J.B.O. OJO
PRINCIPAL (1968 - 1974)
Chief J.B.O. Ojo had been the founding Principal of Comprehensive High School and had done great things in building a school that was widely acclaimed in very short time. In recognition of his performance, the Oba of Aiyetoro had conferred on him a chieftaincy title.
There was no groping about for Chief Ojo when he was transferred to GCI. He knew his mission, in his words: "returning to Government College Ibadan in February, 1968 was one of the greatest challenges in my professional education career. One could not but approach such a monument in education with some trepidation, and the prevailing circumstances of my movement from Aiyetoro to Ibadan were not great help; but having been part of the monument and having been moulded with the crust of the structure, I accepted the challenge and felt emboldened in my acceptance".
He continued: "having spent the preceding five years trying to build up (at Aiyetoro) a model of my conception of Government College Ibadan and what I believed to be ideal in the place, it was not difficult for me to set my targets of which I reminded myself every year".
Soon after he resumed duty, Chief J.B.O. Ojo cleverly arranged for the State Governor to visit the School. As they say, "seeing is believing". The Governor, on inspection of the School, was in sympathy with her needs and approval followed. Subsequently, there was a rapid increase within the year of the staff from 22 to 33.
In pursuit of a liberal education and in keeping with the old philosophy of the school, Agricultural Education was revived with corresponding practicals. So was Technical Education. Yoruba, as a subject was offered at the School Certificate level.
It was Chief Ojo who produced the brochure titled "Government College Ibadan - a model in modern educational practices". This brochure encapsulates the history of the school, its pattern of studies, its philosophy and generally gives an overview about the school. It was done as a public relation material to project the image of the school and ease its introduction to visitors and parents. It was a brochure that served the school creditably well.
Chief J.B.O. Ojo had a special love for sports. His basic education at Loughborough College in the United Kingdom had been in Physics and Physical Education. Elushade (1954) recounts that he had been a Physics Teacher in GCI in the late forties and early fifties. In addition to Physics, he coached boys in athletics and football.
Another Old Boy further writes of him: "When Chief Ojo came in as Principal, he easily won the boys hearts with his love, among other things for sports. He was particularly in love with hockey and he coached the Queen's School girls even more than he coached GCI boys. Of course any man would prefer coaching girls to boys!"
His sports emphasis was richly rewarded when Faseiku (1962) captained the Nigerian academicals at football and Ogunlade (1968) won the Schools National Lawn Tennis championship in 1968 when he was Principal.
The School, as in previous years, continued to excel in academics. Chief J.B.O. Ojo writes, "recommendations which went under our seal to renowned Universities like Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard were ready passports for admission and recognition. It was just as of old".
...Built On The Rock - The Second Twenty-Five Years.
