See ehn, KC boys historically had a major advantage when it came to toasting QC girls. 😂 There was something about a KC boy that made you at least pause and consider the application. You might have others on the queue o, but the KC boy had the peculiar ‘option of first refusal’, before we now began to consider ‘all others’. The KC boy was the ‘gold standard’ for QC girls, when they showed up in their white uniforms, navy blue blazers and striped ties on QC grounds like this ehn, other ‘shirt and trouser’ uniforms didn’t really stand a chance. And yes it was vice versa, even for us as young impressionable teenagers back then. We sha had this diplomatic, albeit sacred camaraderie, QC girls and KC boys…
But back to the serious matter at hand, this King’s College old boys ‘takeover’ of their Alma Mater matter.
I am not just watching a story unfold online. Some of us are also invested in this legacy, apart from the usual QC busy body angle o.
My only brother is a KCOB, my maternal grandfather and my Father were also very active KCOB’s, who received several awards for their contributions.
See why this hits differently, abi?
Looking back at the King’s College my brother attended over 20 years ago, I remember having to suddenly pick him from school when he fell seriously ill, and I cannot forget the condition of the school then, Chai!! The dormitories were overstretched, the facilities were heavily overused, and the environment in which those boys were living was, frankly, not what you would expect for an institution of King’s College’s history and reputation. This was then o, so just imagine what the same facilities with much more students will be like now
So when I see old boys who have the capacity, experience and resources saying, ‘We want to get involved, to help improve this place and preserve its standard,’ I wonder, what exactly is wrong with that?
Of course, there must be proper governance, transparency and accountability, because public institutions cannot simply be handed over to anybody just because of good intentions.
But that is a different conversation from saying that alumni should simply donate money, attend reunions, take pictures in their old school colours wearing their school ties and otherwise mind their business. No now!
Sometimes loyalty to an institution means refusing to watch it deteriorate from a safe distance.
And also let us be very clear about the crop of gentlemen we are talking about gangan please, KCOB’s are not some random collection of people who cannot point to their classmates or tell you what became of the boys they went to school with.
When we are crying, we used to open our eyes and see No. 3, Catholic Mission Road o, ehn hen! Their mates are literally everywhere, doing great things, solving great problems.
Again these are not ‘i don’t know my classmates’ specie of men o. Ehh hen!
They are in business, government, medicine, law, academia, technology, finance and virtually every sphere of life, here in Nigeria and across the world. You can point to what many of them have built and say, ‘They have truly ‘Floreat’ed’.
Evidence choke o, and track records chokest!
So when some of these men now decide to bring their experience, professional networks and resources back to their alma mater, the response shouldn’t be suspicion and hostility abeg, the question should be, ‘What exactly are they proposing, how will it be governed, and how can the institution benefit?’
Wait first, and there is another argument I keep hearing, that King’s College is a school for the children of the poor. Ah no o, not that the poor cannot go there o, but it is not, and i will tell you why.
King’s College has never been a school defined by ‘the poor’, never! It has always been a prestigious public institution with a long history of academic excellence, and as part of Nigeria’s Unity School tradition, it brought together children from different parts of the country, different backgroun
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