Government College Ughelli was founded in 1945. It was sited initially
at Warri and was known as Warri Middle School, before it was later moved to Ughelli. The First Students (Mariners) walked
into their classrooms on January 19, 1945. Modeled after its remarkable "Public Schools" contemporaries in Britain, Government
College Ughelli was conceived as an institution where students were brought up to appreciate the virtues of manliness, sportsmanship,
intellectual and moral excellence, integrity and of a clean and salubrious environment. However, especial care was taken to
ensure that the character of the student was moulded without their personality being distorted.
On it's inception it was indisputably one of the best secondary schools
in the country. It was the standard that other schools could only try to emulate. Well-mowed lawns and trimmed hedges, well
designed class room blocks and dormitories were carefully laid out in two square kilometres of landscape. Boulevards and living
quarters for all categories of staff and students formed the major hub of a planned, orderly and serene environment. The community
had always been self-sufficient in the supply of water and power. It boasted of fully equipped and well stocked laboratories,
workshops and library, reading rooms complete with steel lockers. School books were provided to all students as part of the
benefits, at a modest school fee. Discipline reigned supreme. Admission was strictly by merit alone.
The founding Principal was Mr V.B.V. Powell, a Briton of Oxonian and
Australian ancestry. He was very committed and dedicated to maintaining the very highest of standards, and indeed it was his
life's ambition to make Government College Ughelli the paragon of excellence. The immediate result of the above was that year
after year the quality of discipline rubbed off on the quotient of achievement that was recorded; virtually all the nominees
from the school for Nigeria's only University (University College Ibadan) sailed through with flying colours and passed out
as fresh Nigerian graduates.
And in the years ever since Government College has lived up to its billing
producing a good number of Nigeria's most distinguished and highly esteemed personalities. The School's list of graduands
is a roll call of achievers in Industry, Education, Banking and Finance, Law, Government, Public Service, and the Military.
However, in recent times standards have fallen, affected inevitably by
the economic and political depression in the country. Nonetheless, with the new dispensation of democracy in Nigeria it is
expected that the old school will soon start on the road to recover its former glory.
(The above text is a précis of a press conference given by Mr. Stephen
Agodo - Chairman of the Plenary Planning Committee of the Golden Jubilee Anniversary)
