Back to School (part 2)

The second event in the end of year celebrations was the speech and prize giving ceremony on Saturday.  I was on my own this time - Dawn didn't make it.  The ceremony was due to start at 10:30am (‘prompt’, according to the invitation!)  By 12:00, when about half the invited guests had gathered in her office, Mrs Nji (the school principal) decided we should move over to the hall and make a start.

The programme eventually got under way at 12:30, with the arrival of the graduands.  (In Nigeria, as in the USA, pupils ‘graduate’ from school as well as from college or university.).  In true Nigerian style, they danced in, led by one of the senior teachers.  As previously mentioned, the school colours are purple and white, and the graduands made a striking entrance in pink mortar-boards and gowns with purple facings.  The school is relatively large, with over 1000 pupils this year, and 146 were graduating.

After the opening devotions we were led in the National Anthem and the School Anthem by the choir, who were back to their basic school uniforms – no straw hats on display this morning!  As we had started late, some of the music had been cut, and we moved swiftly on through various speeches.  The next major highlight was the launching of the school yearbook.  This was in effect a fund-raising drive, with various guests (not me!) competing as to who would pay most for their copy.  Top place went to the chairman, who purchased his copy for ₦150,000 (approx. £600!)

After some more speeches, the event concluded with the prize-giving.  In addition to class prizes and subject prizes, there were awards for those involved with the Fellowship of Christian Students and the choir – one graduand who had been in the choir since he started in first year was presented with a guitar.  There were also special prizes supplied by a group of young men who had started a maths club at the school.  I was very pleased to see that they included an award for the most improved student in the club.

Three of the students (Ivoren Iyuwa, Joy Anum and Benjamin Yusuf) at a science fair in Lagos in May

Ivoren Iyuwa, Joy Anum
and Benjamin Yusuf

Ivoren Iyuwa, Joy Anum and Benjamin Yusuf

Despite the late start, the whole ceremony was over by about 3:00.  What struck me most was the informality on display – in some ways (such as the dance in of the graduands) this was quite refreshing.  However the down-side was that at no stage of proceedings (neither for the speeches nor for the prayers) was the audience ever quiet – the whole affair took place against a background of constant chatter.  As this didn't seem to put any of the speakers off, I assume it is normal for Nigeria.