|
Government College Ughelli at 60
By
Victor
Eromosele
culled from GUARDIAN, November
09, 2005
Education is not a luxury. The
importance for society of developing the character and mental powers of
teenagers, the so-called leaders of tomorrow, is beyond contest. Secondary
education is designed to play the role and to lay firm foundation for
tertiary education, vocations and professions. Success in life may well
depend on the quality of secondary education.
The turning 60 of a
'once-great' secondary school in today's Delta State, Government College
Ughelli (GCU) - which started in January 1945 as Warri College -
provides a unique opportunity for sober reflection on all that has
happened to Nigerian secondary education, particularly in recent times.
While GCU and its old boys mark and celebrate the school's diamond
jubilee, many see no spark of 'diamonds' or indeed anything substantial
in the country's educational landscape for which to be really
'jubilant'. Yet diamonds ought to be forever.
GCU was once a centre for
excellence. The 18th century writer James Bramston reminds us:
"What's not destroyed by Time's devouring hand? Where is Troy?" May
we not one day wake up to ask: Where is the old school? In common
with most state-owned schools of its time, GCU succumbed to the
adversity of changing times: gross under-funding, over-population,
high student-teacher ratio, dilapidated and grossly inadequate
facilities, widespread indiscipline and poorly paid and uncommitted
teachers. The result is that what would at 60 have been sparkling
diamonds have gathered dust so thick that it is now difficult to
polish.
Polish we must.
Should Nigeria still nurse ambition of progress among the comity
of nations in an increasingly globalised world, it really has
few choices. One such choice is according education a much
higher priority than it does currently. For a county with a huge
population, growing at an estimated three million annually,
without quality education, great danger looms. Productivity and
contribution to the economy is a function of education. Policy
makers must be willing to set and sincerely pursue a realistic
education agenda, guided by world class standards.
In the spirit of
"education for all", some would argue against the rationale
for 'elitist' schools such as GCU in its hey-days. In every
race there would always be pace-setters. Arguing against
centres for excellence is to say that in a race, we all must
be laggards. Nigeria is on the receiving side of huge,
unprecedented windfalls. It would do well to earmark some of
them in improving education at all levels, both in terms of
'quality and quantity'. The beauty about the old government
colleges is that very little incremental investment and some
system reforms are essentially what may be required to bring
them to world standard.
Well before
the advent of the co-educational unity schools,
educational centres of excellence for boys in the 1960s
and the 1970s were the old government colleges at
Ughelli, Ibadan, Umuahia, Afikpo, Keffi, and so on. Of
course, Kings College, Barewa Colllege and Edo College
were in the same league. In their heydays, these schools
were not meant for the sons of the rich but for the best
and brightest. What is wrong with restoring these
schools with a long history back to centres of
excellence fit for the 21st century? Honestly, nothing.
We must create institutions in Nigeria where we nurture
our geniuses.
Nothing
keeps the old school tie going like nostalgia. As an
old boy of GCU, this writer still fondly remembers
his days at the school in the late sixties/early
seventies. The school supplied school uniform,
textbooks and notebooks. The Nigerian and expatriate
teachers were highly qualified and business-like.
Boarding was mandatory. The bell was law. Flouting
school rules resulted in instant sanctions. There
was order and an atmosphere for learning. A good
balance was struck between academic and sporting
activities and between recreational and
extra-curricular activities. Everything worked and
school was serious. School was fun. Library was
well-stocked, laboratories were well-equipped and
workshops had all the tools. Courtesy reigned. The
school lawns were regularly mowed and the orchard
flourished.
With
the benefit of hindsight, did having a well-run
school yield dividends? It did. "Accomplishments
give lustre". (Lord Chesterfield). The list of
accomplished GCU old boys will make a
world-class Who's Who. A shortlist of famous,
accomplished old boys will include Prof. John
Pepper Clark, the literary giant; Prof. Itse
Sagay, the international law expert who will be
the Diamond Jubilee guest lecturer, Justice
Emmanuel Akpomujere of Delta State and Prof.
Obaro Ikime, the outstanding history scholar.
Prof. Olu Akinyaju is a reputable Lagos-based
medical practitioner and Prof. Friday Okonofua
is the provost of the College of Medicine,
University of Benin.
GCU has produced several captains of
industry including Chief Jemine Akpieyi who
was CEO of three subsidiaries of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
prior to retiring. Dr. Taiwo Idemudia headed
NNPC's Crude Marketing Division after a
spell in OPEC and later became the CEO of
Nigerian Gas Company (NGC). Mac Ofurhie only
recently retired as a Director in the
Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR),
having previously been CEO of NGC. Godwin
Omene was the first Deputy Managing Director
of Shell Nigeria and in retirement became
the first CEO of the Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC) and Godwin Adokpaye
retired from Mobil as an executive director.
Boardroom guru, Gamaliel Onosode,
Chairman of Dunlop Nigeria plc turned 70
slightly over a year ago. More recently
Sam Amuka, publisher of the Vanguard
turned 70. He once wrote in the
seventies with the pen name, "Sad Sam"
about the same time another old boy,
Peter Enahoro wrote as "Peter Pan". The
list is not exhaustive. No doubt, GCU
produced great talents and has good
reason to be proud of its past. The
challenge now is that of reversing the
decay of the present and the last two
decades, which has hampered the school's
ability to produce the best. Beyond
cosmetic damage limitation, the Delta
State authorities should seriously
consider restoring GCU to the status of
a genuine centre of excellence.
Addressing the UK Labour Party
conference in 1996, British Prime
Minister got his emphasis right when
he said: "Ask me my three priorities
for Government, and I tell you:
education, education and education".
How much more true for developing
countries such as Nigeria? Education
is important for human capital
development. Nigeria must more than
redouble its effort to get on the
development fast-track.
Policy makers and those
responsible for shaping
education in Nigeria may draw
inspiration from the words of
nineteenth century poet, John
Keats:
"A thing of beauty is a
joy forever. Its loveliness
increases; it will never
past into
nothingness".
Like diamond,
education is
evidently a thing of
beauty and always
would be. May the
value of education
never be lost in a
country of
shifting-values. It
is polishing time
for dusty diamonds:
those precious
stones of pure
crystallised carbon,
the hardest natural
occurring substance.
There can be no
doubt that quality
education shares
diamond's
characteristics:
precious, solid and
luminous. For how
much longer can we
watch our precious
educational diamonds
continue to gather
dust?
Nothing will pay
a better tribute
to GCU's British
founding
fathers, V.P.V.
Powell and C.C.
Carter, than the
restoration of
the old school
to original
standards of
excellence, for
which they
expended their
lives to
establish and
remembered even
at death. We
must not fail to
mention our
fellow
countrymen who
as principals
worked so hard
to uphold the
standards: Demas
Akpore and S.O.
Egube, both of
whom have also
passed on. Not
many old boys
would forget in
a hurry the
great
disciplinarian
and educator, T.
Osigbemi. Even
while they
teach, men
learn. Their
efforts must not
be in vain.
Beyond
memories and
reminiscences
of pleasant
history,
there is
work to do.
A new script
is required
to re-invent
schools that
produce
quality
people who
would make a
difference
in the 21st
century and
give Nigeria
a future.
That is the
diamond
jubilee
challenge.
Let all
hands be on
deck for the
great task
of polishing
dusty
diamonds.
GCU and
'Mariners',
happy
anniversary!
 |
Eromosele,
a
chartered
accountant,
lives
in
Lagos.
|
|
