Being a key note address delivered by Chief Sylvester Momoh Onojah (OON) on the Occasion of the Dinner and dance organised by King’s College Old Boys Association Washington DC chapter USA on the 29th October 2009.
It is impossible for me to begin this key note address without first and foremost expressing my very profound gratitude and deep appreciation to King’s College Old Boys Association, Washington DC for bestowing on me the great honour of inviting me to this auspicious occasion of the centenary celebrations marking the establishment of King’s College, Lagos. There are certain moments in life when one is overwhelmed with the sheer joy of fulfillment that one cannot but remain speechless for want of the appropriate words to capture the depth of one’s true feelings. This is certainly one of such moments for me and how I wish I could literarily open up my heart for you to see the billows of joy and ecstasy that I have been experiencing in the run-up to this remarkable day.
To all other King’s men and Alumni of your beloved King’s College, Lagos, I say hearty congratulations on this great occasion and I wish our celebrant AD MULEOS ANNOS. I would like to salute all of you for your unfading youthfulness, your beauty and inner strength which are symbolic of mankind’s constant search for renewal. I also salute you for your devotion to the acquisition of knowledge and relentless search for truth, typifying the most beautiful attributes of man’s mind in his pure element.
It is in deed something of unspeakable joy and great privilege to be living witness to the centenary celebrations marking the establishment of King’s College, Lagos. A century in the life of any institution is no mean feat and therefore calls for rolling out the drums in thanksgiving and stocktaking. Distinguished Alumni and invited guests, today is no doubt one of the most memorable milestones for all of us who are privileged to be alive to be partakers at this Alma mater. It is my belief that those of us who are participating in these unique centenary celebrations are taking part in the rites of passage for the membership of an elite club to which we will pledge our continued loyalty commitment and selfless service.
Some one hundred years ago an Act of the British Parliament gave birth to King’s College, Lagos. The vision and mission of the founding fathers of the college was to establish and manage a quintessential secondary institution, firmly anchored upon the enduring virtues of abiding faith in God, discipline, hard work, courage, determination, perseverance, granite integrity, love of and selfless service to country and mankind. Thus, King’s College to all intents and purposes was to be:
a. A pottery for moulding the human person, character and dignity.
b. An intellectual oven for baking complete and competitive products.
c. A crucible for the extraction of the invaluable pearl of life in the human person.
d. An institution whose products will remain as worthy ambassadors committed to the dreams and ideals of the school as well as becoming citizens of the world by building bridges of understanding and cooperation between their Alma mater and other similar institutions and individuals.
I have been and I am still very passionate about education, especially at this point in our history when we ceaselessly question the quality of education that our youths receive today and going back for some time now. The commitment shown by King’s College Old Boys to restore King’s College to its old glory, both structurally and education wise was the good reason why it was easy for me to accept your invitation. When old boys like you converge to share happy memories of great educational institutions that produced them, when they share overwhelming dissatisfaction with the unacceptable state of infrastructure in these institutions and when they positively resolve to chip in their bit to bring about change, then there is hope that our educational system would be back on the road to recovery. I am passionate and greatly fulfilled, when I meet with selected minds who appreciate and desire the restoration of the glorious past that shaped their present enviable positions and roles in life. For the purpose of emphasis, I associate with your self-propelled patriotic and responsible decision to restore the dilapidating structures and facilities at King’s College. It is a reflection of the nobility and King’s spirit inherently implanted in you as you passed through King’s College. You have already set a trail blazer and what you make of the restoration project will determine what eventually becomes the lot of other schools in Nigeria.
May I remind you that other distinguished Nigerians attest to the fact that King’s College occupies a special prominent position in terms of quality, prestige, academic excellence and the number of men that are real men in Nigeria and in the Diaspora. You are men that have played prominent roles in our national life, controlled our economy and the politics of our nation. From the glittering array of the illustrious products of King’s College on parade at this dinner/banquet tonight, there is no gainsaying the fact that it has more than justified the expectations of its founding fathers who through Sit Fredrick Lugard had declared in a reference to the future of education in west Africa and I quote: “I hope King’s College will continue to lead the way”. Distinguished Alumni, Ladies and Gentlemen, King’s College has not only continued to lead the way in the West African sub-region, but it has raised the bar on the African continent and beyond by its consistent sterling performance over the years. The human gems mined from the quarry of King’s College have been and are still being polished into leading lights in very many spheres of human endeavour ranging from the academia, sciences and engineering, foreign services, civil/public service, business as well as religion. These movers and shakers of our society who time and space will not permit me to name individually have continued to hold aloft the ideals of the college and have become oracles, role models and mentors and sources of inspiration for the young generations that have come after them. Furthermore, the contributions and influence of these illustrious products of King’s College have helped to etch the name of the college on the international map. Among these are:
1. Sir. Adetokunbo Ademola, the first indigenous Chief Justice of Nigeria.
2. Chief H.O. Davies, the first Nigerian to be appointed Queen’s Counsel.
3. Dr. Francis Akanu Ibiam, the first indigenous governor of Eastern Nigeria and later President World Council of Churches.
4. Daddy Enyeama, first Nigerian on the International Court of Justice.
5. Sylvanus Olympio, first president of Togo.
6. Godfrey Okoro was crowned Akenzua II, the Oba of Benin in 1933.
7. Claudius Ankra was crowned Oba of Badagry in the 70s.
8. Amodu Momo was crowned the Otaru of Auchi.
9. Adeyinka Oyekan was crowned the Oba of Lagos.
10. Ademuwagun Adesida was crowned the Deji of Akure.
11. Alfred Torkula was crowned Tor Tiv.
12. Chief Simeon Adebo was the former Head of Service of Western Region and later Nigerian first representative to the United Nations.
