MY STORY (Eggy)

You may be wondering what the connection between the egg and the head is; I didn't also think there was any rational or logical connection until I was admitted to GCI, and to my utter amazement, I became the subject matter and the link to rationalize the two.

The Eggy Story started in 1971 in Room 4, Swanston House, when we were in Form 2. Tunde Ogunnaike (Papa, 1965) looked at me one day and with his mathematical ingenuity aroused, he voiced an innocent observation, "do you know that your head looks like a triangular prism?", and everybody laughed.

How I wish the scene ended on that humorous note, but it didn't. That innocent observation signified the beginning of my second naming ceremony. Also in that room was a senior, Ajibade (1967) who probably innocently too, took an examination of me further and said my head looked more like an egg.

He was the one who started calling me "Eggy" and the rest is history. The name surprisingly survived many attempts to kill it. I hated it passionately in the beginning and tried to discipline junior boys who were bold enough to call me the nickname. Very often, those attempts were rebuffed because many of these junior boys, mostly in the 1971 set were my classmates in primary school and were bigger than I. On many occasions, I had to secure the services of my bigger, stronger, and older classmates like late Bode Alugo to enforce their compliance. However, in GCI, the more you tried to stop something you detest, the more students get emboldened to make it more popular. By the time we were in higher class, I had resigned myself to the name and even gotten used to it. My parents called me "Eggy" and even my younger brothers who didn't come to GCI inherited the name. In school, nicknames often undergo metamorphosis. Eggy was

no exception. Eggy, Evin Awo, Egzo, Egizometric, Egosa, Hosana, nicknames all derived from Ajibade's original, "EGGY". I often get Whoosa, Wuzie, Baba Wu, were the other variations. I have over fifty to know when last a friend or acquaintance interacted with me from which of the many versions of Eggy he calls me. Some people even call my wife, "Eggress" and my daughter, "Egglet".

I now, sometimes, look over my shoulder when people call me Akinyemi, as "Eggy" (and its derivatives) sound more familiar to me. I have the tradition and culture of Government College Ibadan to thank for the name and adventure that the name has brought and has now become my identity.


Culled from: Metamorphoses 50th Anniversary Yearbook(1970 set)
Submitted by: Akinyemi Akinola (Swanston,2126)