University of Ibadan Staff School (80s-90s IBADAN)
I moved to the University of Ibadan Staff School sometime in Primary 3 (Third Grade). Staff School was different from what I was used to. All the classes were laid out with no storey buildings, unlike my previous school. The cars drove into the school, turned in the roundabout and then dropped you off on the rocks. The rocks were both a drop-off point and a play zone. Kids would play around the rocks during recess and after school while waiting to be picked up. The assembly hall was where we had morning assembly before being dismissed to our classes. While the assembly hall was used for school during the week, it served as the Sunday school (children’s department) location for the University Chapel.
Changing to Staff School meant that I was now able to see Uche at least six days a week. Uche had his circle of friends in the school before I showed up, so I didn’t exactly get a warm welcome from him. For a while, it seemed that our friendship was built for Sundays and not for daily contact. However, I was welcomed to the school by Kunle and Bola, who were a few sets ahead of me and Olisa (Uche’s younger brother). The school’s library provided books that we devoured. The library brought us into the world of Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven and the Famous Five. As time went on, we exchanged our realities for those that were pictured in those books. We started to reclassify bushes as hedges and grass as flowers. It took a while to reorient my mind to the mystery books I was reading so I spent most of my time asking my father if he knew about the Famous Five and the dog named Timmy while he studied in the U.S
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The Vet department offices were in the wooden blocks beside Staff school, so it was not uncommon to run into the Durojaiye or Ojeh dads when we ran around after school. There were times when I got picked up late on Fridays. The driver often knew where to find me. I loved the Friday late pickups because it gave me 2 options – Ride with the Durojaiyes or with the Ojehs. I looked forward to riding with the Durojaiyes because their mum made sugar-roasted peanuts. You only had to do a few minutes of digging underneath the car seats before you ran into a stray packet of these peanuts. There was nothing more fascinating to me than Sugar Peanuts. I did not know the coating and roasting of nuts with honey in those days. All I believed then was that the Durojaiyes had a tree behind their house that grew sugar peanuts.
Even though the Ojehs didn’t have as much space in their red Volvo, it looked a lot cooler than the standard Peugeot cars that were issued by the Government. The Ojehs initially stayed in the blocks at Parry Road. After a while, they moved. The journey from Staff school would take you past the Anatomy Department and then the Staff Club as you joined Amina Way. The journey on Amina Way progressed till you got near the Catholic church on Emotan Lane.
A right turn led you past the Catholic church, the roundabout, and the University Mosque to Benue Road. You would make a left turn at Benue road till you hit Sankore. Once you got on Sankore, you kept counting the turns on the left till you got to the one before the Polytechnic gate.
The street was called Kurunmi.
