Nov 29, 2011 – Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Tuesday returned to his alma mater, Birch Freeman High School, Surulere to hand over a new block of 21 classrooms, acknowledging that his character was formed at the school. The Governor who spoke at the School premises in Akobi Crescent, Surulere before a gathering which included Old boys and present students, said,

“This was where I was made. My character was formed here. I learnt leadership and punctuality here as a school prefect”. Governor Fashola recalled with nostalgia that in the course of his schooling years at Birch Freeman High School, he met a lot of good people and made lifelong friends many of whom he still keeps today.

“I was also privileged to have met great teachers; humanists, who were absolutely committed to the development of young people and enriching the human capital of this country. “The school blocks and buildings were largely made of concrete foundation and wooden walls except the dining hall, the Principal’s block which contained the science laboratories and the new block behind it that later became the seniors block”, the Governor recalled.

The Lagos State Governor however stated that nothing could prepare him for what he met, when he visited the site of his alma mater sometime in 2007 after assuming office as the Governor. “Not only had the classroom blocks made of wood walls disappeared, the dining room, the Principal’s block and the Seniors Block were shadows of themselves. My treasured memories were shattered. A shocking and painful reality had supplanted it”. “It seemed that everything that I could point to as references of who I was had evaporated.

All of it almost, except for one thing, the Old Boys. Some were my classmates, some my juniors and some my seniors”. He said even in that broken environment, the presence of the Old Boys was a huge comfort because there was stil a past made by boys who had become men, who refused to surrender their dream.

Governor Fashola stated that, the credit for the new building should go to them because they kept hope alive and lived the motto of the school, “they were trained for duty and for God. And in serving God they promote the fortunes of the present generation so that we can achieve the torch passing moment of today”. “So it comes to be that with the inspiration of dedicated Old Boys and a concertion of efforts, Government is driven to act in areas of compelling need such as infrastructure”.