The Legend of Agbonkankan

The story is told that there was once a time in GCI, when the firewood suppliers for the school kitchen failed to fulfil their promises. There was thus a worrying scarcity of firewood and also fears of how the students would get fed. A certain boy looked beyond the fear; he got himself an axe and one morning headed for the school plantation. There, he hewed down whole trees and by the end of the day, delivered to the school kitchen , sufficient firewood to keep the school kitchen supplied, some say for a whole week .Thus was born the reputation of Peter Agbonkankan (1944) for selfless service .

There came another time several years after that it became obvious that the school needed to upgrade the horribly eroded and nearly impassable main road which led from Abeokuta Road into the school compound. The principal at that time, whose name was Mr G.N.I Enobakhare (1933), thought it would be a good idea to build a dual carriageway in replacement. Faced with paucity of funds however, the brilliant plan also occurred to him to engage the students in the actual construction of the road. By positive manipulation, he brought the entire body of students to agree with and to work along with his plan

Each morning at the school assembly hall, the young GCI students, ever looking forward to excel in life, were goaded along by the Principal, with the story of Peter Agbonkankan and his example of selfless service, which all ought to emulate. The result was that, after a construction task which engaged the students on a daily basis the new main road was completed within four months. This project together with the concurrent tasks of beautifying the school surroundings became the beginning of the "compound work", which many of us of a younger generation eventually became familiar with. Built in the evolved GCI spirit and tradition of selfless service, the completed project was eponymously named Agbonkankan.

On 29th June 1988 the main road was named G Akin Deko Avenue. But for many it would still remain Agbonkankan.

- Retold by Rotimi Ogunjobi (1970)
- excerpts from Built On the Rock- The Second Twenty Five Years
- Photo supplied by Engr.Emmanuel Olaniyi Oladeji (1944)