“Others are going while others are coming...". A touching line from the "O Aquinas, O Aquinas" song that we were introduced to by the very Catholic Mrs Aloba before our 'passing in' ceremony. All this going and coming was happening, if I may say so, on the Appian way. Imagine all the legendary names that have trodden on the Appian way since 1951.
ACA was steeped in tradition. The Angelus bell mentioned previously being one. So was harvest. Labour day was also a strong tradition and a leveller of sorts. Every student, bar the senior most class, brought in a cutlass on labour day to cut grass. There was no beating about the bush and no exception. Everyone chipped in a communal way to get the work done. Femi Adeosun and I once made a daring but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to escape labour day but that is a story for another day. Another tradition was voting for our senior prefects after a short campaign season. This unique tradition was stopped by fiat by the teaching staff shortly after the curious Jako Vs Segun Olaopa elections and that essentially put paid to participatory democracy in ACA. From that point onwards, the teaching staff dictated who became the senior prefect.
Surely, the king of all traditions has to be the Aquinas week. A week-long celebration of the founding ideals of the college including bob-a-job, bazaar, school disco, interhouse sports, muturu wewe, etc.
Now, the name Aquinas means different things to different people and so many memories come flooding in, in no particular order. I remember the day my best friend in 1U Wole Ogunnika was picked up from school by his parents and given a one-way ticket to Christ School Ado Ekiti. The Egyptian Hani was similarly whisked away. I think of my mathematical set and the young passionate technical drawing (TD) teacher we had in our first year. There was Mr Klutze, his vernacular speakers tyranny and snake bite episode; Mr Mathematical Adeniranye and his near fatal motor bike mishap; Foluso Amimi of Mamser fame; Monday morning talks with Enoch Dare; our 'rearly' well-endowed Class 1 Arts teacher; Alepepe and his pristine automobile; baba and the school bus; Mr Alade the king of boys; Mr Olunloyo and the map of Africa; Stella and the student teachers; the day the SS3 set attacked a junior student who disrespected Folayan Dada; The ACA v Stella Maris principal's cup game; Father Donnie and the Olympic torch and running spike shoes; Shoremi's incredible final 10m acceleration; the gentle walking sari-cladded Indian science teacher and the Ibo female teacher with facial hair; the ever disappearing kolanut chewing god called Akinmoladun; the smell in the biology lab second only to that emanating from the mortuary, BABA and the physics push and pull experiments; Chief Babalola and his legendary jaw smashing prowess; Stepping outside the school to listen to and buy Shinamania cassette in 1990 with (I think) Abe, Gbenga Musa, Arobabs and Wale.....
So many memories.
It would have been too easy and predictable to remember the academic exploits. ACA already had a strong tradition of academic excellence long before any of us set foot there. Our forebears established that tradition and the bar was already set high. So that is not the story I would like to share today. In tandem with the strong academic traditions, ACA also had a tradition for sporting excellence. Here in lies my story.
The year was around 84/85, the Los Angeles Olympics had completed several months back and Carl Lewis could do no wrong. He was after all the fastest man on the planet! This was years before Ben Johnson came on the scene and exposed the murky underbelly of professional sports. Every student fancied their chances of being a sprinter in those days but cold reality struck most on the sporting field. I knew I could run, despite the chubby Posho tag bestowed on me by no other than Adeoba Jaspana of 1U but I never took any active interest in running.
There were principally four sporting houses in Aquinas - St. John, St. Francis, St. Michael and St. Eugene. Did you notice I listed my house St. John first? Well, that was as close to the first position as my green house ever got during our time. Eugene largely reigned supreme. Back in the day, everyone got the house wear/uniform and we were all obligated to participate in inter-house sports, one way or the other. We all had to undergo trials and the house captains and team leaders selected people for various sporting activities. The ones who did not make the cut were deployed to be cheerleaders, glucose and water carriers, etc. I remember Carl Lewis was good at long jump, Energy at running, Bisi eja and Wole Ogunnika were good at high jump. So was Mogudu's older brother.
Back to my story.
I was selected to be in the sprinting team which must have come as a big surprise to some of my class mates in 1U. The St. John sprinting team had a small speed demon of a boy called Yemi from 1Y, whom I always thought was unbeatable. He had such a graceful and powerful sprint that it was as if he was gliding on thin air. With Yemi, St. John was good for the 100m sprinting gold medal. The word got round later that the St. John selectors wanted to narrow down the sprinting team and select the best 100m runners. Well, that was a foregone conclusion. Yemi would win hands down. Many had thought. Really?
The legendary supremacy rivalry between Senior Badmus and 'Away' Bullet had gripped the school at the time. But here we were having our own little battle. It didn't bother me. I was never interested in sprinting or any sporting activity after all. It seemed to matter more to Yemi. There was zero pressure on me to perform until I heard Kunle Olutimehin also of 1U had told someone from 1Y that he was convinced "Damilola was going to beat their Yemi". Of course, as it often happens, the word ultimately got to Yemi and the die was cast.
The day came. It was just after school hours. I came in my trusted spanking new white with red stripes sneakers. Wole Ogunnika was there for moral support. He had already made the cut for the high jump team. A few others were there to watch King Yemi hold court and to see how wide the margin of his victory would be. A few others were there out of sheer curiosity. Of course, Kunle Olutimehin was there too and was still full of belief. Now, why am I not referring to him by his real ACA name? Those days, he was known as Kwara pork but today he is better known as Romario.
Without much ado, we were lined up. Yemi was placed somewhere in the middle and I was put in the far/outside lane. Years later I got to understand the best lanes were the middle lanes reserved for the best sprinters. I didn't know my lane was unfavorable at the time but what you don't know doesn't hurt you right? Race na race.
*ON YOUR MARKS*...I could hear the heavy breathing of the guy next to me......*GET SET* ...for the first time, I felt it. My heart pounded...it was flight or run.......*GO*!
(TO BE CONTINUED IN THE FINAL AND CONCLUDING PART)
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