By Andrew Keili
Sierra Leone will thrive when we care for her as much as we care for our alma mater
-Basita Michael
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works
-Hebrews 10:24
A new phenomenon has emerged in Freetown-the school thanksgiving celebration. Well actually, it is not new but is a lot more noticeable now that march-pasts of Secondary schools have become a source of intense rivalry especially between very old schools that boast of a rich history. We witnessed Annie Walsh celebrate a milestone anniversary last year. Many say they set the gold standard that will be hard to match. The success of the fundraising with jaw dropping amounts collected, pomp and pageantry, and the many innovations put other pretenders in “panic mode”. Not to be deterred, Methodist Girls High school (MGHS) also “performed” admirably but found it difficult to surpass the Annie Walsh. Another famous Boys’ school (call name nor mix!) tried to raise the bar, which they did quite successfully except for slight problems caused by some of the purple blazers having running colours under the rains and staining the white trousers of some unfortunate old boys.
We have had our recent rivalry between the Sierra Leone Grammar school (SLGS) and the Prince of Wales (POW) school.
A brief history of these schools is in place.
The Sierra Leone Grammar School was founded on 25th March 1845 as Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.) Grammar School-the first secondary school in Sub-Saharan Africa. Fourteen students from the Fourah Bay College Christian Institute were transferred as pioneer students to begin the school at Regent square. Of the fourteen boys, five were from Mende land, three from Kissy Village, two from Regent, one from Kent, one from Port Loko and two from Freetown. They offered English Grammar and composition, Greek, Geography, Astronomy, Mathematics, Bible History, English History. Writing, Music Recreation and the Church’s 39 articles. Later Euclid, Algebra and Latin, a voluntary class subject were added. In 1962, the school moved to the present site at Murray Town. The SLGS in its early days produced clergyman, school masters, tradesmen, clerks etc. to serve the need of not only of Sierra Leone but West Africa.
The Prince of Wales school was initially known as the Government Secondary School. On the 5th of April 1925, the Prince of Wales arrived in Freetown on the HMS Hood. He named the school, THE PRINCE OF WALES SCHOOL and stated that the Foundation Day of the School would be the 6th of April. The site had formerly been owned by the Sierra Leone Coaling Company and used as a Coaling Station that had its own jetty at the back of the main building. The school was founded in order to foster science education and studies in modern languages in Sierra Leone.
Grammar school had its thanksgiving service at Saint George’s Cathedral. Older alumni were required to board specially emblazoned white “kekehs” but many refused the offer and chose to march. March, they did, and if rumour is to be believed there were lots of aching bones and brisk sales of arthritis pills at pharmacies. It is heartening to note that the school dedicated a plaque to the memory of the founding students.
Despite the successful march past there were still a few snafus. Their school ties which had been specially ordered for the occasion did not arrive on time and many were forced either to use their old ties or look for alternatives in the Pultney Street “jongs market”, no doubt taking a quick glance round to ensure they were not spotted. One Grammar school boy told me about what went wrong- “We ordered the ties on time but an old boy who is an expert in Critical Path Analysis got his sums wrong and the ties landed in the wrong continent. Anyway, we will keep them for the next anniversary.” They say “misery likes company” and even those who, because of climate change (making it rain when it was not its season) had their purple coats stain their white trousers could be seen chuckling.
The Prince of Wales occasion went like clockwork. They had Christian and Muslim worship services and also marched through the streets of Freetown. They went the extra mile to be different. They planned on having a lion from the Mara Park in Kenya. This idea was floated around for some time until Mara Park put out a press release to the contrary and our ever-vigilant police, adept at snuffing out illegal demonstrations were quick to put out an “absolutely no marching lions” press release. Even without the lion, they looked majestic in their uniforms and their march past attracted the largest number of onlookers.
