Ni'idi usu
It was a Saturday morning, in the 3rd Term of Form 3, 1978.
The newly constructed wing of the Dining Hall had just opened, to accommodate the new HSC students.
Yam was served for breakfast. Olusegun Oyediran was the Messboy at Table 22?, as I was at Table 18.
Apparently Kayode Agbaje-Williams had been unhappy with his messboy , Segun Oyediran, who had served him the ends of the Yam tuber (Apari Isu), on previous occasions; and he had made it known to Oyediran, never to repeat it ..... Read More
School Teur
Teur - yes that is the right spelling, is a French word that means teacher. A junior boy is assigned a Teur for mentorship and preparation for the House Test. The person who comes first in the House Test is declared House Scholar for the year.
The school teur is normally a Form Four student. You called him "My Teur" and he called you "My Boy". You also belonged to a nuclear family of related teurs. The Boys in your set in the family were also your Boys.
Source : The Nigerian Nostalgia ..... Read More
Thank You NEPA; Up You!
NEPA, the then Nigerian Electricity Power Authority, was notorious for its sickening inefficiency and massive corruption. And most times, it attracted opprobrium upon itself from Nigerians, for obvious reasons. However, this same NEPA saved me at some point in GCI. Please permit me to share what happened with you today.
Majority of my classmates (1973 (A) set) in Carr House, were not known to be great in the GCI social circle. I believe we just didn�t know how to be social, but, a few of us ..... Read More
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 ..... Read More
The gentlemanliness and bigheartedness of a typical GCI Old Boy
There is a story of a GCI boy who gave a lady a lift somewhere in the northern part of Nigeria. Their car broke down and they had to sleep in a hotel, sharing a room to conserve funds. The girl placed a pillow between them to make for 'PRIVACY'. The boy, till morning, did not cross the pillow.
Back in the car the wind blew the lady's scarf over a fence. The ex-GCI boy attempted to jump the fence for the scarf but the lady pulled him back, saying: "How dare you jump a fence when you could not ..... Read More
GCI Boys, United They Stand.
Once upon a time!
In the Confines of GCI was a Captain of Hockey of a particular Set around the middle of the Second Generation of the School.
His prefect badge was to be stripped off in the School Assembly Hall, symbolically removing him as a School Prefect for an alleged misdemeanour committed when the Hockey Team went to Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro to play a friendly match.
The Head of School then, Wole Ogunyinka (1966) - a mature and peace loving young man mobilised some of ..... Read More
Eavesdroppers Never Hear Good of Themselves
The story I�m about to relay happened in Grier House in the mid sixties.
Our dear old Housemaster, Mr. Arodudu of blessed memory, who was also our English teacher, was very fond of prowling round his domain (Grier House) after lights-out, like a sleek tiger looking for unruly students to punish.
He had carried on with this tactic for a long time, and a lot of Grier House boys had fallen into his trap on several occasions. The inevitable
punishment was some strokes from the rod of ..... Read More
2017 GCIOBANA ENDO : LAS VEGAS CONVENTION
Dr Adeola Olatunji Popoola - a Physical Therapy Specialist in New Jersey and Executive Chairman of GCIOBA-North America Branch discusses with Mrs Joy Adedeji of New African Broadcasting Network TV Station.
In the Video Interview transcribed by the GCI Museum Team, the 1971 Set Old Boy of Government College Ibadan related how the Branch's forthcoming grand breaking ENDO at Las Vegas, Nevada would be a panacea for the dismal abysmal state of education in not only his Alma ..... Read More
The GCI Story
Sir' I asked 'do you mean Government College Ibadan?' the old professor looked into my eyes with incredulity and snapped 'Is there any other GCI'? Though there exist many schools using this acronym today. With this sense of nostalgia and awe do old students and friends talk about and celebrate this great school.
Founded February 28, 1929, Government College Ibadan (GCI) is a "boys only" secondary school located in Ibadan, modelled after the British secondary boarding schools of the era. The ..... Read More
Manna from the HSC Block Ceiling
MANNA FROM THE HSC BLOCK CEILING - THE FREE MILK AFFAIR.
My relationship with all my classmates was cordial, but that with three of them, Adenrele Daramola, Tunde Oremodu and Tolu Osonowo, was outstanding.
I recall playing football in my second year, with Denrele in the open porch of the HSC Block.
One of us kicked the ball into the ceiling and Denrele volunteered to go into the ceiling and retrieve it. He brought down the ball all right, but he also told us about a carton of ..... Read More