CMS Grammar School, Lagos

CMS Grammar School, Lagos

Nisi Dominus Frustra
Without God we labor in vain
Address
St. Finbarr's College Road, Bariga
Bariga-Lagos, Lagos State
Nigeria
Coordinates 6°32′04″N 3°23′19″E / 6.534583°N 3.388638°E / 6.534583; 3.388638Coordinates: 6°32′04″N 3°23′19″E / 6.534583°N 3.388638°E / 6.534583; 3.388638
Information
School type Secondary
Established 6 June 1859 (1859-06-06)
Principal Tunde Oduwole

The CMS Grammar School in Bariga, a suburb of Lagos in Lagos State, is the oldest secondary school in Nigeria, founded on 6 June 1859 by the Church Missionary Society. For decades it was the main source of African clergymen and administrators in the Lagos Colony.[1]

Foundation

The seed funding for CMS Grammar School, Lagos was made possible by James Pinson Labulo Davies who in April 1859 provided Babington Macaulay with £50 (equivalent of ₦1.34 million as of 2014) to buy books and equipment for the school. With the seed funding Macaulay opened CMS Grammar School on June 6, 1859.[2] In 1867, Davies contributed another £100 (₦2.68 million as of 2014) toward a CMS Grammar School Building Fund.[3] Other contributors to the CMS Building Fund were non Saros such as Daniel Conrad Taiwo AKA Taiwo Olowo who contributed £50. Saro contributors also included men such as Moses Johnson, I.H. Willoughby, T.F. Cole, James George, and Charles Foresythe who contributed £40.[4] The CMS Grammar School in Freetown, founded in 1848, served as a model.

The school began with six students, all boarders in a small, single story building called the 'Cotton House' at Broad Street. The first pupils were destined to be clergymen.[1] The curriculum included English, Logic, Greek, Arithmetic, Geometry, Geography, History, Bible Knowledge and Latin.[5] The first principal of the school was the scholar and theologian Babington Macaulay, who served until his death in 1878.[6] He was the father of Herbert Macaulay.[7] When the British colony of Lagos was established in 1861, the colonial authorities obtained most of their African clerical and administrative staff from the school.[1]

Principals

  • Babington Macaulay, 1859–1878.
  • Henry Johnson, 1879 - 1881 (acting).
  • Isaac Oluwole, 1881–1893.
  • James Johnson, 1893-1894 (acting).
  • E. A. Godson, 1894-1895.
  • Melville Jones 1895–1896 (acting)
  • Joseph Suberu Fanimokun, 1896-1914.
  • E. J. Evans, 1915-1927.
  • A. Hobson, 1927-1929.
  • F. Watherton 1929–1932.
  • J. Olumide Lucas, 1932-1935 (acting).
  • C. G. Thorne, 1935-1936.
  • Solomon Odunaiya Odutola, 1936-1938. (acting)
  • Leonard John Lewis, 1938-1943.
  • Seth Irunsewe Kale, 1944–1950.
  • B. A. Adelaja, 1950–1970.
  • T. A. Ojo, 1970-1972, (acting).
  • I. A. Olowu 1972-1984.
  • B. A. Nigwo, 1984-1986.
  • J. B. A. Edema, 1986-1997.
  • Taiwo O. Jemilugba, 1997–2001.
  • Johnson Onayinka, 2001–2005.
  • Tunde Oduwole, 2005-present.

Alumni

Some notable alumni:

References

  1. 1 2 3 "School History". Old Grammarians Society. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
  2. ↑ Elebute, Adeyemo. The Life of James Pinson Labulo Davies: A Colossus of Victorian Lagos. Kachifo Limited/Prestige. p. 190. ISBN 9789785205763.
  3. ↑ Herskovits Kopytoff, Jean. A preface to modern Nigeria: the "Sierra Leonians" in Yoruba, 1830-1890. University of Wisconsin Press, 1965. p. 244.
  4. ↑ Herskovits Kopytoff, Jean. A preface to modern Nigeria: the "Sierra Leonians" in Yoruba, 1830-1890. University of Wisconsin Press, 1965. p. 365 note 87.
  5. ↑ Ambassador Dapo Fafowora (June 4, 2009). "150 years of the CMS Grammar School, Lagos". The Nation (Nigeria). Retrieved May 21, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Macaulay, Thomas Babington 1826 to 1878 Anglican Nigeria". Dictionary of African Christian Biography. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Brief History of CMS Grammar School". CMS Grammar School. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
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