Great Hall Nights: The GCI Clubs That Made Us, 1991 – 1996
If you were a boy at Government College Ibadan between 1991 and 1996, you didn’t just attend classes. You joined a tribe.
And those tribes had names: Knights. Vibration. Interact. Zodiac. Press. JETS. L&D.
For GCIOBA ‘91 Jan Set, these 7 clubs were the soul of GCI outside the classroom. They were peculiar to us. And every term, the whole of Ibadan knew when GCI had a show.
The Clubs That Raised ‘91 Jan Set
1. Knights
Class, composure, and command. Knights didn’t shout. They arrived. Their shows were sleek — drama, poetry, debate, with suits and ideas that were too big for secondary school. Other schools came to learn, not just watch. If you were a Knight, you walked taller after.
2. Vibration
The heartbeat of GCI. If Knights were class, Vibration was culture. Music, dance, spoken word, and energy that shook Great Hall till the roof sweated. You couldn’t be dull at a Vibration show. They taught ‘91 Jan Set how to express, how to perform, how to own a stage.
3. Interact
Service before self. Rotary’s Interact Club at GCI made us think beyond ourselves. Debates on society, charity projects, leadership training. Many of us first held a microphone and addressed a crowd there. Interact built the leaders in our set before we knew it.
4. Zodiac
The thinkers, the creatives, the deep ones. Zodiac shows were themed, artistic, and a little mysterious. Costumes, symbolism, poetry that made JSS3 boys pause. If you liked ideas more than noise, Zodiac was home. It stretched our imagination.
5. Press Club
The memory keepers. School magazine, bulletin boards, event coverage. Press boys had biro stains and big opinions. They documented us when no one else did. Because of Press, ‘91 Jan Set still has stories to tell 35 years later. They gave us voice.
6. JETS
Junior Engineers, Technicians, Scientists. Cardboard, wire, quiz trophies, and big dreams. JETS exhibitions made science feel like a mission. “Build something. Solve something.” A lot of engineers, doctors, and tech guys in our set trace that spark to JETS.
7. L&D – Literature & Debating
The sharpest minds in GCI. Shakespeare one minute, politics the next. Inter-school debates were war, and GCI L&D rarely lost. L&D taught ‘91 Jan Set how to argue well, write well, and think fast. That training still pays bills today.
The Shows Ibadan Came For
These weren’t “internal” events. They were Ibadan events.
St. Anne’s, Wesley College, IMG, Olivet, UI International — they all got invites. Great Hall would be packed. Uniforms outside. Aso-ebi and gele inside. Club presidents on stage like CEOs. Teachers acting strict, but clapping loudest.
Those nights felt permanent. We swore: “GCI will always be like this. We’ll never forget.”
But Life Happens…
1996 to 2026 is 30 years.
Today, many of those clubs are shadows of themselves. Less funding. Fewer teachers to mentor. Students chasing JAMB points over club badges.
And we ‘91 Jan Set? We’re no longer chasing club colors. We’re chasing the hierarchy of needs. Mortgage. Children’s school fees. Business. Health. Daily bread.
Great Hall still stands. But some clubrooms are now stores. Some microphones are silent.
Why ‘91 Jan Set Must Hold This Memory
Yet look at us now.
The confidence from Knights. The expression from Vibration. The service from Interact. The ideas from Zodiac. The voice from Press. The skill from JETS. The wit from L&D.
Strip any ‘91 Jan Set man and you’ll find one of these clubs inside him. CEO, engineer, lawyer, doctor, officer like RSM Oyediji, secretary like Macho. It started at a club meeting.
We may be busy surviving now. But the clubs taught us how to live first.
If we don’t tell our story, the next boys will think GCI was only WAEC and assembly.
It was more. It was Knights. Vibration. Interact. Zodiac. Press. JETS. L&D.
It was ‘91 Jan Set.
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Pro Unitate
Submitted by:Mayowa Akingbohungbe
GCIOBA ‘91 Jan Set
