History of FGGC Owerri
By Sheila Everard (Founding Principal 1973-1980)
My own progress was a typical case of nudge and drift into teaching but once there, I was determined to gain as much experience as was possible to prepare for the coming flux in educational change in 1960s Britain. Next my plan was to gain some experience abroad. Cyprus was my choice, and the opportunity created by a British Council advertisement for the post of head of history at a prominent school in Nicosia. At the interview it became clear that they really required a man to combine these duties with that of housemaster so my dreams of life in the Mediterranean came to an early close. Here fate stepped in and when friends from university returned from their first tour in Kano Nigeria with photos, stories; they encouraged me to apply.
Seven years in Kano where the students were drawn from every province of the old Northern Region provided perfect preparation for the newly expanded federal schools after the civil war. Integrating people of different backgrounds had always been an interest (I was a student in the late 1950s and much influenced by the Civil Rights Movement then underway in the USA), Kano had taught me the consequences of thoughtless or insensitive handling of people of different persuasions, particularly religious differences. When I arrived in Lagos in September 1973, I fully expected to be posted to a school in the Northern Region where recruitment of staff was more difficult. Most of the schools were more or less underway and even Kazaure (remote and without running water), had a temporary principal to open the school more or less on time. Owerri however, presented problems and several senior staff, already in the service had good reason to refuse the posting even though it offered the possibility of promotion.
Only just recovering from war, the temporary site in Government College Owerri was occupied by Federal forces. The buildings selected were war torn and new buildings, not yet underway. Deserters had formed bands of marauders and looters and the area was under curfew. With my usual acceptance of nudge and drift and a strong belief that the privileged Federal Service required personnel willing to serve anywhere within the Federation, I did not question their decision and so found myself in what was probably the most interesting and strongly motivated place in post war Nigeria.
With the experiences of six years in Kano under my belt, my plans were clear. Education is most effective when enjoyable. The community needed to feel secure if parents were to entrust their young children to travel several hundred miles away from their homes to a place which had recently been at the ‘heart’ of the battles.
We started late on November 14th with 23 students; most of those originally selected had given up and found places elsewhere. The Christmas holiday was just a few weeks away. A party was called for and our first tradition founded. Everyone likes a party and a feast. In future all festivals would be celebrated by everyone who wished to attend, regardless of their religion. This could be sensitive but as expatriates in Kano we had all enjoyed Sallah and I saw no reason why we should not all enjoy Christmas and the Eid festivals together.
We had a party in the empty hostel opposite the dining hall where the staff served and entertained the students. I can remember matron, Mrs Nwaozuzu singing and at a later celebration, the gatemen entertaining the girls with conjuring tricks. I was also determined that within our school community, the ‘junior’ staff were invited to participate in these celebrations. The head cook Mr Echefu always produced a feast that satisfied all.
I believed that integration and mutual respect was best furthered by scrupulous allocation of those from different regions and convictions on an equal basis in classes and hostels. Gentle competition between them in academic achievement, sports, drama, poetry, cleanliness and tidiness etc. would be the best way to break down barriers and get people to work together.
The Federal Colleges’ motto ‘Pro Unitate’ was at the time politically directed. ‘Tolerance’: ‘Forbearance’: ‘Integrity’: ‘Service Not Self’: could equally be added as the central pillars of the ethos I wished to develop.