The Abeokuta Grammar School was formally inaugurated on 16th July, 1908 as a result of a decision taken to that effect at a meeting of the Abeokuta District (Church) Council held on 23rd April, 1908.
Before this date, the urge had been great among Egba citizens to have a Secondary School of their own to reduce the inconvenience experienced by them in having to send their children and wards to Secondary Schools in Lagos. As a result, some attempts were made before 1908 to solve this problem. In 1849, the Church Missionary Society (CMS) founded a Training Institution at Igbein. This was later moved to Lagos in 1862 and, finally, in 1895, to Oyo to become the CMS Institution that grew into the St. Andrew’s College, Oyo. Later, in 1906, the Late Mr. J. Ariyo Sorinolu founded the John Sorinolu Memorial Grammar School at Iporo Ake, Abeokuta. Among the students who attended that school during its brief existence were the Late Chief I. A. Sodipo, Chief Adegunle Soetan, (then E. A. Kasumu), Chief Isaac Ogun, Messrs. Obadiah Ariyibi, Ben Ogun and Dan Ogun. The Abeokuta Grammar School proved the most successful and the most enduring of these attempts and when it came into being in 1908, many of the students of the John Sorinolu Memorial Grammar School left to enrol in the new School. That spelt the end of this 1906 experiment.
The Abeokuta Grammar School started life as the Abeokuta District (Church) Council Grammar School in two large stores at Ita Agbadu (ljemo Agbadu) hired at £1.0.0d (N2.00) a month. A K. Ajisafe in his “History of Abeokuta” (Chapter 72) further enlightened us when he wrote: “There being no building as yet, the showroom of Mr. John Macauley was obtained (on hire) ….” The boarders lived in Barrister Olaseni Moore’s compound at ljemo for which the school paid a rent of £4.0.0d (N8.00) a month. Forty-four (44) boys were enrolled as foundation students. It is interesting to note that there are, at present, 4,731 students on roll of the school, made up of Junior School males 1,257, females 952 and Senior School males 1,401 and females 1,127.
In December, 1908 the Executive Committee of the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.) consented to the use of the old site of the C.M.S. Institution at Igbein by the new Grammar School and Mr. Horace J. Barwick, Principal of the Abeokuta Industrial Institute (i.e. Blaize Memorial Institute), Ibara was commissioned to prepare the architectural plan of the school building which became an important landmark in the town even to this day.
The Foundation stone of the imposing building was laid on 21st December, 1910 by the Governor of Southern Nigeria, Sir Walter Egerton KCMG and the then Alake, Oba Gbadebo l, carried the first stone used for the laying of the foundation. The new building, even though un-completed then, was first used in 1911 for the distribution of prizes and on 29th July 1912, after the holidays, School began to be held there.’
The Founding Fathers of the school were church men of the Anglican denomination. Inspite of this, they did not discriminate as regards the type of students that should attend the school or the personnel that should work there. The doors of the school were thrown open. As a result, students attended the school from all corners of Nigeria and from all countries along the West Coast of Africa. Over the years, students have also attended the school from South Africa, Europe and Asia. So also have teachers come from all corners of the globe. A cursory look at the commemorative stone on the Main Building at the (old) site at lgbein will show that Egba citizens of various religious persuasions took part in the Foundation laying ceremony.
The Founding Fathers believed strongly in the training of both the mind and the body. It was their view that education should equip a student with those qualities that would make him useful to his community, his country and the world, his home and himself also. An educated person should be able to use his brain and his hands effectively. Most importantly, character training is to be rated far above mere academic pursuit because these Founding Fathers believed that no meaningful success could be achieved in life without good character and good discipline.
As a result, the life of the school rests squarely on a bedrock of discipline. The students are taught to live by the motto of the school- “Iberu Oluwa ni ipile Ogbon” (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom)”. A few moral sayings peculiar to the school are also constantly brought to the memory of the students at Assembly or at any other school gathering. Among such sayings are:
“My character is greater than my books.”
“A good name is better than silver or gold.”
“There is no shame in soiling one’s hands with honest endeavour.”
“Only the best is good enough for Abeokuta Grammar School.”
“Abeokuta Grammar School first, Abeokuta Grammar School last, Abeokuta Grammar School all the time.”
In addition, the students are taught to relish hard work, to be honest, tidy, and truthful always and to remember that they are ambassadors of their school and their homes anywhere they may be.
Abeokuta Grammar School has never been headed by a non-Nigerian. It is to the credit of those who have guided the fortunes of the school that they have succeeded, over the years, in ensuring that it can hold its own among its peers anywhere in Nigeria. This credit should be shared by the Proprietors and a generation of Principals, Staff, and members of the Body of Governors.
The first Government inspection of the school took place from 4th to 8th February, 1918 as a result of which the school was placed on the “Assisted List” and, with the aid of the Government grant now forth-coming, ‘there came an additional means of making improvements to the fabric of the building and the furniture of the school.
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