May 1989. Student Representative Council (SRC) meeting. Taking place in the library. The new library. This used to be the hall for the school and library used to be between the physics lab and the bursars office but as the school grew, it became too small and was moved. The old library became a staff room. Anyway, that is not the main theme here..
There has been some unrest in the school. The principal has been making some changes. Some of them great and some, not to the students taste. But we all know, students are not really consulted in all these decisions. The relocation of the senior classes closer to the centre of the school was a great idea and welcomed but the fact that we have to accept the changes to harvest plans where there was no room for meeting with the Fiwasaiye and SLA girls afterwards and we go home straight from church was a disaster.
And then came the controversial topic - our uniform. We normally wear green shorts and a yellow shirts. Good combination, very useful for dirty escapades like doing sports. We saw ourselves as being the other half of the SLA girls as we had the same uniform. Oyemekun and Fiwasaiye had the same uniform as well. ACA and SLA were Catholic schools and Oyemekun and Fiwasaiye were Anglican schools. We loved it that way. Does not stop us crossing the divide ( you know what I mean 😉) but we know where our allegiances where. The ultimate catch was the FGGC girls. There I go again.. on a target..
Back to the story. Chief ERA Babalola ( our principal) has decided to change our uniform to white to white which was our occasional wear and he made the announcement at assembly that Monday morning. I have never heard such an uproar of dissent since I have been in the school. Nibo ni baba yii ti nbo ti o lokun lorun ke🤨? Egbe nbi bo🤷🏾♂️? Will he have tried this with our seniors? The Olusoga boys. Atuegbu. Even Meskere in 1988 will not even allow such talk to be entertained. Why us? The wave of unrest went from us through to the junior classes. The principal did not expect this reaction and the teachers were uneasy right in front of us as well as behind us. The principal thought of a quick way to quell the storm by using his usual stern and bullying look and tone. “You don’t want the change? Ok. What do you want?” Someone shouted -“Can we debate this within ourselves?”. The principal starts looking for who spoke but we normally weave around so that no one can be focused on. “Ok. Let’s have an SRC meeting”. The principal abruptly ends assembly and the news comes just before Angelus - the SRC meeting is set for Thursday this week. Every class gets 3 representatives as well as the perfects in attendance. The debates rage in the classes. Decisions are made but not discussed. That is the rule so that people are not influenced and they bring their class views exclusively.
Meeting day. The students file in. Over a 100 students enter the hall representing the 36 classes in the school. The SRC is a students meeting but there are observers which are usually the form heads and the school welfare office. But on this day, we had a guest observer - ologba. Just in case you do not know, that is what we the students call the principal. Different points were discussed but we all know the main reason why we were there. Then up comes the topic about the change of uniform. Some of the juniors gave their views, more along the pros of going with white uniforms. The SS3 boys were having none of it. They were vehemently against the change and the SS2 and SS1 were backing them. Some were playing it diplomatically by saying that the junior school can change but why should the senior school change as it is an unnecessary cost to parents. The tide was turning towards this motion being rejected and we can see the principal getting really hot on the collar in his brown french suit. Suddenly, he gets up and says “Nonsense! You mean you are going to vote this down? I overrule whatever decision made and I am ordering the change.”
The hall went silent and people were grumbling but no one wants to voice up. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Akinwumi “ibembe” Adu. The voltron of our set. Defender of the defenceless. The number of people he has rescued from the bullies in our set. Objective. Direct. Frontal but fair. Wumi turns to the principal abs says - “You are not authorised to make a decision here”. Ologba was aghast 😳. “What did you say?” He retorted. Wumi repeated the statement and went on to explain that his capacity in the meeting is an observation one and has no authority in the room. The principal was livid. He felt humiliated but also knew what he was being told was right. He packed up his things and walked out. All of us started laughing and the notion was voted down.
It did not end there. The next morning, Wumi was suspended from school and told to bring his parents. He opted to bring his uncle. The principal must have either done his homework to find out Wumi’s dad attended the ACA at same time as he did, or the presence of Dr. Akerele Adu (Orunmila Clinic) intimidated him or otherwise. Bottom line, he was re-instated by Monday. The notion to change the uniform was rejected outright.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Wumi Adu. Saved the day and still doing that in other capacities today. Other heroics happened after this day but that is a story for another day ...
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