The Grammar School is one hundred and fifty eight years old today!
In fact, we’ve been planning to post this since Sunday. It’s to show how happy we are.
Happy and grateful for having been so fortunate to pass through the Grammar school.
And, of course, the Grammar School passed through me!
Where else could one have learnt the generosity, the humour, the bluntness, the nationalistic attitude, the courage, the longsuffering, the old boyism, the ability not to suffer fools gladly, and other things that are only meant to be said within the old boys club?
I must not forget to add that I learnt all I needed to learn about writing at good old Bariga! We had very great teachers. We also had a very rich library, a library that could beat what some universities possess today.
Indeed at some point, my morning duty was the cleaning of the school library. But I did more of reading books that were not on the syllabus than cleaning. The school also subscribed to the dailies.
We were allowed to have transistor radios. There was never a dull moment in school.
Above all, the pupils were very good critiques of each other.
The school performed very well in every area of human endeavour, examinations, sports,debates, socials, etc. If I’m correct, the school won the prestigious Principal’s Cup soccer competition four times in the late seventies. The school also did well in basketball, hockey, volleyball, cricket etc.
Nobody asked where anybody came from. The school was our country.
My best friend, for instance, was Igbo.
The school was then headed by the principal of principals, Chief I.A. Olowu. A Geography graduate of the old Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone. Oga, as he was fondly called by staff and pupils was from Ile Oluji. However, he had become a real Lagosian. He was friends with the late Chief TOS Benson, Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya, Chief Henry Fajemirokun, etc.
Oga had a Volvo 244 DL. Whenever, he was coming from a late night event, if he noticed some boys in the classrooms, he would try and race them to the hostel in his car. But before he got down, the boys would have made good their escape.
He would then enter the hostel. He would be searching for those who were still going about after lights out. In that course, he would be forced to do something that only Grammarians could understand.
Oga, a very intelligent man, was a father in the true sense of the word. He would allow the boys to organise an End of Year Party. All the schools around would be invited. Particularly the girls’ schools.
Of course, when young boys and girls are left alone at night, some things will always lead to the others.
The following morning, Oga would recount, in graphic details, some of the things that happened at the party.
He surely had a large heart.
But, mmm…
Oga could flog, ah.. His instrument was favouritely Christianed KBK.
Kondo baba kumo!
Oga was of modest height, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in strength, both of character and physical. He could beat a whole class, even as old as he was then.
He was also full of native intelligence. He gave us a lot of anecdotes. What about the tales? One that I will never forget is that of Agbigbo.
Agbigbo gbomo mi komi o,
Eye agbigbo!
How can I forget the midterm holidays, when the Deeper Life Christian Ministry members normally came for their retreats. When it was time for food, we pupils, well, some of us, would dress like SUs, not forgetting our ties, to be a part of the feast.
We tended to be left to our own devices in the hostel. That act made most of us wiser. The prefects were lords of the manor!
We didn’t have to pretend. In fact, if some crime was committed, we could guess whom the culprit was.
The day of judgement was another interesting aspect of the school. That was the last day of the session. Those of us who were not so brilliant would be having our hearts in our mouths. Then Oga would appear in his academic gown with the sword of Damocles, our results.
On that day, repeaters and pupils who had repeated twice and had been advised to leave the school had their names called out in the school assembly hall.
How can I forget Iya Akoka. Coming to the Grammar School from Chemist busstop, there was a woman who sold rice beans and dodo in an uncompleted building. That was iya akoka. The landlady of our school two. For our corporate safety, I mean the old boys, I may not be able to say more about the happenings at Iya Akoka’s. But then, those who coined the saying, Boys will be boys, might have had Iya Akoka and Grammar School boys in mind when they coined that phrase.
On many occasions, the principal had to send people to write the names of those who were eating at the expense of their studies. I’m not sure that had any effect.
School was fun then. We played hard and also studied well!
We sang the school song with much more verve than we sang the national anthem, the first line of the school song is prophetic,
Lives are in the Making Here!
The school motto are also words of wisdom,
Nisi Dominus Frustra,
Without God, All In Vain!
Only the best is good enough for the CMS Grammar School!
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