IMAGE CREDIT IS MINE
The academy was founded under the General Babangida regime with the intention of harvesting intelligent and bright students nationwide through the choice of merit and federal character, such that virtually all states (including the federal capital city, Abuja) would be represented. Thus, the brightest of the students were admitted into the academy through a very competitive examination.
Do you wonder why my choice and interest in Suleja Academy? I'm glad to say that I'm a proud alumni of the academy, a testament to the quality of intellectual students produced at the school. I was averagely brilliant in elementary school, coming in second in my state during the national common entrance examination. I was lucky to be selected to attend Suleja Academy along with four other students from my state. The irony of my brilliance was that my position in class after the first term of school was about 23rd out of less than thirty students in class. It was at that instance that I realized I was in serious business. There, the best students were harvested from each state, given scholarships, and allowed to interact with one another. This initiative was to allow bright students to compete favorably among their peers with little or no worries about tuition or other fees that may accrue, with a long-term focus on providing an enabling environment for economic and technological impact in society.
I seem to be in tandem with the goals and objectives of the academy, as most products have found relevant footings in and out of Nigeria. Being a product of the academy means you are likely above average and do stand a better chance or shot at securing placements and positions within society.
I loved the concept of the standard of the school and the scholarship attached thereto. Products from the school competed favorably and were a little above average when compared to other students in public or private schools. The academy was a boarding house. The teachers were good at what they taught, and the school applied various learning methods to teach, but importantly, limiting the teacher-student ratio at an instance to 1:30 as the maximum. I enjoyed the limited number of students, as we all knew one another and could be easily spotted out when performance was below average. Tools were often provided, and I remember replicating the Nigerian coat of arms in my fine art class in junior secondary school, which was about two decades ago. Most of us were challenged to think outside of the box.
Unfortunately, over the recent years, the free has become partly free as I learned payments are now being made for items such as books. The standard of the academy may have been compromised as the country at some point attempted to restructure the elementary and junior secondary schools of all Unity schools nationwide, thus creating a lacuna and compromising the selection process. The school still stands, and I remain a proud alumni. It's a school I can still recommend to parents if they want academic excellence and high morale inculcated in their children or wards.
This is my entry into the monthly and daily prompts by #InLeo. Click March monthly prompt to participate.
Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions.