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By the way Where is Class of 1971?
Seventy
five years ago, precisely in 1929 one of the premier high schools in These
high schools were modeled after British
schools at Apart from the quality of academic training at Government College Umuahia, students of Government College Umuahia are known for their high moral values and discipline which they agree is very necessary for the development of the individual.The school motto is ‘In Unum luceant’ which means, ‘may we shine as one’ and the students and Old Boys are proud to describe themselves as UMUAHIANS. The
students have their own governing body which
is pretty much structured after the presidential system of
government and students at a young age begin to learn to govern and this
is not part of the academic curriculum. For example, the College Captain has his cabinet made up of House Captains, then the College Dining Hall Captain, Labor Captain and Library Captain. Within each house, there are house prefects whose authority is limited to the house and they answer to the House Captain. Of course there is a staff member assigned to each house and is known as House Master. The
College Captain had the right to call the whole school out on punishment
and we had such punishments known as ‘runs’ and ‘periods of
detention’. An outsider may think the school life was very regimented
but we had fun while in school. Are the standards the same today? Definitely not. The departure of the British marked a turning point in the administration of the schools. This departure reached the climax at the beginning of the civil war when all the British staff had to leave. But in spite of this, the founding Principal, the late Reverend Robert Fisher still showed tremendous love to the College he started. I
was admitted into Government College Umuahia in 1971 and graduated in
1975 and I remember very vividly what the food looked like in those days
and one can imagine what the food looks like today. In our days those
who had maggi sauce were able to give the food some taste but I doubt
maggi could do the job today. As a result of this and other reasons,
instead of sending our children to our great alma mater, we look for
private schools, federal government schools or even send them overseas.
The Physical structure at There
are no recent editions of books in school libraries today, and this is a
problem that is faced by the entire school system in The purpose of this article is to put into perspective the challenge that faces School Authorities today and which could possibly re-define the role of Old Boys Associations of all high schools in Nigeria today. In
our days, there were no cult activities in schools, and there were
incentives to study. The libraries had books, there were sporting and
debating activities, every student hoped to graduate into the
University. These Universities these days are closed most part of the
school year, teachers are sometimes not paid and our youth are victims
of a collapsing system. The final result is that our institutions of
learning will probably become training grounds for criminals. A
very disappointing aspect of the attitude of some folks is non-chalance
predicated on the fact they no longer need their It is not my intention to prescribe roles for Old Boys associations, but at least it has reached a stage we should be brain storming to see how we can halt the drift. Reading
through the recently published book ‘My Life’ by President William
Clinton I discovered he played a leading role in a boy’s organization
known as De Molay. De Molay is a boy’s wing of Freemasonry but this is
not the same as the bloody cults we have in our school system in Old Boys associations overseas branches could help with books, new or used or even procure refurbished computers from a variety of sources and equip their alma mater.In this task, they could partner with state governments in seeing that they are shipped at no extra cost to the schools with the ultimate objective of setting up internet connection in schools as well as providing computer education. The
attention of these students must be re-directed if the decadence in
schools must be stopped. As Government College Umuahia turns 75 it is important to mention that very recently products of the school are playing very prominent roles. Governor
Emmanuel Okwesilieze Nwodo (Erekosima House) former Governor Enugu
State, Governor Achike Udenwa of Imo State, Governor Orji Kalu of
Abia,Chief Vincent Ogbulafor (Erekosima House)PDP National Secretary,
Chief Ifeatu Obi-Okoye (Fisher House)Embattled PDP Chairman Anambra
State, and Justice Isaac Chukwura Nnamani a.k.a Jazzy(Erekosima House)
of the Federal High Court, are some of the Umuahians playing key roles
in Nigeria today.Those before them include Vincent Aniago former
Secretary to the Government and Head of Civil Service Old Anambra State
and later Deputy Governor,M.E.P Udebiuwa former Federal Permanent
Secretary Ministry of Finance, George Kurubo former Number 2 to
Aguiyi-Ironsi, late Brigadier Tim Onwuatuegwu, Professors Chinua Achebe,
Vincent Ike, Dr Okoi Arikpo, N.U. Akpan (former Secretary to the Eastern
Nigeria Government and later Biafran Government) and an host of others. While
Umuahia is 75, it is 29 years since I left
About
16 years ago, I once had a medical emergency in Many
of us class of 1971 were not present at the Golden Jubilee and would not
be present at this 75th Birthday.The next milestone would be
the centennial celebrations in twenty five years time 2029.Most of us
would be Septuagenarians by then and we would meet at Umuahia to shine
as One.
SCHOOL ANTHEM
We lift our voice to
thee, O Lord
From Morning till the approach of Night
As all of us, or black or white
We beg thee now to show the way To
be an Umuahian is very unique. Being born in Umuahia does not make one
an Umuahian, but simply , a native of Umuahia. To be an Umuahian, you
must be a student or Old Boy of Government College Umuahia. HAPPY
BIRTHDAY ! OUR DEAR ALMA MATER. |