From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The Old Boys of Government College, Umuahia (GCU), Abia State are lamenting over the decay in the school, saying it was to restore the past glory of the once famous school it took over its running from the Abia State Government.
The National Secretary of the association, Nkem Egbuta who disclosed this during an event marking the 40 years anniversary and Annual General Meeting cum Reunion of the Class of ’83, said the school had dilapidated over the years before the Old Boys decided to take over and fight to get it restored.
Egbuta, also the Class Captain, mentioned several great men GCU had produced, including the likes of Chinua Achebe, Chukwemeka Ike, Ken Saro Wiwa, Gabriel Okara, Ben Enwonwu and Justice Tony Aniagolu of the Supreme Court.
He said it was unfortunate that a school that has produced eminent past governors like Okwesilieze Nwodo, Achike Udenwa, Orji Uzor-Kalu, many senators and prominent people should be allowed to be in such a poor condition.
“A school that has produced such great men should not be allowed to die and that is why we decided to take over completely.
“We have begun from the scratch again, trying to restore those values that made Umuahia so prominent and by the Grace of God, we are on the path to achieving that,” he said.
The ’83 Class Secretary, Pius Harbor said the Old Boys Association worldwide were worried by the level of dilapidation and decided to engage the government in a very constructive way.
“We decided to convince the government to hand over the school to us, securing the territory and the boundaries which had somehow been tampered by encroachers.
“We set up a trust fund that is now running the school”,he informed.
Another member, Prince Obinna Ejebi in an interview said the old boys took over the famous school from Abia State Government in order to restore its past glory.
He said presently, half of the school’s population are on the old boys’ scholarship, adding that fees payable by the other students of the school are being highly subsidised.
He said the gesture was the old boys way of giving back to society.
The theme of this year’s AGM is, “Bonding, Networking, Adding Value and Building Futures.”