The Old Students Association of Baptist Academy (BAOSA), Obanikoro, Lagos, have reiterated their commitment to educational development of their alma mater.
The old students comprising ’86 and ’89 sets made the commitment during the association’s reunion party held at the school premises on Sunday.
Reminiscing on their studentship of the academy, President of BAOSA, Michael Asuelime said students of the Academy were the best in academics and sports.
He said, “We are a mission school. The Baptist Academy is the second oldest secondary school in Nigeria founded in 1855. The Missionary named Baptist Academy so they called us Lagos Baptist Academy.
“Back then, in Baptist Academy, we were the best in Nigeria when it came to WAEC results. At the same time, when it comes to sports, some of the Super Eagles players, The Green Eagles then were from Baptist Academy.
“When you talk about Sports and Academics, we are the best. We are all-rounders. We understand disciplines and best conducts. We were like a military school but we were not military, we were a mission school. I am proud to be a student of this great institution of learning. So we are here to have fun and reunite. We are here to celebrate life.”
Former president of BAOSA, Deji Popoola of the 1988 set said the essence of the reunion is to reintegrate and celebrate life.
He said, “About eight years ago, we decided that the ’86 and ’87 sets and ’88 and ’89 sets come together to form a body. The whole essence of which is for us to be able to integrate and do things together.
“What this does is that it is an opportunity to celebrate life. For the six years that I was the president, we have a whole lot of our friends and brothers that we have not seen for seven years. There are a whole lot of us that we left school 35 years ago and it is an opportunity to remember and felicitate.
“There are a lot of things we did in school back then like playing table tennis, football and all. These memories came back to life. The whole essence of reunion is to celebrate life and not about who is rich or poor.
“Our slogan is one for all and all for one therefore in our association there is no rich, there is no poor. There are no men among us, we are all boys and that is why we don’t address ourselves as Mr, Chief or titles.
“We addressed ourselves by your surname or nickname in school back then to make you comfortable. So that is what this is all about. In life, fingers are not equal so nobody except everybody to be equal. In BAOSA, we do it to empower a lot of people.
“We have done a lot of financial empowerment. We have been able to assist those among us that have health challenges. So this is actually what the association is about.”
A member of BAOSA, UK, Olasiji George, expressed his pleasure while describing the event as a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with old school mates after over 35 years.
He said, “The reunion is such a fantastic opportunity to come and meet people we have seen for such a long time. It has been over 35 years that I have seen some of my old classmates.
“It just a fantastic opportunity and I am glad I am here to witness it. It brings up the comradeship some people don’t have.
“We have been helpful to ourselves and also beneficial to the school. We have done a few projects including decoration of the school hall, refurbishing the classrooms and also organised awards for best students in each of the subjects.”
Speaking on the significance of old students to the development of education, Jumbo Nze of the class of ’85 said, “As old students, the school has made us and we thought of what we can do to give back to the school. We picked up projects and do as much as we could.
“The old students cannot do what the government should do but because we are passionate about the school that made us, so it is easier for us to come together to do certain projects for the school.”
Another old student, Hon Olasunkanmi Ismail Lanleyin, stated that BAOSA pinned a project annually to be delivered to the school.
He added, “We started the reunion five years ago. Annually we earmark a project to celebrate with the school. This year our plan is to construct befitting toilets in each of the hostels but the school wanted notebooks for the use of the students.
“So we have shifted the construction of the toilets to the first quarter of the year 2024.
“But the exercise books have been delivered to the school. It is great coming together. We exchange ideas and assist each other. We have been empowering our members. We do collaborative entrepreneurship as well.”
. TheWitness
