On 18th July 2026, the School Chapel at Jephthah Comprehensive Secondary School held a different kind of gravity than usual. Thirty young people who had spent six years growing within these walls; through Junior and Senior Secondary School, through mock examinations and final WASSCE sittings, through chapel services and hostel life, sat for the last time as students of Jephthah. When the ceremony ended, they rose as graduates, ready to carry the name of Jephthah into universities, careers and callings far beyond Port Harcourt.
If the JSS3 graduation earlier in July was a celebration of formation, the SS3 graduation was something more final and more searching: a send-off. Thirty years after Jephthah opened its gates on the conviction that God opens doors for those who are prepared, this year’s SS3 set stood as living evidence, a class shaped by rigorous Nigerian and international academic standards, and by a mission that has never separated excellence in learning from excellence in character.
A Send-Off Rooted in Faith
True to Jephthah’s identity as a Christian institution, the graduation ceremony held once again in the School Chapel, the same sacred space where these students had worshipped, been counselled and been formed since their earliest days at Jephthah. Parents, guardians, staff, the Board of Governors and school leadership gathered to witness a ceremony that blended solemn gratitude with genuine celebration, reflecting a philosophy the school holds firmly: that character formation matters as much as academic results, and that no graduation is complete without acknowledging the hand of God in a student’s journey.
A Charge to Face the World Unrelenting
This year’s keynote address came from Dr. Abiye Titus-Green, a member of Jephthah’s Class of 2010, whose journey from the same chapel pews to wherever life has since taken him gave his words a rare authority. His message to the graduating class was direct and urgent: an encouragement to face the world beyond the familiar structure of school life, to embrace the realities of what comes next, and above all, to remain focused and unrelenting in pursuing their dreams.
It was the kind of address that only someone who has already tested the waters outside Jephthah’s gates could deliver convincingly, a reminder that the discipline instilled in the classroom and the hostel does not expire at graduation. It travels with a student into university lecture halls, into first jobs, into every arena where focus and resilience determine who finishes what they start. For a class about to step into a far less structured world, Titus-Green’s words offered both grounding and fuel.
A Class That Excelled Across Every Discipline
The 2026 SS3 Prizes and Awards told the story of a class whose excellence spanned the sciences, the arts, sports, leadership and character, precisely the breadth Jephthah’s four pillars of Wisdom, Favour with God, Stature and Favour with Men are designed to produce.
At the very top stood Victor-Onyeka Daniel Ifeanyi, named Student of the Year. An honour reserved for a genuine all-rounder. Beyond his citation as an active sportsman, media crew member, preacher, and ICT-proficient student consistently ranked among the top ten in his class, Victor-Onyeka backed his character with academic firepower, topping both Physics (99.5%) and Mathematics (97%), winning Computer Studies and being honoured as Best Behaved Student (Male).
Running him close in academic distinction was Ajinomisanghan Ayiri, who claimed the Grand Slam Award as overall best student in academics from SS1 to SS3, alongside the Best in Academics prize for SS3, the English Language subject win, the Technical Drawing win, and the Sports Awardee honour for her performance and character on the track, a genuinely rare combination of academic and athletic excellence.
Science had its own standout in Amarame Benedict Manuchimso, the Science Awardee for the graduating set, who posted a near-perfect 99.5% to win Chemistry, and also topped Economics (99.0%), Further Mathematics (98.6%), Auto Mechanics (97.3%) and Civic Education, a spread of results that speaks to exceptional discipline across both the sciences and applied subjects.
The humanities found their champion in Ogidi Emmanuella, honoured as the Arts Humanities Awardee and the Great Advocate Awardee for her sights set on studying Law, backed by subject wins in C.R.K. (97.3%), Government and Literature in English.
Two other names carried particular meaning this year. Gborogbosi Yimanubari Leesi, the Great Physician Awardee, was recognised for excelling across Physics, Chemistry, and Biology while walking out a meek and born-again faith, fitting for a student intending to study Medicine. And Silas Tamaratenanei Favour earned both the Most Improved in Academics award for the strongest grade-point progression from SS1 to SS3, and the Silent Server award, given not to a prefect, but to a student whose quiet readiness to serve did not go unnoticed by staff and peers alike.
Leadership was equally well represented. Tissa Innocent Tuayerin and Dappa Miracle Tamunoibim, the Senior Prefects (Male and Female), swept a series of honours between them, Most Active Prefect, Neatest Student, and, in Dappa’s case, Most Disciplined Prefect, Most Punctual Student and Best Behaved Student (Female) as well, alongside a strong showing in Photography and Agricultural Science. Mafe Oluwasola Eworitsewarami was recognised as Most Disciplined and Most Punctual Prefect (Male), while Payefa Tare earned the Most Improved in Character award, a quiet but powerful testament to the transformative role correction and mentorship play at Jephthah. Loveday Prosper rounded out the honours as the Most Talented Student, recognised across sports, music, writing and speech, while also placing in Technical Drawing.
Beyond the star awards, subject prizes were spread widely across the class, from James Ososé Praise topping Agricultural Science, to Igwe Divine Chukwumbana winning both Commerce and Marketing, to Edafe Joseph Emmanuel carrying the Oluwafunmilayo Oyatogun Environmental Conservation Award for his commitment to the Conservation Club and Victor-Onyeka Daniel Ifeanyi doubling up with the Oluwaseun Oyatogun Physics Olympiad Award. It was, in every sense, a class where excellence was not concentrated in a handful of names, but distributed across thirty students who each found their place to shine.
What This Class Leaves Behind
As Jephthah Comprehensive Secondary School bids farewell to its SS3 class of 2026, it does so with the quiet confidence that comes from thirty years of watching students walk this same path. From admission to graduation, and from graduation into the wide world Abiye Titus-Green so pointedly described. This class leaves behind a record of academic distinction across the sciences, arts, and technical subjects; a standard of leadership set by its prefects; and stories of transformation, like Silas Tamaratenanei Favour’s academic turnaround and Payefa Tare’s growth in character, that capture exactly what a Jephthah education is meant to produce.
To the SS3 class of 2026: the doors God has opened for you at Jephthah are only the beginning. Go forth, stay focused and remain unrelenting.
Jephthah Comprehensive Secondary School is a Christian secondary school in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, offering Junior and Senior Secondary education accredited by ACSI and approved by the Rivers State Ministry of Education. To learn more about admissions, visit jephthah.net/admissions.
