Loyola Jesuit College is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

secondary boarding school, located in

Gidan Mangoro Gidan Mangoro is a town in Karu, Nasarawa State. References Populated places in Nasarawa State {{Nasarawa-geo-stub ...

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The school was founded by the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

on October 2, 1996, and is named after the Society's founder, St.

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spain, Spanish Catholic ...

. The school has consistently ranked at the top of Nigerian schools in the WAEC exams.

Campus and history

Loyola Jesuit College is located on a site in the village of Gidan Mangoro. Funds to construct the school were provided by the New York province of the Society of Jesus and the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

, Office of

American Schools and Hospitals Abroad The office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) is an organizational unit within the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA) at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). ASHA is charged by t ...

. The ceremonial laying of foundation stone took place on April 1, 1995 and was presided over by the Honorable

Walter Carrington Walter C. Carrington (July 24, 1930 – August 11, 2020) was an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Senegal and Nigeria. Carrington served as the U.S. Ambassador to Senegal from 1980 ...

, the then US Ambassador to Nigeria. He described the site as a "field of dreams". The school opened with 101 students on October 2, 1996.

Sosoliso plane crash

On December 10, 2005, Loyola Jesuit College lost 60 students in the crash of

Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 (SO1145/OSL1145) was a scheduled Nigerian domestic passenger flight from Nigeria's capital of Abuja (ABV) to Port Harcourt ( PHC). At about 14:08 local time (13:08 UTC) on 10 December 2005, Flight 1145 from Abu ...

, which killed 107 people. One of the two survivors was

Kechi Okwuchi Kechi Okwuchi (born October 29, 1989) is a Nigerian-American singer and motivational speaker. She was one of the two survivors in the Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crash on December 10, 2005 and a finalist at the twelfth season of ''America's Go ...

, a Loyola student. A new multi-purpose auditorium, Memorial Hall, memorializes the students who died in the crash.

Administration

Presidents

Principals

Notable alumni

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji Iyinoluwa Samuel Aboyeji (born March 28, 1991) is a Nigerian entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Andela, and was the former managing director of Flutterwave. Aboyeji was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by ''New African'' mag ...

Andela co-founder, * Emmanuel Bez Idakulasinger, songwriter *

one of the two survivors of the Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crash and finalist in the twelfth season of ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Jesuit secondary schools in Nigeria Secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria) Educational institutions established in 1996 1996 establishments in Nigeria Schools in Abuja