Hurray! Hurray!! Hurray !!! The Renaissance,the internet magazine of the old boys of our alma mater is a year old come 20/6/21.’Onye hiri’ ,as the Igbos would ask.
On the other hand,the bible apparently asked in Isaiah 53:1 who would believe us ? To be more precise,one would rather ask as in John 12:38 who hath believed our report ? To this end most OGSSIANS are likely to inter alia ask, ‘so soon’ ?
This singular phenomenon could indeed be a pointer towards the velocity of time,in times like this,in which we are.But does the rate at which time per se changes position (speeds) ever vary ?I wish I were a physicist or a Geographer to provide the answer.
The Renaissance magazine can be described as the child of enlightenment for it was born out of the emergence of a modern technologically based world wide mass media communication web.It can also be described as a child of circumstances for it was conceptualised out of the need to reach out to the greatest number of our peers,school contemporaries,colleagues and fellow products of our alma mater in the most distant and seemingly outer most parts of the world. Further to this,the germ of idea or concept to establish this unique communication model was profoundly original and experimental since no contemporary school in this our clime has ever contemplated to do so.Neither can any boast of the ingenious resourcefulness and capacity to do so.
As a matter of fact,the Renaissance is a huge success and a world beater.Iam to add that the secret of her success is not far to seek.
Over the years,the students and products of Government Secondary School Owerri which of course is our alma mater about which we delight in priding ourselves,have repeatedly sworn to themselves,to uphold their supremacy and to remember where they come from wherever they may chance to go and cumulatively at any point in time as well as within any circumstances.This accounts for the remarkable records we maintain in and out of the school.A few examples may suffice to buttress this point.
1. In academics as can be confirmed by past WASC/SSCE results,we have always recorded a 100% pass.In 1970,one of us,Donald Anuforo was allegedly reputed to have made the best result in the entire west Africa.
2. In sporting activities namely:athletics, cricket, soccer and hockey etc,we have never been found wanting but have rather always remained the dread and fear of any potential and/or prospective rivals.Our football team led by Albert Nnoli(captain) captured the highly competitive and much coveted Academicals(Phensic) cup for Nigeria secondary schools.Nnoli being both the school captain and football captain that year,it is evident enough that our students can combine both their studies and games very well.
3. In 1964,the school ably represented by a class 3 student namely Barido Konya participated in an international Boy Scout Jamboree held in Essex,England.
4. In 1967,the school’s Atilogwu Dance but for the civil war would have represented the country in the international festival of arts and culture held in Europe.The same Atilogwu traditional dance in 1973 came first at the East Central state Festival of Arts and Culture held at Enugu.
5. In 2019,an under 19 Cricketer,Sam.Mba from this school participated in representing the country in an international cricket tournament held in Europe.
6. Prior to the civil war,the school was more of an international school and many of our tutors were foreigners.One of the South Africans here namely Opperman was more or less the king of the tracks in mile race as no athlete rivalled him throughout the Eastern region.
It is worthy of mention that the products of our alma mater(old boys) are everywhere flying our flag higher and higher to the admiration of all and sundry and to prove to the generality of the masses that we have all it takes to maintain our supremacy wherever we may chance to go.It is however unfortunate that our impressive and envious records are under-publicised and under- recorded.All the same ,we remain about the only school in this country that her name and image do echo and reverberate beyond the shores of this country. Evidently the Renaissance will fill up the yawning gap created by the poor reportage of the activities and achievements of the old boys as well as the success story of the students,tutors and old boys alike particularly with regard to highlightening our all round supremacy and constituting a veritable model to contemporary schools and their products as well as providing diligent and exemplary pool of workforce for the country these days when ineptitude and corruption are the order of the day.
It has to be unequivocally stated that amongst the old boys both individually and corporately there is no dull moment in respect to show-casing their love and commitment to the school.Obviously much of the physical plant of the school which informs the fascinating paronamic view of the school remains essentially the contributions of the old boys and are partly and profoundly evinced in the: renovation of the dormitories,construction of sanitary conveniecies and renovation of administration block.Cricket equipment were donated by Olisa Egwuatu while Chief Ezeugo Uwandu single handedly donated an assembly hall. These robust donations by the old boys no doubt do place them and all of us on a higher pedestal when compared with our contemporaries elsewhere who simply wait and expect the Parent Teacher Association and/or Government to do all there is to be done in theirs even when their school facilities are rotting away and when there is absolutely no indication that help would come from anywhere.
In conclusion,it may not be impertinent to observe that the Renaissance is one of the pioneer internet magazines in our clime especially in the comity of old boys of secondary schools.It is indeed a trail Blazer in the following arears: information dissemination, education impartation,entertainment and peerage bonding as well as maintenance of a sense camaraderie cum growth of obsessive mind towards the school compelling old boys to think,dream,reminisce and soliloquize over our teenage days in school and how best to redeem our indebtedness to an institution that apparently transformed us from raw materials to finished goods thus providing us with a veritable ground to successfully compete for a niche in the blissful world of elitist people.
Finally I wish to stress the assurance that the Renaissance has successfully overcome the problems that bedevilled her in her maiden year and has been sumptuously rebranded to meet the taste of every reader.
Chief Golden Ibezim;KSC;JP;FIIA;FCAI.
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