Former
President Olusegun Obasanjo has eulogized the standard of education and
discipline he received at the Baptist Boys High School (BBHS), Abeokuta, Ogun
State, stating that he became who he is today due to the moral virtues and
sound education impacted on him by the institution.
Apart
from him, Obasanjo stated that the school shaped others such as the late sage,
Obafemi Awolowo; the winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, MKO Abiola;
and a former Judge of the International Court of Justice, Bola Ajibola, among
others.
Obasanjo said this on Wednesday in Abeokuta
while delivering a lecture, “Eyin Ni Iwe Wa: You Are Our Epistle,” at the
centenary celebrations of the school. The event was organised by the Old Boys
Association of the BBHS.
Apart
from education, the 100-year-old school, according to Obasanjo, has instilled
godly virtue in all of its products at various times. “Without BBHS, I would
not be who I am,” Obasanjo said.
He
said the BBHS would have had Abiola as another former president, but ‘bad
belle’ prevented him from becoming president. In the metaphorical sense ‘bad
belle’ stands for envy or jealousy.
Abiola
won the 1993 presidential election but the then-military dictator, Ibrahim
Babangida, annulled the election before he was formally declared the winner.
In 1994, he was arrested and detained in
prison on charges of treason after declaring himself President based on the
outcome of the election. Abiola died in detention on July 7, 1998.
Obasanjo
said, “Today, there are distinguished old boys in all walks of life, that is
the private sector, academia, the military and paramilitary, civil society,
traditional rulership, etc. Such is the present President of the Old Boys
Association of BBHS, Prof. Kayode Oyesiku.
“If not for Nigerian bad belle, M.K.O. Abiola
would have been President, and with me as President, we would have needed one
more old student of BBHS to be President for us to permanently locate it in
BBHS after three times. And that is a challenge for the up-and-coming
generations of old boys. What all these great products of BBHS have in common
is the godly virtue inculcated in them by the school. That was education plus.
“We carry it everywhere we go as an epistle written by BBHS to
our families, our communities, our states, our country, our continent of
Africa, and indeed our world.
“In conclusion, the class of 1979–84 had beautifully constructed
the gate and road into the school. They also granted me the pleasure of making
a financial contribution to that laudable effort. They had offered to name the
road after me, for which I thanked them, but I had craved their indulgence, to
which they have agreed to name the road after E. L. Akisanya, and the road
becomes E. L. Akisanya Road and the gate E. L. Akisanya Gate.”
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