My Two Big Scares

In the public primary school which I attended, there was always a competition to know which student attained the highest number of admissions into secondary schools. I sat for the entrance examination to thirteen secondary schools, and I was offered admission into all of them! But one whiz-kid (a girl) sat for and passed the examinations into fourteen schools. That was the trend then. My parents opted for GCI because it was simply the best school that everybody wanted his child to attend. Put simply, GCI was the 'What's up' school of our time. It was great in the sense that the boarding house system provided and afforded us a very rich and invaluable experience of communal living early in life. Naturally, I was a day' student in the primary school,

but coming into GCI as a 'boarder' was worth celebrating. Meeting boys from different places facilitated a good opportunity and experience for bonding. At that time, the experience in the boarding house was very interesting for those of us who came from very humble background. The environment was convivial and most meals were delicious and sumptuous. We ate eggs regularly, almost daily, unlike once a week on Saturday or Sunday in most homes. This for me was a welcome experience. I remember the soft 'Gloria' bread of those days in the dining hall, also known as igbinacho'. On the teaching side, we had very dedicated teachers and so discipline was not compromised. Each student had to be involved in one sporting activity or the other. I tried to play hockey, table tennis and other sports, but always ended up on the reserve bench. I will come back to this later.

Scare No. 1-The wooing ultimatum

My first big scare in GCI happened in Form One when we were barely six months old in the school. There was a drama presentation to which pupils from some girls schools, including Queen's School, St. Theresa's College and Yejide Girls Grammar School were invited. On the D-Day, the Form Five students in my room, called the Form One students-three of us - and issued us an ultimatum to get ourselves girlfriends or face a sanction. I summarise the ultimatum as best as I can as follows: "Any one of you that we do not see with a girl during the drama presentation or who does not have a girlfriend after the show will sweep the room for the rest of the term!" Oh my goodness! That was a tall order! The practice had been for Form One students in the room to share the responsibility of sweeping the room. For about three hours before the drama began, I was not myself. I was sweating, trying to assess which one was the more difficult assignment: getting a girlfriend or sweeping the room for the rest of the term? To make matters worse, I arrived late to the venue of the presentation, by which time all the girls who I thought I could speak with were already seated in the hall. Most of the schools sat together. I did not hear a word of what was said throughout the drama. I was busy strategising on how to get a girl to talk to, to avoid the punishment of failing to woo and win a girl. During recess. I quickly moved to a seat which would strategically place me among the girls so that the seniors SO could at least see me making an effort. After all, people say 'half bread is better than nothing. I faced a very serious embarrassment when the girls returned from recess and bounced me off the seat. The play ended and I had still not got to speak with one girl. I was not only panicky and frantic, I was frenetic.

But I was lucky after the drama. The girls from St. Theresa's College came in two batches. When their bus left with the first batch, the other girls relaxed as they waited for the bus to return. My seniors were watching me from a distance as the three of us frantically moved up and down trying to get a girl to speak to. Then I saw this girl who had walked away from her friends. I immediately sidled up to her and asked how she was doing with Modern Mathematics. Luckily, she really was interested in Mathematics. She told me her name. Not one word was spoken about love. We just talked about Mathematics and smiled a lot until her school bus arrived and she left. You should have seen me afterwards. I literally walked on air as I told my seniors that the girl was madly in love with me. My seniors were happy, and as if to lend credence to that fact, there was a bulge in my knickers due to its tightness against my body, but they erroneously but fortuitously thought it was 'wrong parking' ('rompe'). One boy failed the test and expectedly, he swept the room till the end of term.

Scare No. 2 - The near drowning incident

The second big scare I will also never forget was an incident when Bode Oyewole saved the life of one of our mates when we were in Form Four. This was soon after we were taught about fish and body parts in the Biology class. The teacher then took us in two batches to a natural fish pond at Eleyele arca for practical lessons. As soon as the teacher left to fetch the second batch, the eight of us in the first batch jumped into a canoe anchored at the pond. As cach boy jumped inside, the canoe moved farther away. I quickly jumped out as soon as I noticed that movement, followed by others. Before the last boy could jump out, the canoe had gone far into the water. The boy shouted for help but we could not help as we were all so scared. Out of fear, the boy just jumped into the water, but could not swim. Sensing the imminent danger, Bode immediately dived into the pond, went after the boy and safely rescued him. Since that incident, I always ensured that I kept a respectable distance anytime I went near ponds or rivers or even swimming pools.

The exposure which I got at GCI is not only incomparable, it was also immeasurable. We were not allowed to go through any shortcut in doing things. We worked hard in a disciplined manner to get whatever we wanted. This turned out to be good because it made me to see things differently from some of my friends who did not attend GCI. You will marvel at the way some of them hustle in government, politics or in other endeavours where they more or less play do-or-die games. For some of them who went this other way, we know the type of life they lived and how they ended up. I have met so many people in high places, some even before they became VIPs. However, my upbringing and training in GCI has not allowed me to take advantage of such people. I learnt very early in life to respect myself because some things easily put me off. For instance, I cannot hang around or wait for almost three days to see a friend simply because he has a Governor or top official somewhere.

Perhaps, the greatest lesson which I learnt from GCI was that when you are in a team, you must remain and play as a member of the team regardless of your role. I learnt this lesson in sports. I played hockey, table tennis and other sports in school, but, as aforementioned, I always ended up on the reserve bench. So, one day, we had a sports meeting and I said to the teacher in charge that I would not participate because I was, again, placed on the reserve bench. Goodness me! The teacher flogged me thoroughly for uttering that statement. I later realised that everything is team work. Regardless of whether you are playing or you are consigned to the reserve bench, you are nonetheless an integral and important member of the team. I learnt something invaluable from that experience. In retrospect, what I learnt in GCI has now been transferred onto my children over time, and I am thankful for that, as they have fully absorbed them. We still share ideas, but they are now much smarter than I am. I thank God for his mercies.

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