.
The principal of the College, Olowolaiyemo Lekan, corroborated what Pastor Adelusi said earlier as it relates to prayer and hard work, saying the two attributes were behind the school’s winning streak over the years.
Confirming that success is the school’s trademark, he said: “Apart from our performance in JAMB, I have at least 15 students who had nine distinctions in the just released SSCE, I mean A and B. I have A’s ranging from six, five to four and several B’s. They have made us proud and we appreciate God for that.
“Over 15 of them already have admissions in courses ranging from medicine to engineering, law and Mass Communication.”
On the secret of their winning strategy, he also said: “God has been so kind to us, but is not only God. Hard work is the major reason we are making waves in society today. “We have a system that has been yielding results. At grade 12, it is practically revision all through.
“I can beat my chest that our students have the stamina to read for six hours at a stretch without blinking an eye; it is a culture they have cultivated here and it will follow them as they move into various institutions of higher learning. “So, hard work and prayer have been our secret to success all these years.”
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