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. ..... Read More
First Days in GCI 1967
Events Precedent
My relationship with GCI was simply fortuitous and started way back in 1965. Then, I was a Primary 5 student in Mayflower Junior School, Ikenne, Ogun State. I had gone to Ibadan and my late father, Pa. Ayinde Oluwole, and then the National Secretary of the NCNC took me on a visit to my cousin, Tayo Oyeleye (now Dr. Tayo Oyeleye) in GCI. I vividly remember that the visit was during the GCI athletics season which occurred in the l" Term in those days. We went, first, ..... Read More
Snippets of My Memorable Experience:
Forced Change of Name
Alexander Adeyinka Adebayo, who was one year my senior harassed and embarrassed me into dropping my first name Alexander for my other name Oluwagbemiga, on the ground that I could not be bearing the same name Alexander with him. I was in Class One then and we were both in Swanston House. Now, what could a newcomer do then? However, irrespective of that, Alexander remains still part of my identity.
The supremacy fight
Muyiwa Olawunmi and I transited ..... Read More
Rebellion Against Punishment
- Turning The Tables!
Nothing quite prepared me for the harrowing experience I encountered in my first year at GCI. Before this time, I had lived a relatively sheltered and pampered life in Lagos. Now, if the endless punishment from the senior boys was somewhat manageable, not the severe Apata-Ganga cold that we all had to wake up to very early in the morning for road work, House work, or worse still, grass-cutting, I did some self introspection and I wondered that my parents surely ..... Read More
The 1971 Swimming Championships:
Looking back made me lose vital race
One memorable experience which I recall was at the Western State Amateur Swimming Championships that was held at the Lafia Hotel, Apata on 29th October 1971. Participants came from secondary schools and this competition had contestants from the International School of the University of Ibadan, St. Gregory's College and Kings College both in Lagos, as well as some other colleges with swimming teams.
It was the men's freestyle finals and two of ..... Read More
Tribute to Aro Black
Our Grier Housemaster
Dateline Grier House 1967-73.
Our Housemaster in Grier House was Mr. J. O. Arodudu. His nickname was Aro black?. He lived in a bungalow off the back road exiting Government College. If I recall correctly, he taught us English Language. He was a quiet man, a short and rather dark complexioned man, who spoke in a soft but commanding voice. I particularly remember his stealth, as if he wore rubber soled shoes always. Most times, he had a short cane in his ..... Read More
Insurrection at Apata Ganga
- The DJB/JBO Revolt
It was sometime in 1968 when the news went round that our school Principal, Mr. D. J. Bullock (popularly referred to as "DJB"), who we had grown extremely fond of, was to be transferred to Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro. In exchange, Chief J. B. O. Ojo, an Old Boy of the school, who was then the Principal of Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro, was to be our new Principal. We literally flipped and the entire school went berserk, riotous and became ..... Read More
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, ..... Read More
MY ROLE IN THE JANUARY 1966 COUP --Gen. Olutoye
The traditional ruler of Idoani, Ondo State, Oba Major Gen. Olufemi Olutoye (rtd.) (Grier,1945), known as Olutoye Samuel while in Government College, recounts his part in the January 1966 Coup in an interview with Nigerian Tribune in 2016.
How was your growing up period like before joining the military?
I was born in Idoani, but I spent the early part of my days, elementary days, in Benin City (now in Edo State), where my father was a headmaster in Saint James School and from ..... Read More