History of GCU
Government College Ughelli was founded in 1945. It was sited initially at Warri and was known as Warri Middle School, before it was later moved to Ughelli. The First Students (Mariners) walked into their classrooms on January 19, 1945. Modeled after its remarkable "Public Schools" contemporaries in Britain, Government College Ughelli was conceived as an institution where students were brought up to appreciate the virtues of manliness, sportsmanship, intellectual and moral excellence, integrity and of a clean and salubrious environment. However, especial care was taken to ensure that the character of the student was molded without their personality being distorted.
On it's inception it was indisputably one of the best secondary schools in the country. It was the standard that other schools could only try to emulate. Well-mowed lawns and trimmed hedges, well designed class room blocks and dormitories were carefully laid out in two square kilometres of landscape. Boulevards and living quarters for all categories of staff and students formed the major hub of a planned, orderly and serene environment. The community had always been self-sufficient in the supply of water and power. It boasted of fully equipped and well stocked laboratories, workshops and library, reading rooms complete with steel lockers. School books were provided to all students as part of the benefits, at a modest school fee. Discipline reigned supreme. Admission was strictly by merit alone.
And in the years ever since Government College has lived up to its billing producing a good number of Nigeria's most distinguished and highly esteemed personalities. The School's list of graduates is a roll call of achievers in Industry, Education, Banking and Finance, Law, Government, Public Service, and the Military.