I enrolled in Aggrey Memorial from 2001 – 2004 where I pursued
General Science. I wasn’t particularly happy when I gained admission as it wasn’t
my first choice (Adisadel College was my first choice) and became sadder still
as I realized that the situation was same with many of my classmates. It dawned
on me that Aggrey wasn’t a school of choice. But now with the benefit of
hindsight, I’m pleased that I attended the school. I will briefly attempt to elucidate
why.
Firstly, there was
this inexplicable pang of fear that struck me upon seeing Casford House atop
the hill when approaching the school. I have been trying to make sense of it
but thus far, it appears to me there are two possible reasons. The first being that
one was hit with the crude realization that one was going to face those dreaded
seniors again. During those days, the seniors were so big and fearsome that I perceived
even some of the teachers feared them (how much less us puny form one boys). One
had to contend with such dreaded seniors as Okwonkwo, Pinky, Anyaa Popo,
Bashiru, Sakyi and their ilk but gradually, I realized the easiest way to
appease these seniors was through paying ntuahoo
1. The second possible reason was school
authority. Though students generally respected the staff, there was one
particular man that I perceived every single student from form one to three
feared the most. We nicknamed him Pire
(pronounced pa-yaa, a truncation of the word Vampire). I immediately understood
why he was named such. He had two of this front teeth sticking out like the
vampire characters in movies. Though I never personally witness this man punish
any student, the mere mention of his name warrants a buee2. Whenever
he attended assembly, students (even the seniors) could be seen running
helter-skelter just to avoid an encounter with him. He still remains an enigma
to me till this day wherever he is.
Secondly, dining was an integral part of my days especially
when I was in form one as I often spent a chunk of my spending money paying ntuahoo. We had a reasonable array of meals to choose
from but there was one particular meal that featured prominently in the menu. We
called it moftoto. This meal though
deeply satisfying was particularly notorious for inducing acute flatulence. On
nights that this meal was served, I never enjoyed prep as i’ll be too
uncomfortable to study (due to gas buildup in my stomach) and also because I have
to keep holding my breath due to obnoxious gas emissions from other students
suffering the same fate or worse. One remarkable thing I observed during my
years in Aggrey was that the girls never attended breakfast. This was truly
impressive as the girls demonstrated they had ‘flex’ (I believe the word swag is its modern equivalent) but I later
found out the girls usually ate heavy gar-shit before attending class.
Thirdly, there was fun entertainment nights every Saturdays
with a variety of activities to keep me occupied. This was a time I usually
looked forward to as it was the only form of break I had from school work. On
these nights, I got to admire the girls as they dressed down to perform beautiful
dance formations to popular tunes of the day. One such dance still rings in my
mind like it happened yesterday. About four girls had don colorful shirts with
tight jeans and they were performing to a hit song then entitled “mi mgbo” (I’m
dying). This they did beautifully interspersing it with the famous Aggrey Dance3. Boy, they were
a sight to behold. Moreover, amid the merriment, I will often observe groups of
boys and girls engaged in intense dabor4
and this will often go on till entertainment session ends. The dabor
often turned even more intimate when the boys are escorting the girls to the
girls’ side and they converge at the Y-Junction (which was incidentally
nicknamed dabor junction).
So on the whole, my Aggrey days were nothing short of eventful
with a roller-coaster of emotions with alternating highs and lows. Besides the
teeming student population and the much extortion by seniors, the school also
afforded me the chance to meet people from the various strata of society thus
grooming me on how to coexist with others and also sat under the tutelage of seasoned
teachers like Kriss-Kross who immensely contributed to my success as a student.
I AM DEFINITELY A PROUD AMOSA!!!!!!!
[1]Some sort of goodwill money
(or bribe if you like) paid to avoid extortion.
[2]Alarm call made to alert students to
flee impending danger.
[3] A dance form exclusive to Aggrey
Memorial. It involves forming a K – shape with one’s leg and the swaying from
side to side to the rhythm of a song.
[4] Basically describes a conversation between
a male and female student
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