Igbobi College at 90

For those who are conversant with the news, it is impossible to miss out on the fact that: the renowned and famous school,–Igbobi College has attained the age of 90 years. A quick caveat is necessary here.

This is not another incestuous exercise. For I am not an old boy of Igbobi College. But despite this, I am sufficiently well-placed to appreciate that this is one of the great schools that can be said to be an integral part of a positive if rare Nigeria. My introduction to the school was quite early.

Despite the fact that it was established as a joint venture, by the Anglican and Methodist missions, its doors were thrown open to all irrespective of faith, creed or ethnic background

There was the headmaster’s son who lived in the neighbourhood. He attended Igbobi College. He later became a medical doctor.

Nothing less was expected of him. I had an uncle, who did not attend Igbobi College. He studied in Liverpool. Meanwhile, there was an old principal of Igbobi College a Liverpoolian by the name Parker.

Such was Parker’s fame that, as my uncle told me, any Blackman on the streets of Liverpool was bound to be accosted and asked: Are you an old boy of Igbobi College?

Again, my own personal experiences were such that, in my early teens, I sat for the entrance examination to the great school. I was invited for an interview and in the course of this 10-day exercise, I was enthralled by the school.

The lawns; the self-assured air of the seniors and of course the idyllic setting. It had to be Igbobi for me. But fate had other plans.

I ended up in another school which some would say is as good. But this is a story for another day. For today, chivalry is the mood and not rivalry!!

Years later, into adulthood, I got invited by a friend to some of the school’s activities. So there I was, a non-old boy of Igbobi College soaking in the convivial ambience and atmosphere of the good old and great school.

At a point in time, I even served as a guest speaker at one of their reunions. Specifically, the reunion of boys who would have been my seniors, had I attended the school.

I am referring here to the set of accomplished boys like Lamikanra Taiwo, Okunowo, Elugbadebo and Denloye.

On that particular occasion, I had one of the best times of my life. I was in the midst of individuals who had made good in the authentic sense.

A situation far removed from the sub-worlds of parvenus and arrivistes which hallmark contemporary and decadent Nigeria.

In the course of my presentation, I took the opportunity to bring up the illustrious memory of Pa Esubiyi– one of the greatest moulders of minds in Nigeria.

Pa Esubiyi was a Teacher, who viewed the boys as his children. As the story goes, such was the compact nature of the school then, that Pa Esubiyi knew every boy by name, and by sight.

And on one particular occasion, when the boys were given to counter-cultural activities, as boys are wont to do, Pa Esubiyi as a genuine parent should be, was distressed. He was reported to have intoned, almost tearfully: my boys, my boys, what is this, that I hear of you.

Such dedication. I believe that part of the Igbobi success story lies in the fact that such dedication was not peculiar to Esubiyi.

Most of the teachers exhibited this positive trait in varying degrees. The atmosphere itself was partly responsible for this.

As revealed by Lamikanra in his memoirs, the school was fully residential, not just for the student but also for the teachers.

It was a well-knit community in which the boys were made to imbibe the positive values of life. But even then, the contradictions began to set in.

Most of the teachers in the early stage of the school were missionaries. And it was with this zeal that they attended to their duties.

But the missionary had to return home. So one after the other, they had to leave. And as such, something started to happen to Igbobi and this was not necessarily positive.

Again as the story goes, and as recounted by Muyiw aAdetiba, one of the school’s old boys, the old principal, Parker came to the school on a visit.

And what he saw, as reported, made him weep. This was not the Igbobi that he left behind. But worse was to come.

Adetiba put this in graphic terms when he remarked that in the good old days, the school was overwhelmingly, an institutional Boarding House in which 90 percent were boarders and a mere 10 percent were day students.

Later on, 100 percent of the students were day students-quite a transformation from the earlier days.

The dormitories had also been turned into offices; another negative feature. In a sense what happened to the school can be likened to what has happened to Nigeria itself.

The Jakande era was quite something. Massification caught up with Igbobi College and the results were disastrous.

The bit on Jakande is also very instructive if we dared to probe further. Here was an insider in an elitist school who was rightly or wrongly given the short end of the stick.

Invariably, this turned him into an enemy of the elitist society. And when the opportunity presented itself, he decided to take his own pound of flesh.

Dear reader, this is a mere introspection on my part. But the unassailable point remains that the Jakande era virtually brought the school to its knees.

An ironic dimension to the school however was that, now and then, old boys of the school have been heard to lament that, although they were fed on certain ideals, these did not sufficiently prepare them for the predatory jungle called Nigeria.

On this note, I remember an old boy of the school Professor Oludotun lamenting along these lines. He reported that another old boy, a head boy during his time, Professor J.B. Ojo was also of this perspective.

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The Professor was known to be something of a loner and a recluse. Years later, when I came to know that he attended Igbobi College, I was able to understand his personality.

Through it all, however, it is gratifying to note that, things are beginning to turn around in the post-Jakande era.

The old boys are currently busy trying earnestly to restore the lost glories of the school. The Boarding House has been restored.

The same goes for the famous entrance examination and hopefully the rigorous interview process. I believe that it can be done.

The school as it then was gave us practical lessons on our collective humanity. Despite the fact that it was established as a joint venture, by the Anglican and Methodist missions, its doors were thrown open to all irrespective of faith, creed or ethnic background.

This is why the school has been able to have old boys like Professor Talabi, Mudashiru and Raji Fashola – both former Governors of Lagos State as well as non Yorubas like Mamman Garba and Olisemeka both of whom made their marks in the world of Nigeria’s foreign policy.

Thus, as the school moves beyond 90, to celebrate its centenary, ten years hence, here is hoping that Igbobi College would have been able to recapture its essence.