• School records 93.6% success rate in WASSCE
• Launches multimillionaire laboratory project
• Churns out 1,029 scholars since 2001
One of leading faith-based schools in Nigeria, Vanguards Academy on Saturday held its 17th graduation and awards’ ceremony for 68 students who have completed their secondary school education.
The graduation ceremony, held at the school premises at Odosengolu, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State was attended by the management, teachers, parents and other well-wishers who came from different parts of the country to celebrate the milestone of their children and wards.
Muslim News learnt that the 17th set recorded 93.6% success rate in their West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) of the West African Examination Council (WAEC).
Two students stood out at the celebration as one, AbdulWahab Opeyemi AbdulKareem had committed the Qur’an to heart on one hand, and also with AbdulHameed Owolabi Abubakr had memorised the 40 hadiths of Al-Imaam An-Nawawiy.
Speaking with Muslim News, the School Principal, Mr. Alatishe Lukman, commended the graduating set for their high level of comportment and morality throughout their stay at Vanguards.
He said, “I feel elated. One is that, in this particular set of students, I can see the level of morality in them and their level of comportment. They pay attention to every detail. More importantly, I give them kudos for adding morals to it. That makes me so happy today, likewise their parents. I wish that subsequent sets will also be better.”
According to him, “The set recorded 93.6% success rate in WASSCE. We also have males and females who had excellent results .”
Probed by Muslim News on why the number of haafidh dropped this year compared to last year, where eight from the graduated set in 2022 memorised the Qur’an, he noted that the majority of students in the previous set passed through Vanguards Academy Arabic Intensive Classes from pre-JSS1 class.
According to him, “They started memorisation before they got to JSS1. It just remained a few to complete, and they did that before graduation. For this set, we didn’t run a pre-JSS1 class for them. Only one person was able to meet the target.”
The principal also revealed that the school launched a multimillionaire laboratory project for 2023, which has almost reached completion.
“Every year, we have one project or the other to launch. The library project was launched last year. This year, we had a focus on the laboratory. With the support of parents, we have almost completed it,” he noted.
“What makes Vanguards unique is our slogan. For us, our academics is par excellence and we are working towards perfection for morals. The third one we added to it is spirituality.”
….Churns out 1,029 scholars in 21 years
The Chief Executive Officer, CEO of the school, Dr. Zafaran Adeniyi disclosed that with the newly graduated G68 set, the school has churned out 1,029 graduates since its establishment 21 years ago.
A DAY OF CELEBRATION: Vanguards Academy graduates 68 students
It was an exciting moment for students, parents and management of Vanguards Academy, Odosengulu, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, as the faith-based private school held its 17th graduation ceremony on Saturday, August 19, 2023. pic.twitter.com/H4FBEFrGSB
— Muslim News Nigeria (@muslimnews_NG) August 19, 2023
He said, “This outgoing set did not give us much problem in terms of management. They were able to identify an agreed leader amongst themselves (Muhammad Ali). They refer to him as the Team Leader. They listen to him. They are very coordinated. They are playful to some extent but they are also very serious about their academics.”
Speaking on his projection for the school, Dr. Adeniyi said he wishes to see the completion of their structures sooner.
This, according to him, would add colour to the school.
“We talk of a language room where the students will be having auditions. We talk about the school library. I also hope that there will be more focus on the training of students to be ideological. That is what we need in today’s world. If you are without ideology, you’ll just be immersed in the societal wave. But when there is ideology, nothing will overshadow their orientation.
“We hope that we can do more, especially by structuring that training for the students.
“In the area of academic performance, we are moving. There are some things we are also structuring to look smarter so that we can measure performance,” he said.
Let your Imaan be stronger than ever, Guest Lecturer admonishes students
The guest lecturer, Dr. Asif Olatubosun Azeez, admonished the outgoing students to strengthen their imaan (faith) and make it stronger than ever.
Dr. Asif, who is the Head of the Department of Islamic Studies at Sikiru Adetona College of Education, Science and Technology, Omu-Ajoshe, lamented that the world is full of immoralities and frustration.
Dr. Asif who is also the Chief Imaam of his institution made a presentation on the ‘Pros and Cons: Strategies to Success’.
“The foundation of everything is for the graduands to reshape their imaan (faith). Fundamentally, their imaan has to be stronger than before. They are going to the world. We have a lot of immoralities in the world. When they are on campus, they have people guiding them, but in the free world, there is nobody to guide them. So, they have to conduct themselves and remain good Muslims as they’ve been taught here.
