My Life At Government College Ibadan
When I was at the School, life was generally quite secure. The only financial obligation was three pounds per annum which in 1945 was raised to four pounds per annum for students.
The first year was always a difficult one in a boarding house. In Grier House, the Head of House was Ogunbanwo, while I was the privileged �fag� of the boss of the dormitory. My bed was next to his. This esteemed bed was located at the corner of a large open dormitory with a population of thirty boys. Other ..... Read More
The Scala Misadventure
The film �Ben Hur� starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton was showing at Scala Cinema in
Mokola Ibadan and the whole school was given permission to go and see it. The film was captivating and the lead actor and actress fascinating.
Filing out at the end of the movie, my attention was caught by a poster of another film �Who�s Afraid of Virginia Wolf� starring the same Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton who had just wowed one. This was a certificate �A� rated film, which I later ..... Read More
The Near Drowning Incident
I will never forget an incident when Bode Oyewole saved the life of one of our mates when we were in Form Four.
This was soon after we were taught about fish and body parts in the Biology class. The teacher then took us in two batches to a natural fish pond at Eleyele area for practical lessons. As soon as the teacher left to fetch the second batch, the eight of us in the first batch jumped into a canoe anchored at the pond.
As each boy jumped inside, the canoe moved farther away. I ..... Read More
The 1971 Swimming Championships
The 1971 Swimming Championships: Looking Back Made Me Lose Vital Race
One memorable experience which I recall was at the Western State Amateur Swimming Championships that was held at the Lafia Hotel, Apata on 29th October 1971.
Participants came from secondary schools and this competition had contestants from the International School of the University of Ibadan, St. Gregory�s College and Kings College both in Lagos, as well as some other colleges with swimming teams.
It was the ..... Read More
Why I Don't Gamble
My memories of interesting occurrences at Government College Ibadan (GCI) are plentiful and evergreen. I will highlight only a few.
In 1963, Cassius Clay fought Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship of the world. I was a huge fan of the champion Sonny Liston who I believed was invincible.
So confident was I that Liston would annihilate Clay that I had a bet with Adedeji of Form 3 on the outcome of the fight. Adedeji bet on Cassius Clay. At stake were two plates of dodo (fried ..... Read More
Corporal Punishment In GCI
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN GCI
(Excerpts from �Before My Obituary� by Olaleye Falore)
The use of corporal punishment for correcting erring boys was restricted to only six members of staff the Principal, the Vice Principal and the four Housemasters. No other person in the school was given the power to �flog� any student, no matter the gravity of his offence.
Caning in GCI was, more often than not, carried out in a ceremonial way, be it on the house grounds by the Housemaster or ..... Read More
My French Teacher
The only hope of any form of exchange between my French teacher and her numerous admirers was in a classroom situation, hence, this became the arena in which all jostling and hustling for attention were played out. Everything was done in good humour.
There was a need for peace among warring males. There was a silent need to keep individual thoughts and desires private though this would come bursting forth in periodic moments of camaraderie. Nevertheless there was this undercurrent of ..... Read More
Nicknames in GCI
It is over 44 years now that our class set left GOVERNMENT COLLEGE, IBADAN. We, members of the 62 Set are trying to remind ourselves, of the various call names we used in mocking one another.
Some of these names have gone into oblivion, while many others remain evergreen.
Some boys brought names from their various elementary schools. Those roots may not be known to many of us. Some came with designer names, which today�s boys call �guy names�. A few examples are: OBI TANKO for Obileye, ..... Read More
The bugging: "Mo gbagi o ja e"
The palm wine incident came to a head when, despite several entreaties to late Arc. Sola Olugbesan (Solee), the editor of the GCI in-house magazine, the magazine went ahead to bug me, using annotated cartoons to enrich the narratives. You should have seen the caricature of me sprinting.. .so comical, even, I was amused. The 'bugging' was captioned "Mo gbagi oja e."
The cartoon showed that I had received the baton and was scurring to safety. At this time, the whole matter was squarely ..... Read More
The Palm Wine Bar Incident
Over time, I had become a regular evening visitor to a dimly lit palm wine joint, located some metres outside the GCI gate, towards Afrograms.
On this particular evening, I met other boys there including Demola Ajibade (of blessed memory) and Tunde Oremodu. After savouring the usual one bottle of palm wine in an Aromatic Schnapps bottle, it was time to depart since prep was about to end. I paid the attendant but was startled by her exclamation. A customer, who was probably tipsy or had had ..... Read More