All Igbobians – students of Igbobi College – must know about the big fruit tree between the Dining Hall and the Chapel. This tree has been there like forever serving as a rendezvous of sorts for many school events. I believe it is one of the fixtures that can tell the story of the school. Some forty-five years ago, a handful of Old Igbobians met there for an event. I remember it was early evening and visibility was low.
We were asked to introduce ourselves by stating name, set, house and the sports we participated in while in school. It was not an uncommon ritual. I had just finished this chore when I heard a voice behind me say ‘so Muyiwa Adetiba came to Igbobi. No wonder.’ I looked back in surprise to identify the voice. It was from an older man, probably a senior who had left school before I entered. I met a warm smile as I nodded my head in acknowledgement and respect. Honestly, it was at the time, one of the best compliments I had received in years. All true Old Igbobians would know why.
The moral and intellectual standards set by the school were high and this seemingly off-handed compliment, was for me, a tacit acknowledgement, that I had at least, met some of them. I was to be a proud recipient of a few ‘no wonder’ comments from Old Igbobians during my years as an interviewer. Some of them were probably in school about the time I was born. Quite a few willingly helped me to get difficult interviews by either using their connections or vouching for me. A good example was Chief Chris Ogunbanjo, an Old Igbobian, whose vouching for me overcame the understandable reluctance of Chief Justice Fatai Williams when I wanted to interview him immediately after the Supreme Court judgement on Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s presidential bid.
Another notable ‘endorsement’ came about ten years ago after I had more or else rested my pen. Someone I have a great respect for, an Old Igbobian whom I never met in school, approached me to help a prominent Nigerian with his memoirs. I don’t just jump into working on anybody’s memoirs. For me, it is a labor of love that I have to be able to invest emotionally in. Fortunately, this prominent Nigerian was someone I had admired from afar so it wasn’t difficult to accept. Unknown to me, this great man was reluctant. His fear was that he had sensitive stories he wanted to be careful in divulging. When he was told that I was not only a fellow Old Igbobian, I was like him, the school’s Merit Award recipient, he said ‘oh, that is good enough for me”. Those seven words meant the world to me. People normally trust those they have had a good relationship with. In his own case, he was prepared to trust me with sensitive documents because we shared the same Alma Mater.
I have issued a few ‘no wonder’ comments of my own as well when I hear or read about the accomplishments of some distinguished Nigerians and I go through their CV to discover that they passed through the portals of Igbobi College. Most of them were in academia and the professions; hardly in government. In fact, we used to lament that Igbobi College didn’t prepare us for the intrigues and duplicities in governance. A welcome departure was Babatunde Fashola, whom I had long admired for his elocution and intellect until I found he had a stint at Igbobi College and my ‘no wonder’ comment came out. Of course anybody would be proud to share school colors with Professor Yemi Osinbajo, a junior in whom I have always been well pleased. I have also found myself to be more relaxed and trusting of people just because we share the same Alma Mater. This sentiment is not peculiar to Old Igbobians alone. Many Old Boys of Kings College, St Gregory’s College and the Government Colleges all over the country, share this sentiment too. Underpinning the sentiment is the belief that if you were good enough to pass through the four walls of their school, you were good enough.
Yoruba parents require of their children to ‘remember the child of whom they are’. if I have heard it once, I have heard it countless times. It is an admonition not to stain the family name or cast it into aspersion. It stems from the belief that a good name is better than wealth and a good pedigree is worth its weight in gold. To many, this administration is the face of Yoruba. But in reality, it is more personal as it is the fulfilment of someone’s ‘emilokan’. It is not surprising that many a true ‘Omoluabi’ will find it difficult to identify with or be proud of some of the goings on in this government. The question must be asked if this administration Is cleaning up the mess left by past administrations or adding a few of its own. Is it wiping the glass clean or smudging it? is it the best we can be? That is, if this administration is really the face of Yoruba as some people mischievously claim.
I feel particularly pained about the PFIPC scam that would not go away because Femi Gbajabiamila, one of the men in the eye of the storm, is both Yoruba and an Old Igbobian. Although he didn’t meet me in school, I still share vicariously in his successes and his failures. He needs to clear his name. For his sake. For the sake of all of us who identify with his roots one way or another. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty and evidences adduced so far point more to systemic failures and systemic abuse than to him. He possesses the intellect, the elocution and the confidence of an Igbobian.
Enough to say ‘no wonder’. But Igbobi College was never about intellect alone. Character has always been important, if not more important. In our time, Aggrey House, my House, made all Form One students to memorise the poem ‘IF’ by Rudyard Kipling. The poem is about what it takes to be a man of character. Igbobi College is about molding a boy into a man of nobility who will be a light unto the world. Which is why the most important line in the school song is ‘wherever there is an Igbobian, there also is a noble Nigerian’. Which is why we sometimes refer to ourselves as ‘the Noble One’.
Finally, if those in the public space thought more about their names and their roots than money and instant gratification, there would be less of these scams and Nigeria would begin to turn around for good.
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