“If the graduands want to record success, they have to prepare fully for it. They have to set goals for themselves. What do they want to become? And how are they going to achieve it?” he said.
“Frustration is another reality in the world today. You make efforts but people keep frustrating you. You have to be patient. That’s why we taught them patience. The students have to be prayerful too. They need prayers to achieve their goals.”
How we memorised Qur’aan, Hadith – Students speak
Muslim News also spoke with the two students who achieved the feats of memorising the Qur’an and Hadith (40 ahadith of An-n-Nawawiy).
Abdulkareem Abdulwahab committed the whole Qur’an to his heart; while he and Abdulhameed Owolabi memorised the 40 ahadith of An-Nawawiy. They are both Science students.
Abdulkareem said he memorised the Qur’an to make his parents happy, adding that at Vanguards, they are always encouraged to memorise the Holy Book at a tender age.
“I have siblings that attended the Vanguards Academy. The school is usually rated high and it’s different from the regular schools outside there.
“So, I thought to myself that having been privileged to attend this school, I must do something unique too. Therefore, I decided to memorise the Qur’an. This is also to make my parents happy and proud. Also, as Muslims, we are encouraged to memorise the Qur’an at an early age. Similarly, I’ve always been passionate about the Qur’an since my childhood.”
The young haafidh said it wasn’t an easy experience combining academics with Qur’an memorisation. He acknowledged the support and motivation of his colleagues in attaining the remarkable feat.
He said, “Really, it wasn’t easy combining academics and Qur’an memorisation. But I had a senior colleague who is also an hafidh who motivated and inspired me. He gave me tips to follow. At some point, it affected my academics but I just had to keep pushing. And in the end, I excelled in both academics and Qur’an memorisation.
“I am the only one in my set to have memorised the entire Qur’an. Though some of my colleagues attempted it, they couldn’t achieve it. They were happy that I made it. It’s encouraging that we have an hafidh in our set even if one. So when I completed the whole exercise, they congratulated me.”
For his part, Abdulhameed said he took solace in memorising the 40 ahadith of Al-Imam An-Nawawiy after his failed attempt to commit the whole Qur’an to heart.
The young scholar said he wasn’t able to complete the memorisation of the Qur’an and therefore decided to set another target for himself.
“It was in SS1 that I came to the realisation that I have to memorise the Qur’an. So, I started pursuing the goal. But as Allah would have it, I wasn’t able to complete the memorisation. I committed almost half of the Qur’an to heart. Then, I thought to myself that before leaving secondary school, I should set another target for myself. So I chose to memorise the hadith (40 ahadith of An-Nawawiy).
“It took me approximately one month to memorise the hadith (40 ahadith). I had already memorised from one to eighteen at home. So, I memorised the remaining ones at school.”
Abdulhameed says he would go some steps further to include Sahih Bukhariy, Sahih Muslim in the list of hadith to be memorised.
“I will set a plan for my time. I will factor in periods to revise what I’ve learnt about the Qur’an and Hadith. Also, I want to memorise more hadith from Sahih Bukhariy, Sahih Muslim, among others.”
Vanguards has produced leaders – Parent, Chairman of the occasion
The chairman of the occasion, Dr. Ismail AbdusSalam, a Consultant and Public Health Physician, expressed joy as he identified with the history and legacy of Vanguards Academy.
He said the school has within twenty years of existence produced leaders and vanguards who have excelled in every aspect of life and in different institutions.
Dr. Ismail’s daughter (AbdusSalam Habeebah) was also one of the graduating students at the Saturday event.
He said, “The mission and vision of Vanguards is not directed at profit-making. It’s not a business venture from the onset. It’s an institution that has been established for bringing up leaders in the area of reformation of society. I’m glad we have been able to groom children who are reformers.
“I’m one of the pioneers of the school. So I am happy seeing the little dream we had back then becoming a very big reality. It can only get better.”
The parent expressed confidence that the proliferation of schools would not affect the patronage of Vanguards because its vision is different from others.
“One thing about Vanguards is that they still follow up with students even after leaving the school to monitor and track their progress. I think there is no threat for Vanguards with the proliferation of schools.”
He advised the graduands to be focused on life.
“They should know that they are going to meet life challenges outside there. The situation is going to be different from what they are facing. But the anthem of the school is enough to gear them towards success. Education is for life. We advise them to be focused and not to go along with the wave of society and they have been well equipped to deal with such situations,” he said.
