This book project titled "It Began in 1971 ..." was commissioned to AMV Publishing Services for publication by the 1971-75 Class Chapter of the GCI Old Boys Association (GCIOBA). The book is published to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the set members' entry into their renowned Alma Mater, which stood prominently among the ranks of the best secondary schools in Nigeria, nay Africa during its heydays. Founded in 1929, GCI's record as an outstanding educational institution grew by leaps and bounds in the ensuing decades running from the 1940s to the 1970s. In the 1960s, GCI students recorded 78 distinctions at the ordinary and advanced levels of the examinations of the country's secondary school system - an unprecedented achievement in the country. By the early 70s, the school had produced over 80 percent of the Presidents of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) since the establishment of the professional body in 1958. The first and one of only four Africans ever to be awarded a Nobel Prize is a GCI Old Boy. Indeed the 1971 entry class set may have achieved the record of being the class set with the highest number of Grade ones (53) in the West African School Certificate examinations in 1975, approximately 53% of the class of 99. It is this glorious record in academic performance as well as the students' sterling performances during the same time in various extracurricular fields that are being robustly celebrated in this publication.
From the Preface:
By Bode Olaniyan, Co-Editor
As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the entry of the class of 71 into Government College Ibadan (GCI), this special publication tells their story by the members themselves. The 99 boys of the 1971 set with an average age of 11 years, resumed in GCI on Friday 15th of January 1971. During their time at GCI, a few boys moved on to other schools and some new faces joined the group. In 1975, The Western State of Nigeria stopped the A-Level examinations as a route into universities and higher education and as a result, the members of the set had to leave GCI after their O-Level exams. Over the years the boys went their separate ways focusing on their further education, starting careers and starting families. Throughout this period, some of the members kept in touch with each other; but the first attempt to come together as a formal group was in 1988, when the first official meeting was held. 50 years after their entry into GCI, a few members have sadly passed away and they continue to be greatly missed by all. May their souls rest in peace.
As readers will glean from the various recollections and stories told by the members themselves and from the pictures shared by the members, the set of 1971 is a dynamic, service oriented and fun-loving group. At the bottom of some pages, we have included some GCI SFMGs (slangs, fabus, myths and gists) - hilarious tales slangs that still have us 'in stitches' till this very day! The GCI motto is "LEARNING TO SERVE" and members continue to serve their communities wherever they find themselves in Nigeria and abroad. Members of the 1971 set have, and continue to serve in Business, Government, Academia, Civil Service, Armed Forces, Traditional Institutions, Politics and all spheres of life across Africa, Middle East, Europe, USA and Australia. 1971 set members' services to GCI include three members within the current national executive committee of Government College Ibadan Old Boys Association (GCIOBA), including the current President. Other roles include former Chairmen of GCIOBA branch executive committees of the Lagos branch, Europe branch and the North America branch. It has been a pleasure putting this piece of memorabilia together as we celebrate 50 years of friendship. We wish to thank all the members of the set and the families of our dearly departed for their contributions and ideas towards making this a success. As is typical with members of the 1971 set, there have been times during this process when we felt like "going behind the Armory" to settle disagreements as we did at GCI. Thankfully this was not necessary. Thanks to the members for giving us the opportunity to serve.
Editors: Bode Olaniyan, Denola Igun & Tunde Odubanjo
ISBN: 9789785964790 (paperback)
Trim size: 11.0 X 8.5ins (218mm X 279mm) page count: 136pp
Alumni/Education/History-Africa
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