This is My Story of GCI

Government College Ibadan was a natural choice for me to make because it was one of the top schools in the Western Region at that time. I grew up in Ibadan where I had my primary school education. My uncle who knew much about GCI recommended the college and coincidentally, the Principal, Chief J. B. Ojo, happened to be my father's friend. Although I considered about three other options for my secondary school education, namely Igbobi College, Lagos; St. Finbarr's College, Akoka, Lagos and GCI, I worked hard at making it to GCI because it had a highly competitive admission

process. I was about eleven years old at the time I was admitted. My first two years at GCI were really tough because some of the seniors were quite wicked. One had to learn very fast, such that by the time I got to Form Three, I had become more used to the routine. However, the main problem was waking up at 5.00am. That was the tough part because I had to go on several errands to fetch water from the big black school tank before doing so many other things to get myself ready for classes. I was not used to doing all that kind of stuff at home. However, I quickly adjusted and it was quite an experience. When I got to Form Three, I was senior enough and had enough juniors to as well send on errands, but I confidently state that I did not turn out like those wicked seniors whom I had encountered in my junior and formative years,

Through the guidance of a Form Five student-member of the Scripture Union (SU), I became a Christian in my third year. I casily became interested because I had read so many books on so many subjects including Hare Krishna and some other mystical books. This experience presaged my current calling as a Pastor. Being a Christian kept me off the naughtiness of boys of our age. I did not have girlfriends and I also did not devote time to sports, although I played a little bit of lawn tennis.

I particularly remember my day of lucky escape when James Brown came to Nigeria and we decided to go and watch him perform at the Liberty Stadium. The Principal warned us not to go to the show, but we still went, wearing our popular "bell-bottom' trousers and platform shoes, which were then in vogue. The Principal saw us on the way out, but there were so many of us on the pilgrimage to the stadium that he obviously did not know how many students to apprehend. We later learnt that he unusually allowed many students to go, either because he had a change of heart or because there were so many of tis who breached his code and it only made sense for him to give in and give up.
However, one memorable but rather scary experience which I can never forget occurred when we went for a swim at the Lafia Hotel, Apata, outside the school. I remember that when I got to the pool side, I could not tell the deep end from the shallow end. I just jumped into the pool, only to discover that my legs did not touch the floor of the pool and my head also did not show above the water. I was in-between and I was about to drown. However, I was lucky that somebody saw me when I jumped into the pool and dived and rescued me on time. It was a very nasty experience, and naturally, that marked the last time I ever went near any swimming pool, till this day. I do not recall who my saver was, but to the fellow, whoever he is and wherever he may be, I say a big thank you sir, for saving my life.

Two of my classmates, Femi Oyetunji and Dapo Abe had major influence on me in school. Femi was brilliant, so too was Dapo. The three of us competed fiercely academically Femi was the youngest and the best and he regularly beat everyone else in class. We all studied together for WASCE and pushed ourselves hard to make Grade One. Another person of influence on me was my cousin, Segun Okunola Eboda, who was also academically sound. The learning point for me was teamwork. I found out that it helps when you surround yourself with the right set of people. Dapo and Segun both studied different aspects of engineering, but I could not get into engineering at that time, so I studied Biochemistry However, I later read Chemical Engineering when I went to the US. We loved to study, as we could not stay at one level. We just had to go on and on always. Because of this, I have four

degrees. GCI deposited in us the capacity for hard work and it gave us pride and confidence to stand out anywhere we were When you say you are from GCI, you had to be mindful of your attitude and behavior around people because you carry a tag that demands huge responsibility.

Looking back at those years, it is not difficult to conclude that GCI provided the building blocks for the various levels of success that each one of us has achieved. We are indeed very proud that we have turned out right in our different areas. We all have our different destinies and the story of our lives was written by God, well before we were born. The things we go through only further shape our lives. Maybe if I did not pass through GCI, I might not have become a Pastor.

Submitted By: 

OSONOWO Tolulanu Olufemi
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