Government College Umuahia
 |
|
| Motto |
In Unum Luceant (May We Shine as One) |
|---|---|
| Established | 1929 |
| Type | Secondary school |
| Founder | Rev. Robert Fisher |
| Location |
Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road Umuahia, Abia State Nigeria  Coordinates: 5°29′58″N 7°32′17″E / 5.499367°N 7.538167°E |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Cozens, Erekosima, Fisher, Kent, Niger, Nile, School, Simpson, Wareham, New, Extension |
| Colours | Pink and khaki |
| Publication | The Eastern Star (later "The Umuahian" and "The Red Star") |
| Pupils | Umuahians |
| Former pupils | Old Umuahians, Old Boys |
| Spouses of Old Boys | Young Girls |
Government College Umuahia, or GCU, is a secondary school for boys located on Umuahia Ikot Ekpene Road in Umuahia, Nigeria.
Twenty years after the establishment of Kings College, the first government-owned high school, by the British colonial government, three similar public schools were founded in 1929. These three institutions, Government College Umuahia (GCU), Government College, Ibadan and Government College Zaria (Barewa College), were designed to follow the traditions of British public schools such as Eton, Harrow and Winchester. The GCU was known as the 'Eton of the East,' at that time because it was located in Nigeria’s orient and was known for its elite standards and selectivity.
Rev. Robert Fisher was the founding principal of GCU.
On December, 22nd 2014, a Deed of Trust was signed with the Abia state government, thereby vesting the Fisher Educational Trust with all legal interests, rights and power pertaining to ownership, management, operation, control and funding of Government College Umuahia. The trust was set up by the Old Boys of the College.
In 1927 the British Colonial Government in Lagos started three new secondary schools for boys, namely a school in Ibadan (Government College, Ibadan), in Zaria (now Barewa College) and in Umuahia (Government College Umuahia). Kings College, Lagos had started twenty years earlier in 1909. These four schools were modeled after the famous English public schools – Eton and Harrow. The Queens College, Lagos (for girls) had opened that year. The onus for starting the Government College Umuahia fell on an English educator, mathematician, and Anglican priest, the Rev. Robert Fisher who had been a teacher at the Achimota College, Accra, and education administrator in the Gold Coast, now Ghana. He served as the first principal of the Government College Umuahia from 1929-1939.
Robert Fisher arrived in Umuahia in 1927 and acquired land of 10 square miles (26 km2). On January 29, 1929 he opened the gates of the school to 25 students drawn from all parts of Nigeria and West Africa, but with catchment in Eastern Nigeria, and the Southern Cameroons. The Government College Umuahia began in 1929 as a teacher training institute and in 1930, converted to a secondary school. Fisher ran this school until 1939 when, at the start of the 2nd World War, he left for England on retirement. The school was closed thereafter, and for three years it was used as a Prisoner of War camp for detaining German and Italian prisoners captured in Cameroon by the British.
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