Dear Friends,
My Valentine blog, THE HEART OF THE MATTER: MATTER OF THE HEART, is a two part series; and I will yet fulfill the promise of the concluding edition. I suppose you found the first part not only informative, but educative and entertaining. You will recall that it was by a guest – Professor Chikodi N. Anigbogu of Lagos University Teaching Hospital, and delivered initially as a talk during the last Lagos Branch Old Boys’ meeting of my great alma mater, Government Secondary School, Owerri, Nigeria. What I may not have said explicitly, though implied, is that Prof. Anigbogu is a product of Government Secondary School, Owerri, as with other great Nigerians making their mark across the world.
Today, I would like to dwell a little on the institution that is Government Secondary School, Owerri, and the impact it has made on those of us, who are privileged to not only pass through it, but allowed it to pass through them. The time is ripe, because March 1-3, 2013 is our annual reunion taking place within the school grounds with old boys from the earliest sets to date, and from every part of the world in attendance. I hope you will indulge me!
Attending Government Secondary School, Owerri, is like belonging to a cult, but without the dark and sinister connotations. That is to say you belong to a fraternity of the best in character, academic excellence and sportsmanship. From the first day you enroll in the school, especially if you are in the boarding house, you are trained and honed to be a complete individual, able to bring out your best whilst contributing to the team goal. As a form 1 student, you are taught obedience to those in senior classes, and if you are in the boarding, you will have a ‘master’ and mentor that you report to and who also look after your welfare. You have role models both within the current students and those who have passed through the school that you cannot afford to miss your steps in life. As important as village meetings are, the camaraderie and fellowship engendered by the school’s tradition of excellence, has made most of the old boys to abandon such meetings in preference to the association. The school maintains its academic excellence as evidenced in its constant record of best results in WAEC examination, whilst in sports it is not found wanting having won the Shell Cup back to back; socially it keeps a cordial relationship with neighboring schools. I know that tertiary education is important, but really the character of the individual is mostly formed at the secondary school level, and what a privilege to attend this best of the best schools in Nigeria. As Dr. Ndi Onuekwusi noted in the forward to Government Secondary School, Owerri, 75 Years After, published in 2010 (the school was founded in 1935), “The OGSSIAN experience and the OGSSIAN spirit have been of immense support throughout life. The time we spent in Owerri is no doubt the best experience of communal living there can be in human society…..”
Apart from Dr. Onuekwusi, one time consultant gynecologist to Nigerian Railways Hospital, Government Secondary School, Owerri has produced notable Nigerians, such as HRM, Eze Dr. E.E. Njemanze, Paramount Ruler of Owerri, HRM, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, Obi of Onitsha, Mr. Felix Ohiwerei, former MD, Nigerian Breweries, Mr. Nebolisa Arah, former MD/CEO of Fidelity Bank Plc, Elder Nath Okoro, First indigenous MD of Nigerian Railways, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, MD, Neimeth Pharmaceuticals …. And yes, Pastor Basil Chukwuezi, to mention but a few!
The annual National Reunion such as taking place from Friday 1st - Sunday 3rd March, 2013 comes with an elaborate programme mapped out by the National Executive. It is a homecoming with exciting and interesting features with each set trying to outdo the other. We regard the school as the Owerri Project and ourselves as stakeholders who must at all time do the best for the alma mater. The reminiscences of Old Owerri are always treasured at such times, the least of which is our anthem: “Remember where you come from. Wherever you may chance to go, uphold your supremacy. To do or to die for the right. Our alma mater and our country, we shall always hold them dear. For the Lord will surely bless thee. Good old OGSS”. I didn’t think twice to come up with the words, many decades after leaving Owerri. It is ingrained in our DNA. Then the school adage says: “When wealth is lost nothing is lost, When health is lost, something is lost, When character is lost, all is lost”. There is also this injunction: “Work hard, Play hard, Keep Straight”. These principles have become part of us, and they demonstrate how good Government Secondary School, Owerri is, and will always be!
Friends, ‘If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?’ Psm. 11:3. The foundations provided by your parents, school and environment may be important. But there is none as important as a foundation in God. To find out more about God and the Lord Jesus Christ, visit any bible believing church near you, or: CHAPEL OF DESTINY RESTORATION CHURCH, 2 Akinlabi Lane, off Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, by Round About Bus Stop, Ikeja. Lagos
Can we see some photographs?
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