Man O War

Memories are a strange thing. More often than not they lie dormant...Not forgotten, they are simply biding their time until some unwitting catalyst comes along and open those floodgates. After that there is no denying the onslaught, the rush of sensations so acute you can almost taste feel and smell them. This was exactly what I experienced when I read Jasmine's post on her recent trip to Shere Hills, Jos.

It brought back memories of 1995, the year of my trip to Shere Hills. I went to Secondary school at Adesoye College in Offa, Nigeria. It was definitely a pioneering institution, the founder Chief Adesoye called it "an experiment in excellence" and the dramatic results of his experiment can be seen all over Nigeria today. Chief Adesoye along with the first school Principal, Miss Ruth E Howard crafted a model for secondary education that is now ardently followed and improved upon continually all over Nigeria. They put a private boarding school in an extremely remote location, far away from all things cosmopolitan on extremely enormous grounds and gave us a natural setting in which to develop and grow as organically as possible. Pampered children had to learn how to be self- sufficient, but we never actually suffered. Among other things we were not allowed to go home during the school term and we only had a few Sundays on which our family was allowed to visit. We were not allowed to watch television, although there were chosen movie nights, and sometimes access to international news. But I digress, the point is that as part of their radical plan to shape us into leaders of tomorrow, they instituted a mandatory trip to the Man O War Bay at Shere Hills for orientation training.

The Man O War bay is a citizenship and leadership training centre often used by the military and NYSC . It became a ritual of passage in Adesoye College, students at the end of their fifth year went there for two weeks. The theory was that by the time you came back you would be more than ready to lead the school in your sixth year. The changes that the programme wrought on students were nothing short of incredible, and lifetime bonds were born in that place. That was where I became the person that I am today. Prior to going there, my self-consciousness knew no bounds, but there is nothing like sleeping in an abandoned school building on the floor with every other member of your set to relieve you of all inhibitions.

From mountain climbing to abseiling to rafting we were challenged physically and mentally in ways that I never realised was possible. We were split into teams for the duration of our stay with mixing along ethnic and religious lines and given numerous activities, including staging news programmes and embarking on "the plateau scheme". The "plateau scheme" was supposed to embody everything we learned while we were there and it was basically a scavenger hunt. We went of in our groups with maps, a compass and a cutlass and had to find certain markers and make it to the designated point by the end of the day. The first group to get there won the challenge and if any member of your team was left behind then you were disqualified.

As a Lagosian, this experience changed me for life, and the bonds of friendship with my classmates became bonds of kinship. They became my family, and still are today...all in two weeks. Jos is a magical place, and I am fortunate to have had that experience, so I am extremely grateful to Jasmine for rekindling those fondest of memories.