'Cum' was a Life Saver
Nobody toyed with 'cum' in Government College Ibadan.
Cum was the Saturday evening combo meal of fried plantain and beans (dodo and ewa) and it was everybody's delight.
'Cum' made my life a lot easier in my early days at GCI, after leaving the comfort of Corona School, Lagos, which many considered an 'aje-butter' institution.
I resumed at Apata in January 1967, and so, that aspect of my life's journey began. I was assigned to Grier House.
Taking up residence in the boarding house, ..... Read More
These terms called 'AYO' and 'AIONIAN'.
AIONIAN is the brotherhood of four schools formed in 1930 by the founding Principals of Abeokuta Grammar School, Ibadan Grammar School, Ondo Boys High School, and Ijebu Ode Grammar School.
AIONIAN was formed by combining the first letters of the schools, and was for the purpose of conducting joint annual sports competitions and entrance examinations.
The initial four schools later became twelve.
None of these ionian (ayo) schools played elite sports like cricket and hockey, and did not ..... Read More
Osemeikhian or Oshinyimika
By the rules and regulations of Government College Ibadan, students were barred from going into the teachers' quarters, but as they say 'boys must be boys'.
A combination of normal youthful exuberance and some spurt of testosterone in the blood of young boys emboldened some group of students, notable amongst whom were Segun Oshinyimika (1965), Biodun Sadipe (1965), Late Yomi Agboola (1965), Derin Adewumi (1962) and a host of others to break this rule.
It was a kind of 'huckleberryfinic' ..... Read More
Conversation between an Old Boy and an Old School Teacher of GCI
Teacher: What are you doing here?
Student: I'm a student sir.
Teacher: 'Ha-ha! Student where? At the university?'
Student: Yes sir!
Teacher: That's the same place I'm going. And what are you studying?'
Student: 'Engineering sir!' Chemical Engineering!!'
Teacher: 'Oh...I see! How did you get here? And for how long?'
Student: 'I gained admission sir. Just completed my first year.'
Teacher: 'Ha, you GCI boys. You are everywhere. I must send a message to MA in Ibadan. Do you ..... Read More
Two Kids - A Reminiscence Of GCI
(from the novel A Conference in Ennui by Rotimi Ogunjobi , 2012)
It was an old school, about forty years old. Their dormitory, one of the nine in the house, seemed just as old with un-tiled concrete floor and creosote blackened window frames and roof trusses. A wider adventure around the school grounds would later reveal about a million acres of lawns and sport fields, miles and miles of planted Casuarina hedges, or so it appeared to the little kids. The school grounds also had within it a ..... Read More
The Provincial Athletics Championships: An Event I'd Rather Not Remember
It was some sometime in April 1971 at the Provincial Athletics Championships competition at the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan.
The competition was coming to an end and as usual, it was time for the relay race, which is always the highlight of the championships. The GCI team comprised Eniola Sanu (1967) - the first leg, Tunde Bamgbelu (1968) - second leg, my good self - third leg and Yato Adeyemi, the anchor.
The race started very well with fantastic and beautiful baton exchanges from the ..... Read More
SI - Nurturing Music Stars From GCI & An Excursion To Early Fame
If music be the food of love, play on, that surfeiting, the appetite may sicken and so die - William Shakespeare (Twelve Night)
Stardom is exhilarating. Early exposure to it is even more so. In 1967, some of the greatest moments for new entrants into Government College
Ibadan, were the times that the school band, Sound Incorporation (SI) performed on stage.
Members of the band were considered the real superstars in school, and non-members in a manner of speaking, practically ..... Read More
My Elementary Law 001 Lesson In GCI
One personal but very memorable incident which I will always recall in my days in Government College Ibadan was an expensive indiscretion, for which I paid with six good strokes of the cane on my backside.
It was early evening sometime in 1967 or thereabout. As a young boy just leaving home for the first time to live in the boarding house, I was getting hungry and I wanted to eat something, because at home, I had become used to eating whenever I desired. Unfortunately, I was broke, having ..... Read More
I Am Proud To Wear The GCI Badge
Government College Ibadan (GCI) gave me the best time of my life. I got to meet a lot of people who, today, I still consider my friends, even if I have not seen some of them in more than 30 years. However, cultivating these friendships is not what made being at GCI special. What was important was the context within which the institution enabled young people to interact and figure out who and where they were in the world at an important period of their self-discovery.
In the first case, the ..... Read More
Memories Of Government College Ibadan (GCI)
My memories of interesting occurrences at Government College Ibadan (GCI) are plentiful and evergreen. Due to constraints of space, I will highlight only a few.
In 1963, Cassius Clay fought Sonny Liston for the heavy-weight 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 bet with Adedeji of Form 3 on the outcome of the fight. Adedeji bet on Cassius Clay. What was at stake ..... Read More