A Brief History of Saint Finbarr's College, Akoka

Origin of the School  Rev. Father D.J. Slattery came to Nigeria in 1939. He initially  served in a parish in the Yoruba Inland Town in the Old  Western Region. He was later posted to St. Gregory's College,  Obalende as a teacher. He eventually became the Games  Master for the school. He later became the editor of the Catholic Herald in Mushin.  It was during this period that the thought of establishing a unique school occurred  to him. His school became the first bilateral school in the country, combining full  Grammar (called Basic) with Arts and Technical subjects. In the 1955/56 academic  year, with six students, fondly referred to as “the first six”, a new school, but  without a name, was born. The new school had no address and had to be accommodated in the newly built  St. Paul's Catholic Primary School, Apapa Road. The next task was to look for a  site for the new school. Rev. Father D. J. Slattery, after an eleven-month search,  which took him through the then jungles of Apapa, and now the present National  Stadium, eventually got to another jungle in Akoka where he met a man who knew  him but he did not know the man. The friendly disposition of the man made it easy  for him to acquire a twenty-plot piece of land in the present site of the school.  In 1959, the school moved from Apapa Road to its present site in Akoka, and in 1963,  the school was officially opened by Dr. Nnandi Azikiwe, the first President of Nigeria,  who was a personal friend of Fr. Slattery. In a tactical move, he got a grant from the then British Colonial Government, with  which he set up a ten-classroom block, two technical drawing rooms, a technical block,  an administrative block, which also houses the teachers staff room, and a dining room  assembly hall with a well equipped kitchen. Among the first teachers of the school were  the late Chief Albert Bankole, Fr. Slattery himself, and Mr. F. Ekpeti. Early Academic Successes  The school made its first attempt at the West African School Certificate Examinations in 1961,  having been approved in 1960. In that first attempt, the technical department  had 100% passes, with 80% making 3 or 4 credits, while the Grammar, or basic as they  were called, had 50% passes with two of them making distinctions. These boys were also  tops in sports and Vice-Admiral Patrick Koshoni (Rtd) happens to be one of the two. From  then on the result kept improving year after year, with the technical department consistently  recording 100% passes. In fact, in those days of Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3 categorization  of WAEC results, whenever the result was released,  the understanding or common expectation was  that all candidates would normally pass and what everybody was interested in was how many  came out in Grade One or Grade Two: Grade Three was regarded as a consolation result.  This trend remained true until the government takeover of schools in the mid 1970's. Heritage of Sports  Rev. Father Denis J. Slattery, being a Games Master and an International Referee, was  very eager to put the school at the forefront quickly in football since it would take 5 years  for the school to prove its excellence in academics. In its first year of existence,  it pitched itself in a football match against its host Primary School, St. Paul's Primary  School, Apapa Road and lost 1-2. In 1957, it faced much older St. Gregory's “Rabbits,”  where Father Slattery himself had been a Games Master. The school later had a number  of matches with another older School, the Ahmadiya College, Agege. It was a very ambitious  venture for the school, in its first four years of existence on 3rd June 1960, to make its  first attempt on the Zard Cup, a nationwide inter Secondary School competition, which  later  became the Principals Cup. The school again lost to its counterpart institution, St. Gregory's  College, 1-3. In 1961 it met the school again and lost 0-1 after an initial draw of 2-2,  and won the Principals Cup for the first time in 1962, six years after its inception. This  victory was repeated in 1966, 1968, and 1969. From then St. Finbarr's College team became  a team to beat. Weaker teams feared any match with St. Finbarr's while stronger ones  like C.M.S. Grammar School, Baptist Academy, Igbobi College, and of course, the big  brother St. Gregory's, always looked forward to a tough encounter. In 1971, 1972, and  1973, the school had the Principals Cup, having won it 3 consecutive times. Saint Finbarr’s  College also won the cup in 1977. Renowned Sports Alumni  It is noteworthy that in the 1970's and 1980's the school produced international players like Thompson Oliha, Nduka Ugbade, Samson SiaSia, and Henry Nwosu, just to mention a few.  In fact in those days, for any candidate to aspire to come to St. Finbarr's,  he must be academically sound and/or physically superior in football.  Stephen Keshi, who is presently the  coach of Togo’s National Football team  and immediate past coach of the national team,  captained Finbarr’s Football team.  He later went on to captain and coach Nigeria’s national team. Six players  from Saint Finbarr’s College  were selected into the first junior National Team: Nathaniel Ogedegbe, Henry Nwosu,  Stephen Keshi, Wakilu Oyenuga, late Obe Adedeji,  and Emeka James  were selected to make the first Flying Eagles and later called Junior Eagles. Paul Okoku,  Nathaniel Ogedegbe, Henry Nwosu, Stephen Keshi, later  went on to the  Green Eagles national team. Godwin Odiye represented the country  during the African Nations Cup.  He was the first Saint Finbarr’s College student to make  the national team. Discipline at Saint Finbarr’s College  Saint Finbarr’s College is most noted for three characteristics: 1. Academics 2. Football 3. Discipline Rev. Father Denis J. Slattery placed a very high premium on discipline and could expel  any student even if he was the best in academics or in football, once it was established  that he had committed a serious offense. The gate used to be referred to as the gate of  no return. There was no point in appealing a case of expulsion. Father Slattery never  entertained such acts – no pleading, no begging, and no beseeching. Saint Finbarr's College  had four commandments, which constitute the Moral Pillars of the school. (1) Any student caught stealing will be expelled. (2) Any student caught copying during an examination time will be expelled. (3) Any student caught leaving the school compound during school hours without the  Principal's permission will be expelled. (4) Any student caught smoking or with drugs will be expelled. Technical Training By the early 1970's Rev. Fr. D. J. Slattery had a vision of making  St. Finbarr's College all encompassing in technical studies.  He, therefore, decided to expand the technical workshops to cater both for the Senior  and Junior Student. He introduced auto mechanics, electrical, and electronics departments.  Two modern technical workshops were built from grants raised by his friends and overseas associates.  The workshops were completed and fully equipped. Government Take-Over  The technical workshops had hardly been used for two years when the government took  over private schools. From 1976, the ideals for which St. Finbarr's stood started suffering  a serious decline. The school became over-populated, indiscipline crept in and reached  a frightening stage in the second half of the 1990's. Return of the School to the Mission  On the 2nd of October, 2001, the government approved the return of schools to their  initial owners. This gave Saint Finbarr’s College a new lease on life. The return took  effect in 2003. A great purge started and many of the students who could not adjust were  dismissed while those who could not stand the changes withdrew voluntarily. Consequently,  by 2005, the enrolment at the school has gone down to a manageable level of 658 with  the inherited “government students” constituting 413 students of the population. Changing of the Guards Since inception, to the present administration, St. Finbarr's College  has had only a handful of principals: (1) Very Rev. Father D. J. Slattery - Founding Principal 1955-1975 (2) Late Anthony Omoera 1975-1976 (3) Mr. A. A. Kpotie 1977-1998 (4) Mr. Joseph Adusse 1998-2001 (5) Mr. C. B. Adejoya, Principal October 2001 to December 2003 (6) Mr. Daniel I. Ikediobi, Principal January 2004 – Present The school is now managed by an administrator from the  Catholic Mission, Rev. Fr. Jerome G. Oduntan. Source  SFCOBA America http://sfcobamerica.com/html/history.htm