By Jonas NK Odocha
“JoPale”
[Owerri House 1959-1965]
I am indeed immensely delighted to contribute this piece in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of our alma mater, Owerri Government Secondary School [OGSS], 1935-2015. Looking back, I can only reconfirm that it was divine intervention that saw me into and through OGSS, 1959-1965, where I was moulded and nurtured to become whatever and whoever truly I am today. Indeed I give God all the glory.
The initial hurdle that confronted me, as we were completing the primary school education, was how to gain access to the Common Entrance Forms into the then Government Colleges of the Eastern Nigeria government. The headmaster had earlier told us that those were the best schools and also the cheapest, ready and able to accommodate the children of both the rich and the poor but who were intelligent. At that time only three forms were sent from Enugu, the seat of government, to my primary school of about 30 Standard 6 [final year] pupils. For transparency and accountability our headmaster had to conduct a test in English and Arithmetic for all those of us who had indicated interest, in order to select who qualified for those three sacred forms.
The three of us that scored highest and who picked the forms eventually sat for the entrance examination, one was dropped off while two of us were invited, among others from other centres in the region, for written and oral interview.
I was again successful after this two-day rigorous interview but my other remaining colleague wasn’t. Thus I ended up being the only pupil from my primary school that scaled this hurdle to make it to OGSS.
But it is remarkable to observe that the final outcome that saw me into OGSS was simply a mirror image of the result of that test earlier conducted by the headmaster, as illustrated by the fact that the pupil who came third dropped off after the common entrance examination and the pupil who came second dropped off after the interview. What a lesson in: TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, MERIT!!! Again in every stage of this hurdle, it was obvious that the hand of God was working His purposes out in my life!!!
As we, the new entrants to OGSS, assembled on resumption in January 1959, we were to encounter an entirely different environment from the primary school scenario we had all come from. Still wallowing in our primary school mentality some of us thought that we were still to be pampered like babies until the punishments by the seniors started pouring in. More frightening was the experience from the outcome of the first test in Latin and General Science in which most of us scored below 40%. What a baptism of shock it was to us who were used to scoring 100% in subjects in the primary school, prompting us to weep and march to the tutor’s residence to ask for leniency. His wife, like a typical caring mother, took pity on us and pleaded with her husband to remark our scripts more leniently. Our case was however made worse when he asked one of us who was sobbing profusely to display his Latin test script. Lo and behold he scored 10% [2 out of 20]! To which our Latin master retorted: “look at this lazy student, even the 2 that I scored you was just for your ink,” and with that we quickly disappeared from his presence. There and then we came to the realisation that academic work had changed “gear.” That was the tonic that motivated us to begin to take our class assignments more seriously.
It was not all work and no play. Our class set had a good number of eaglet footballers and we paid dearly for it, because during the traditional Class 2 versus Class 1 football encounter, we defeated our seniors by a lone goal through a corner kick taken by me which went past their goalkeeper into the back of the net! That was an abomination, an unpardonable crime in OGSS, juniors defeating their seniors, and for that we were earmarked for a gruesome “tail-cutting” at the end of the academic year. The preparation for that ritual by our Class 2 seniors who had a grudge on our class was so unprecedented in the history of OGSS [concoctions of rotten mangoes and mixtures of all sorts for our “soaking”] that the school authorities when they were briefed on the sadism that was being planned for that night, quickly cancelled that annual ritual of initiation of fresh entrants [oi-s, oyins, and other derogatory nicknames] into the OGSS fold. Indeed it was divine intervention that saved some of us that night.
How can one not recollect the carpentry teacher and his insistence on making sure that you “dove-tailed” the wood construction smoothly. What of the individual farming project during which you were allocated yam seedlings and at the end of the farming season, your harvest was weighed and you merited cash reward commensurate with your hard labour. These two extra-curricular activities made life in the junior classes in OGSS very exciting. The Junior Literary and Debating Society was another avenue and opportunity to raise the academic and social levels of the young OGSSIANS as we invited other schools for debates and also had the chance to interact, dance and make friends among our peers from schools of the opposite sex. Remember UpHill, Egbu, Amumara, Queens, Elems, St Catha, Ibiaku, among others!!!
As we progressed in school, achieving both academic excellence and being grounded in strict discipline and spiritual growth, we also realised the importance of mentoring and leadership as typified by our seniors and school teachers. Punishments were corrective measures and both your peers and seniors monitored any traits of students which were antisocial or did not tally with the OGSS standards and expectations. Little wonder you were asked to report yourself to any prefect of choice if and when you were caught misbehaving.
We also had moments of fun and entertainment as some classmates and seniors had mannerisms that gave room for entertainment. However, as a junior you were expected to suppress your amusement or laughter if and when a senior was involved. DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE. We were also taught to be our brothers’ keepers, even when we had to deny ourselves a few pennies, not shillings, in order to help out a classmate or friend. I did emphasise pennies because students were not allowed to keep more than two shillings and sixpence with them, as the pocket money was seven shillings and six pence, out of which the housemaster kept five shillings for you. Yet some of us still returned home at the end of the term with some change for our parents and guardians.
We did not have the opportunity to play financial pranks on our parents or guardians through purchase of textbooks or school uniforms, as our books and clothing were supplied by the government through the school. I recall that some of our peers from the other schools like the mission and private schools would tell us how they could get extra pocket money by requesting to buy books based on fictitious or duplicated names of authors and not the textbooks per se. Let me illustrate: The Biology textbook by Stone and Cozens would be requested to be “bought” as two books: Biology by Stone and Biology by Cozens. You can now see how and why OGSSIANS were not groomed for a culture of deceit and cheating! [pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
OGSS was really the place to be, not just for academic excellence but for discipline and social grooming. We had top class tutors and masters from different continents of the globe as mentors and role models. The school prefects were chosen on merit and lived above board. With regard to feeding and welfare, we were very well taken care of as the menu was ever sumptuous, especially “BP Pass all,” which was our special Beans and Plantain, and of course the indescribable Groundnut stew for white rice on Thursdays. No wonder we had some chaps who memorised what was to be cooked and served seven days in advance and they made sure they never came late or they would have forfeited their ration. Of course some of these other schools took delight in accepting our invitation for debates or football or hockey matches because they knew they would be served sumptuous and delicious dishes.
In sports and games we had talented sportsmen and athletes who represented not just the school but also the region and country. This was because the facilities for training were there and the school authorities encouraged sports enthusiasts to perform to the best of their ability.
As we mark 80 years of the existence of this unique school that has churned out great scholars, captains of industry and leaders, it is time to reflect on the present status of our alma mater, with regard to academics and discipline. Without doubt the scenario is a far cry from what it was when you and I were there some decades ago. I therefore call on all of us who passed through OGSS and OGSS equally passed through us, to come together and work towards bringing back the glory that was synonymous with our good OGSS. This may sound herculean but we can start by small improvements here and there!
I thank God for the unique opportunity granted me to attend this great school from 1959 through 1965 and to have met other wonderful schoolmates who helped nurture and mould me in those formative years of my life. To all the dedicated and fatherly Principals, Tutors, Masters and General Staff, both living and departed, who made our stay memorable, may the good Lord reward you and all yours most abundantly.
*Sir Jonas NK Odocha, FNAPE, FNMGS, KSC.
Owerri House 1959-1965.
OGSS Old Boys Association, Abuja Branch.