TELL THE TRUTH
I was in Form 1C. In fact I was in the C arm in my one to form three. The C class had some of the most troublesome boys with all sorts of pranks up their sleeves but they were also smart in their class work.
The class of 72 was filled with boys from diverse backgrounds including some of the most brilliant boys, Aiyesimoju (Mela) and Amos (Soma) of blessed memory, to mention a few.
Some of these boys were great sportsmen in football, athletics, cricket and hockey and represented the school ..... Read More
RELUCTANT STUDENT
Reflecting on the half century anniversary of my class set’s R entry into Government College Ibadan (GCI) in January 1972, I must first and foremost give thanks to the heavenly Father who makes all things possible for bringing a good majority of us all this far. This is indeed a monumental milestone for which we cannot but be thankful to God. One must also thank the Almighty for the lives of our departed compatriots. May their dear souls all rest in peace. After the thanksgiving, I can then ..... Read More
HOOKED ON GCI
In 1971, when I was about to sit for the common entrance examination in Lagos, I applied to:
1.King’s College Lagos
2.Igbobi College Lagos
3.Government College Ibadan
I was invited for the interviews of all three, but when I went to Ibadan, I got hooked on GCI.
I arrived by air, accompanied by my tutor, Mr. Leye Akinola, a University of Ibadan student doing a vacation job at Dunlop Industries, where my old man, a chartered accountant, was the Buying Manager.
The three-day interview left ..... Read More
MY GCI CHOICE
My family and I lived in Lagos and in the run up to the common entrance examination, I selected a number of schools. There were a number of very good schools in Lagos to which I applied, although I also applied to GCI on the recommendation of extended family members who lived in Ibadan, as one of my older relatives was already studying there. My heart was initially set on attending Igbobi College and although I eventually secured admission to a number of secondary schools, two things happened ..... Read More
TEN THINGS GCI TAUGHT ME
Initially, I was contemplating writing about my Government College Ibadan (GCI) experience, which would have started from the first time I heard about her at the age of six when an uncle living with us at the time was admitted into the school right up to the time I passed out of the school at the age of 16. Yes, I passed out but never really left GCI because the school would always remain a part of me for as long as I live. But then it occurred to me that many of my classmates may want to write ..... Read More
DELAYED LETTER
In everything I give thanks to Jehovah the Almighty God. I got into GCI by divine intervention because of what happened to me in late 1971. I did the National Common Entrance and also did other individual schools’ examinations within Lagos and the old Western State. Strangely, we started receiving letters to attend interviews long after all of them had stopped conducting their interviews.
It all began with Baptist Academy in Lagos whose letter of interview got to my father’s pigeon-hole ..... Read More
UNLIMITED LESSONS
I Got the best of both worlds, a great rugged foundation from our academic rival Christ’s School Ado-Ekiti, and I built on this foundation at the State of the Art Rock, Government College Ibadan. I must have been destined to attend GCI despite my dad’s objection at my earlier opportunity after my primary education. He was an old boy of Christ’s School and I am his first son so I was destined to attend his old school. I wasn’t the brightest or “test smart” kid, but well equipped with ..... Read More
JUST A FEW REGRETS
I must first give thanks to God for allowing me to acquire my secondary education at this prestigious institution. I got into GCI by the divine intervention of God; my late mother, Eunice Wuraola Olubowale, who through the insistence of our father, Isaiah Obayomi Olubowale aka Alekujina that Folarin and Segun will not attend any other secondary school except GCI, approached Chief J. B. O. Ojo, and persuaded him to invite me for an interview after the dates were closed. She also got him to ..... Read More
UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES
It took a gathering of some seven closest friends of my dad, over their usual lunch in our family house, to agree to send me to GCI as a boarder. I had been fully admitted into six other excellent and famous grammar schools, four of which offered me various forms of scholarship. As a child, I had particularly been impressed by one of them, Compro at Ayetoro, with its exquisite American-style architecture of a campus.
I commenced schooling at GCI on Friday, 14 January 1972 and discovered that I ..... Read More
COLOUR OF TEARS
In 1971, after writing the Common Entrance Examination to secondary schools in the then Western State, a series of interviews followed as condition for admission. The interviews for two schools remained indelible in my brain because we had to stay for more than one day on the premises of the schools. They were Igbobi College Lagos and Government College Ibadan. For GCI, it was three days and after the interview, I remembered my dad telling my brother Folarin and me that it was GCI or no more ..... Read More