The long convoy had a couple of “dignified” Wrangler Jeeps (a sharp contrast to the Grammar School kekehs). There was just one tiny flaw. One of the Wrangler jeeps- a green one nearly caught fire and attracted quite some attention. Detractors said their plan to “suffer posh” had come unstuck. POW alumni accused a garage owned by a Grammar school alumnus of “fixing” the car. One feature different from other schools was the number of politicians-potential flagbearers and other political apparatchiks that were present. The Chief Minister Dr. Sengeh, Dr. Sylvia Blyden, Adi Macauley, Mohamed Kamara aka Jagaban, Dr. Sama Banya, Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyer (a Conventonian- watcha going on?) were amongst those present. People who were thought to be at odds with each other were now united in the pursuit of one goal-supporting their alma mater. This gives true meaning to the biblical saying – “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat………” (Isaiah 11:6). This utopian harmony could only have been possible because of their affinity to their alma mater.
A laudable feature of both of these schools is the school song.
The chorus in the Grammar school song is indeed endearing and we (yes, we! That’s another pondering) Grammar school boys sing it with such gusto:
“Live forever, sundered never, faltering never……………”
Never mind that many students have not bothered to find out the meaning of sundered! The very poetic Verse 4 illustrates they did not just attend the Grammar school for academic learning,
“Oh! tis not the nerve or sinew or learning store alone
That the school upon her sons bestow which stamps them for her own”.
The chorus in the POW song is:
“For searching Sierra Leone far and wide, no school can well be found that sends forth truer gentlemen or stands on firmer ground”.
As someone remarked- “Many of those “searching Sierra Leone” have not gone far beyond Kingtom-not even as far as Waterloo to declare their school as the best school in Sierra Leone. And I hope by “firmer ground” they are being metaphorical about academic grounding and not the physical ground which is constantly washing away as the sea threatens to engulf this citadel of learning.”
The fourth verse of the POW school song introduced by the late principal, William J. Davies, in 1936 perhaps best illustrates why it is essential for alumni to meet occasionally:
“Though scattered far we seldom meet the friends our boyhood knew, Old joys and griefs in memory dwell, toned down to sober hue, And as some well-remembered name grows great, we glow with pride, To think that in our youthful days, we struggled at his side.”
Poetic, veritable words of wisdom! Na buk man den dis bobs!
But let’s get back to the celebrations and decide who won. Some people have endeavoured to list down some metrics for comparison. One of these included attire, processional orderliness, big guns, most popular with the ladies, onlookers and crowd attendance and religious diversity but some of these, especially the last one would unfairly favour only one school. Grammar school’s case was messed up a bit by a present-day student, who remarked about the celebrations: “E nor fine sef”. He obviously came in for some roasting. What was he expecting? A plate of rice to be served to all students? The way Hassan Harouni described the POW occasion, one would be tempted to award them the winner’s prize- “Elderly Princewaleans holding court in swanky vehicles like royalty”, “trumpets, trombones, snares and tubas all blending into a majestic sonic bouquet”. But then he is an alumnus and may not be dispassionate. Asmaa James gave it to Grammar school for “orderliness, comportment and neatness”, and added: “The use of kekehs was more creative than Wranglers.” But then she is an Annie Walsh alumnus (Anglican school) married to a Bo school boy (You can never know about the Bo school motive)! A Grammar school alumnus described the hype around the POW celebrations as fake- “Promising to bring along the King of England, Wrangler with no fuel and the fake lion prove my case.” He continued- “When small boys are planning (80 years age difference), they must involve their elders. POW now stands for “Push overheated Wrangler”.” Ouch! This hurts! The Police also came in for some roasting for not warning the public about the infamous Grammar school fireworks at Youyi building which was mistaken for gunshots. I will be diplomatic with my overall verdict-Na draw game!
Grammar school and POW are done for this year and will prepare for the next milestone celebrations. Other schools will continue in their footsteps and the healthy rivalry will continue to the benefit of not only the alumni but the schools. The concept of “outdoing each other in good works” will continue encouraging them to consider how they can stimulate one another toward love and good deeds. They will continue with the selfless service, and unwavering commitment to the well-being of students in these schools.
Long may these celebrations continue and let us as Sierra Leoneans endeavour to emulate these associations in our deeds in other spheres of life- especially the political sphere. Basita is right to note that “Sierra Leone will thrive when we care for her as much as we care for our alma mater.”
Ponder my thoughts.
