Anambra State has emerged champion in the just concluded 2022 National interschool Presidential Debate. Team Anambra beat all other states to clinch the first position in this competition organised by the Federal Ministry of Education for secondary schools in Nigeria. Thus, the team representing Anambra State will represent Nigeria at the World Debate Championship that will take place in Vietnam in 2023.
Of the four students who represented Anambra State, two are seminarians from All Hallows Seminary, Onitsha; one is from Mater Amabilis Secondary School, Umuoji; and one is from St Michael Secondary School, Nimo. All Hallows Seminary and Mater Amabilis Secondary School are two of many great secondary schools established and run by the Archdiocese of Onitsha.
The archbishop of Onitsha, the Most Rev. Valerian Maduka Okeke, congratulated the students and their teachers for making Anambra State and the archdiocese proud. He noted that the efforts being made in raising well-formed and globally competitive human capitals are already yielding great fruits, and he vowed never to relent in giving all to the education of the youth, which is the greatest legacy to be bequeathed to the future.
It is noteworthy that the mission schools in the state since after their return to the owners by the Peter Obi government, especially those of the Archdiocese of Onitsha, have been recording a harvest of awards and victories in national and international competitions.
The heads of these institutions, Father Paschal Okonkwo and Father Francis Onwuchulum (AHS and MASS, respectively), express profound gratitude to the archbishop, whose vision they are implementing, for his motivation, inspiration, direction and unqualifiable support. They promise that their students will make Nigeria proud at the world stage next year in Vietnam.
