Adebayo-Lamikanra

By Wale Okediran

Igbobi College was established by the Methodist and Anglican Churches in 1932, in the Yaba suburb of Lagos. It is one of the oldest colleges in Nigeria, and is the alma mater of a number of well-known Nigerians such as Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Justice Taslim Olawale Elias, ProfessorJacob Ade Ajayi, ChiefOlu Falae, Chief Michael Ibru and Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila among others.

It is tempting to assume that in view of its title, IGBOBI BOY is the story of a fulfilled and appreciative old student. However, the author, Adebayo Lamikanra a renowned Professor of Pharmacy at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife who is also a well-known published author, poet and essayist has this to say concerning the book; “Ever since I started writing this book, I have known that the point has to be made somewhere along the way that this book is not primarily about Adebayo Lamikanra. It is about Igbobi College as seen through the eyes of the author but so overwhelmingly uniform that essentially the same book would have been produced by anyone of the thousand boys who had the great privilege of passing through the school at any time during the sixties’’.

Wale Okediran

In writing IGBOBI BOY, Lamikanra was following the footsteps of many other well-known authors who have captured the stories of their school days between the covers of a book. These authors include Winston Churchill (My Early Life) Nelson Mandela (Long Road To Freedom) Robert Wellesley Cole (Kossoh Town Boy) Bola Ige (Kaduna Boy) and Dilibe Onyeama (Nigger At Eton) among others. From these books and many others, Literature and History have been enriched by the knowledge imparted by these authors.

IGBOBI BOY is at once anautobiography and a historical book set in the sixties (1961-1968) when the author was a student at Igbobi. It is organised in nine chapters and rendered in 311 pages. Chapter one is entitled; ‘Becoming an Igbobi Boy’ while Chapter Two ‘1962- Year Of Change at Igbobi College; Chapter Three ‘Law and Order’; Chapter Four ‘Igbobi College and the Challenge of Inequality’; Chapter Five ‘Igbobi College-Reputation for Scholarship; Chapter Six, The Lessons Igbobi Taught Me; Chapter Seven ‘The Playing Fields Of Igbobi College’ Chapter Eight‘Igbobi Cricket’ and Chapter Nine, ‘The Igbobi College ‘66/68 Set’.

As can be seen, each Chapter is self-explanatory and it will be a great disservice to the potential reader to spoil the fun of self- discovery by giving the details of these chapters. Suffice it however to say that in telling his story and that of his beloved alma mater, Lamikaran’s remarkable skill as a writer came to fore as he was able to maintain a tight and interesting narrative that was able to sustain the story’s tempo and tension. His recall of dates, events and activities was remarkable. And where he could not remember actual dates, he had fallen back on science for help. For example, in Chapter 6 under the title; ‘The Lessons Igbobi Taught Me’ the author has this to say; ‘’ Igbobi College resumed the school year in 1962 on Thursday January 18. To tell the truth, I had forgotten the actual date but it was not difficult to look it up using my computer as in all the time I was in Igbobi, a new term was resumed on a day other than Thursday only once and that was in the second term of 1967 when the school resumed on a Saturday, that year the day before Easter Sunday, the only year when Easter was celebrated in school’’.

There are so many examples of the author’s prodigious power of recall ranging from recollecting the number of goals scored in what…….’’The following year, 1965 marked the nadir of Igbobi College football as we thrashed 5-1 by St Finbar’s team’’

As you skit from one page to the other in this well written and well produced book, the personality of the author and by extension his alma mater become gripping. Studious, restless, adventurous and highly meticulous and organised, one could not resist being impressed with the author and with Igbobi College.

Even though Lamikanra did not experience anything like homosexual assault as Dilibe Onyeama did in NIGGER AT ETON, or outright bullying by bigger boys like Winston Churchill experienced, nor did he succeed in frustrating his parents as Charles Darwin who in his book observed thus; ‘’When I left the school I was for my age neither high nor low in it; and I believe that I was considered by all my masters and by my father as a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect. To my deep mortification my father once said to me, “You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat-catching, and you will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family’’, the ‘smallest boy’ in the school had his own share of school days challenges. In one such occasion, the author who alleged that his name had been unjustly added to the list of noise makers in the class was adequately punished. As Lamikanra recollected; ‘’ When at last I came face to face with my nemesis, I dutifully bent down as ordered by Baba who casually even apologetically set my young arse on fire. The pain was excruciating and when the caning was over, I cried not just from the pain but with the relief that flooded me with the knowledge that it was over and my life could be resumed’’.

IGBOBI BOY is also the story of Nigeria of the heady days of the pre and post-colonial era as well as the pre and post-civil war years. How much these historical period affected Igbobi College can be gleaned from the pages of the book.

As a passionate and devoted sportsman, Lamikanra devoted a large chunk of IGBOBI BOY to the exploits of his school in the field of sports. In these chapters the author took us on a voyageon the activities of his School House as well as Igbobi College in the fields of athletics, soccer, cricket and to a lesser degree, Lawn Tennis. Laced with anecdotes of emotional moments when the school won or lost in their football matches against arch rivals such as St Finbarrs, Ahmadiya College, Baptist Academy, Kings College among other schools, IGBOBI COLLEGE is a celebration of a school boy who passed through his school and allowed his school to pass through him.

However, apart from sporting activities, the author enumerated times without number the exceptional performance of Igbobi in the area of academics. So important was this topic to the author that he dedicated a whole Chapter (Chapter Five) on what he termed the school’s reputation for Scholarship. According to Lamikanra; ‘’Igbobi College had earned the reputation for scholarship long before my time and what we as Igbobi Boys were enjoined to do over and over again was maintain that reputation’’.

Expectedly, it wasn’t smooth sailing for all Igbobians as the students were called. As the author explained on page 84 of the book; ‘’A few boys were expelled for very poor academic performance but they usually went at the end of the year and failed to come back the following year’’

In putting his story and that of his alma mater together, Lamikanra should be commended for his prodigious memory and gripping narrative that excellently drove the book along. How I wish he had included some photographs in this well written and well produced book so that readers could have a visual glimpse of the young faces of some of the famous Igbobi alumni that have made the school proud. A revised edition of the book should also take care of some inexplicable typos while a captivating blurb will also add more notches to the book’s quality.

IGBOBI BOY is a delightful story, told simply, frankly and with humour. We see step by step how ‘the smallest boy in Igbobi College’ with his rough edges, his foibles and nuances, his restlessness and gaucheries, was gradually moulded by his parents and teachers, until he developed into a notable Literary figure and renowned Professor of Pharmacy.

Okediran is a former National President, Association Of Nigerian Authors.