13. Chief Adeniran Ogunsaya, the former first federal minister of housing and survey in the First Republic.
14. Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the first Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the Second Republic.
15. Dr. Rex Akpofure, the first African to be appointed Principal of King’s College in 1964.
16. Chief Philip Asiodu, former Super Federal Permanent Secretary and later Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources of Nigeria
17. Mr. Allison A. Ayida, former Super Permanent Secretary and later Head of Civil Service of Nigeria.
18. Alhai Femi Okunnu, former Federal Commissioner of Works and Housing.
19. Mr. A.K.O Amu, first Nigerian Olympic medalist, later member National Olympic Organisng Committee and chairman Athletics Federation of Nigeria.
20. Chief Anthony Enahoro, the person who moved the historic motion for the independence of Nigeria in 1956 and was later Information Minister.
21. Ernest Sessi Ikali, one of the Nigeria’s greatest journalists and heroes of the struggle for Nigeria’s independence and first school captain in 1909.
King’s college boasts of high representation in the current administration of President Umaru Yar’Adua:
1. Chief Ufot Ekaette former Secretary to the Federal Government and now minister for the Niger Delta Ministry
2. Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, Minister of Economic Planning
3. Dr. Mansur Muktar, Minister of Finance
4. Dr. Bukola Saraki, Executive Governor of Kwara State
5. Sanusi Lamido, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria
There are several others in key spheres of life of our nation.
Can we continue to lead, show the light and rule if the facilities to produce King’s College spirit and fraternity are obsolete and dilapidating?
The unique position and prestige which they have conferred on the college was clearly demonstrated by the gracious acceptance of the Director General of UNESCO, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, who traveled all the way from Paris to Lagos to deliver the Centenary Lecture in January this year. The granting of armorial bearing to King’s College within the first fifty years of existence depicted the stability and stature of the institution in the commonwealth. It amounted to recognition of the nobility of the products of King’s College. As noble people, you have no choice other than mobilize men and materials to restore that which gave birth to your present enviable position as noble members of King’s College Old Boys. It has always been a privilege to be a student and or member of staff of King’s College. It is also common belief that only the best in the land can have access to the institution. It is also agreed that all who passed through King’s College are inheritors of awesome legacy. We all are custodians of a treasure that must be preserved for generations unborn. No wonder, King’s College evokes such passion and devotion that is virtually consuming faithful implementation of restoration project which will not only restore physical structures but strengthen the culture and tradition of excellence for which King’s college is known.
The challenge of the next 100 years which is coterminous with the 21st century, Distinguished Alumni are going to be heavier, more complex and much more demanding for your Alma mater. This is the time to take stock of the journey so far and begin to devise the necessary strategies or roadmap for solutions in a renewed commitment to all that it takes to keep King’s College afloat at the top. This has assumed an urgent dimension as the mantra in government circles is that government can no longer go it alone in the provision of education for the citizenry. It is therefore holding out its hands to private establishments and individuals for partnership in the provision of education. Given your pedigree and track records of commitment to the cause of your Alma Mater, I know that you will rise to whatever challenges and changes that may come its way in the new millennium.
I am buoyed in this hope by the message contained in an extract of a letter on the reminiscences of an alumnus culled from an old diary in the college a few weeks ago and I quote, “it carries me to the times when beset with difficulties and dangers, we were fellow labourers in the same cause, struggling for what is most valuable to man his right to knowledge, labouring always at the same oar, with some waves ever ahead threatening to whelm us and yet passing harmless… we rode through the storm with heart and hand.” Let us therefore use the time for this dinner to resolve as a united body to commit our time, energy and resources to promote the sustained development and growth of King’s College so that the generation of King’s men may be assured of the benefit to our dear motherland and to the Glory of God. I know you are all well and able to stand and confront the storms of life that may come buffeting the face of your Alma Mater anywhere any day and any time. May the Almighty God bless and increase the works of our hands as we march with confidence and trust in him into the years ahead. Amen.
Fellow King’s men, Distinguished Alumni it is incontestable that King’s College has in the last 100 years through your tailor-made interventionist programmes lived up to its billing as a formidable citadel of learning and sources of inspiration for excellence not only in Nigeria but also on the African continent. The impact on the lives of those who have had the privilege and opportunity to go through its portals cannot be quantified.
From King’s College all of us have learnt and imbibed the lessons that:
a. Life is a song that we must live and sing to the Creator.
b. Life is a game that you must play according to the rules.
c. Life is a challenge that we must meet with courage and determination.
d. Life is a dream that we must realise.
e. Life is a sacrifice that we must offer.
f. Life is love that we must give freely
g. Life is service that we must give selflessly
In a rapidly globally world where absolute human moral standards have been whittled down by the concept of relativity, we as parents have been saddled with the sacred responsibility to hold unto this time-honored virtues as role models for the younger generation of King’s College students.
As older generation, we are in the position to deeply appreciate the fact that we are not the sum of our possessions because they are not the true worth of life. We cannot therefore risk the dire consequences of bequeathing to the younger generation the belief that human life begins and ends with the transient things of this world rather than the enduring and ennobling virtues of love, selfless service, honesty, integrity, transparency and accountability.
Distinguished Alumni, Ladies and Gentlemen, as we depart the cozy arena of this commemorative ceremony to our various homes and country, permit me to leave you with these nuggets of truth and food for thought, “what matters in life is more than winning for ourselves, what matter in this life is helping others to win, even if it means slowing down and changing our course.”
I am in deed privileged to be here and wish once more to express my profound gratitude for the honour you have accorded me at this commemorative event.
Thank you and God bless you. Amen.