NINLAN DEMONSTRATION SCHOOLS
A BRIEF HISTORY
NINLAN Demonstration Secondary School which as one of the service units of the Institute provides Secondary education basically for children of staff and members of the public. The goal is to provide quality education at affordable fees to the staff and the public, thus, bridging the gap between the rich and the poor. It also supplements the effort of the government to provide standard education to the people. The school also functions as a model school for practicing NCE and PGDE students of the Institute. It is a mix school and has boarding facilities.
When the former Federal School of Art and Science (FESAS) was phased out, it was thought by stake holders in education that the site had been closed permanently by the federal Government. The approach, method and procedure adopted by the government aroused eager curiosity, doubts and even speculation and suspicion as to what it was up to. The closure caused uncritical nostalgia of the past because the compound was greatly empty, desolate and sombre. The question on the lips of people was what to do with the large compound, well-equipped library, laboratories and buildings. Hence it raised a veritable battery of arguments regarding the (rationality) rationale, the desirability and practical utility of the policy.
Nevertheless, the fears and doubts of concerned people sank into oblivion and insignificance when, in 1993, the federal government promulgated Decree 177 that brought into being the National Institute for Nigerian Languages with the acronym NINLAN. An erudite Igbo scholar and author, namely Professor Emmanuel Nwanolue Emenanjo, was meritoriously appointed the first Executive Director of the Institute which is the first of its kind in Nigeria. He was a man of his times who shared the educational, social perceptions, hopes and expectations of his people. With vision and foresight, he embarked upon the establishment of a staff secondary school named NINLAN Demonstration Secondary School (NDSS).
Professor Emenanjo appointed Mrs. F.U. Ufomadu the first Principal to nurture the new school to its eventual growth and maturity. The onus of doing this lay squarely on the shoulders of this diligent and unassuming woman and her team. Challenged by this appointment, motivated by the calibre of the man that appointed her and supported by her energetic staff, the new Principal swung into action. She did this by first visiting and studying the modus operandi and modus vivendi of similar or equivalent institutions established and run by the Universities at Port Harcourt and Nsukka as well as the federal government Colleges called the Unity Schools. This pioneer Principal was consequently able to submit a blue print on the basis of her feasibility studies. The school was given a name to reflect the dream, vision, hopes, inspiration and aspiration of the founding father and the stakeholders.
Those who formed the nucleus of the teaching staff were drawn from the staff of the Extension Services Unit. With a Management Board that was committed, foresighted and purposeful, and a principal and staff that were dedicated, the NINLAN Demonstration Secondary School started with about a hundred pioneer students on the 27th of November, 1993.
To implement the spirit and objectives which inspired the foundation and establishment of the school, it has, as its motto “Dignity through Discipline and Knowledge”. This motto symbolizes in microcosm the principles, values and standards that act as a fillip to action, attitudes and behaviour. It summarizes the method and technique for the general up-bringing and training of the students in preparation for adult life among other people. This shows that the school recognizes the urgent import of values which provide standards through which behaviour is rationalized, maintained and sustained. Thus, the lives of the students are controlled, regulated and enhanced to attain a certain purposeful goal. The school strongly believes that it is imperative to build a healthy school community by implanting standards of right and wrong. NDSS teachers have important part to play in the formulation, establishment and maintenance of such standards. All in all, every effort is made to resuscitate, reinvigorate and beef up the moral fibre of the students through religious and moral instructions as well as civic education.
In a country where life is fluctuating between false assurance and painful uncertainty and where education is quantitatively proficient and qualitatively deficient, NINLAN Demonstration Secondary School (NDSS), Aba is blessed with a crop of teachers who work with apostolic zeal and a commitment that compels. It is a team of fifty-Nine strong teachers – 16 men and 43 women. They toil and moil daily to bring up, educate and train the students morally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. There is a supporting non-tutorial staff of 25 – 4 men and 21 women.
