By Veritas News Hub | Education
Lagos, April 30, 2026
Nigerian students flew to Rome as unknowns and returned as world beaters. Yet back home, their victory has been met with silence.
Students of Gonzaga Jesuit College, Okija, Anambra State delivered Nigeria’s most celebrated global academic performance in recent years at the 2026 International STEM Olympiad Grand Finale held July 2–8. Competing against 1,154 of the brightest young minds from 54 countries, they clinched 10 gold, 3 silver, 9 bronze medals and 3 honourable mentions 25 awards in total.
Two of the students, Okeke Somtochukwu and Nwafor Emmanuel Chinedu, were named Overall Second Best in the World. That puts a Nigerian secondary school on the same podium with institutions from the US, Europe and Asia.
Ordinarily, such a feat would trigger national celebration, scholarships, and policy discussions. Instead, there has been no presidential tweet, no statement from the Federal Ministry of Education, and no recognition from the government that sent no one.
A Win Built Outside the Public System
The Gonzaga victory exposes a painful reality: Nigeria is producing world-class talent by accident, not by design.
The win did not happen in an underfunded public school. It happened in a Jesuit institution built on a 500-year tradition of academic discipline, and funded through philanthropy. The school was founded by Dr Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi in partnership with the Society of Jesus, with heavy investment in labs, teachers, coaching, and global exposure.
The question is unavoidable: would these students have won under leaking roofs, with no power, internet, or textbooks? Gonzaga proves what Nigerian children can achieve when the environment is right. The tragedy is that the right environment still depends on private wealth, not public policy.
The Private Citizen Who Paid When Government Wouldn’t
If Gonzaga had a backer in Rome, it was Alex Onyia, CEO of Educare.
Onyia sponsored 3 Nigerian students and their teachers to the Olympiad. Flights, visas, registration, and accommodation cost over €40,000.
This is the same Onyia who runs the South East Mathematics Olympiad that engaged 11,500 students. In June, he called out the Ministry of Education for failing to sponsor a 15-year-old math prodigy to the International Mathematics Olympiad in China. In May, he criticized JAMB over score “glitches.”
His intervention forces a critical question: why is a private citizen funding Nigeria’s representation while the education budget grows yearly?
Data Point: UNESCO reports Nigeria spends 5.4% of its budget on education. The global benchmark is 15-20%. Ghana spends 18%. South Africa spends 17%. We are not broke. We are mis-prioritized.
Public Schools Left Behind
While private schools win globally, public schools struggle to function.
In February 2026, students of Government Secondary School, Gwagwalada, FCT wrote WAEC under trees after 6 classrooms collapsed in a rainstorm. No lab. No computers. One generator for 2,400 students.
TETFund reported in 2025 that over 70% of public tertiary institutions lack functional STEM laboratories. Yet we expect to compete with countries that spend $300 per student annually on lab equipment alone.
The silence deepens when it comes to government-sponsored scholars abroad. In recent months, Nigerian students in the UK, Russia and Cyprus went viral begging for help over delayed stipends and unpaid rents. Some were reportedly hospitalized. Government said “we didn’t abandon them,” but the videos told a different story.
A Regional Perception Problem
Celebration of Gonzaga has been loud on X, LinkedIn and in churches. It has been quiet in government circles. That vacuum feeds a belief already strong in the South East: achievements from the region don’t get the same national applause.
Whether true or not, perception matters. A medal won for Nigeria carries the green-white-green, not a tribe. If athletes who win gold get national honors, why do students who win gold in science get ignored?
What Rome Really Proved
The STEM Olympiad is not luck. It is a pipeline of qualifiers, rankings and “Best of the Best” rounds against Europe, Asia and America. Gonzaga’s students survived it because they were trained for it.
Dr Azudialu-Obiejesi built more than a school. He built a system: global exposure, expert mentors, advanced STEM curriculum, and talent scouting. The Jesuits contributed centuries of experience forming leaders “intellectually, spiritually, and psychologically.”
That combination ~investment plus intention plus opportunity ~is what beat better-funded nations.
The Bottom Line
Gonzaga’s 25 medals prove one thing: Nigerian children are not the problem. The system is.
Until excellence stops depending on private charity and GoFundMe campaigns, Nigeria will keep exporting its best minds and importing shame.
Government must decide: will STEM success remain a Jesuit project? Or will it become national policy?
Because right now, the next Somtochukwu and Emmanuel are sitting in a public classroom with no light. And no one is coming to sponsor them to Rome.
Dr Marcel Mbamalu is a communication scholar, Editor and Publisher of Prime Business Africa
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