Fourah Bay College — Attraction in Western Area

Today, I got connected with Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, Bishop Alex Akinyele, Sam Mbakwe, Kenneth Dike and others.

I made a post about 48 hours ago, on " No free lunch, even in Freetown", one of my sisters at Olorunsogo back in the days, saw that post, we ended up chatting on it, long story short, I realized that one of my Kid sisters, Kehinde is also resident here. She sent me her number. I called her almost immediately, Kehinde's accent has not changed a bit, her diluted Yoruba inflection might undoubtedly be there till eternity. While having lunch at the Parliament building with Kenny, out of the blues she mentioned @Fourah Bay College, -University of Sierra Leone she told me, that was where Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther graduated from, coincidentally she also graduated from the same university. I checked on the map, it was just about few kilometers away from the parliament's building. .....Fourah Bay University, here I come....

I made further research on my own, the college was established on the 18th of February 1827, upgraded to a university in 1876. It was the first university in sub-Saharan Africa, until the 2nd world war, FBC offered the alternative to European and American education.When Alexander Babatunde Akinyele graduated from Fourah Bay College in 1912, he became the first Ibadan indigene to obtain a university degree. Akinyele oversaw the establishment of Ibadan’s first secondary school and became its first Principal in 1913. Akinyele later became the first Nigerian Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan. Another Fourah Bay College graduate was Kenneth Dike, he became another VC at our prestigious University of Ibadan. Anytime I see UI on my CV, I am always very delighted . In 1859, Reverend Thomas Babinton Macauley from Fourah Bay College founded the CMS Grammar School in Lagos as the first secondary school in the whole of Nigeria.The CMS Grammar School produced the earliest crop of Nigeria’s political leaders and Civil Servants, including Herbert Macauley and Nnamdi Azikiwe. The university is located on top of the mountains, anyway everywhere in SL are mountains and valleys, I once thought Europe had one of the highest number of mountains in the world, " SL has completely demystified that impression. Even to locate their international airport must have been a very huge task for the early architects, they couldn't find a suitable place with the appropriate topography in the whole of Freetown. They had to settle for an island located several kilometers away. The sea coach Ferry⚓ is very elegant, convenient and breathtaking, fully air conditioned, with TV.

I spoke with a couple of young guys at the University. One of them really astounded me, he knew virtually everything about Nigeria; yet he has never stepped into Nigeria for once ......at that point I was proud to be a Nigerian, he saw me as his big brother from another part of Africa. I saw love, I saw respect. Time would not permit me to stay with this guy forever, I have got other appointments to catch up with. I moved away to take some pictures, right there, Bishop Samuel Ajayi crowther, Bishop Akinyele, Sam Mbakwe and others came down, I could hear them discussing about Nigeria, the issues and the solutions. Maybe, maybe not, but I guess I actually went into a trance.

(C)Oladipo Akinremi 9th...

FOURAH Bay College boasts of a Rich heritage as it is the first college in West Africa. The university has produced many of the top African leaders including a lot of them from Nigeria especially the Krio. FOURAH Bay college is a true Primus Inter Pares among schools in Africa. Obviously, Sierra Leoneans need to urgently come together for the progress of the school. I recommend a massive fund raising Globally to help the...

I was there as a visitor from the US and my experience was great. The complex wasn't that clean but the people were very friendly, i visited the JFK building of political science, the science department those were a bit better. But the history behind the school/university is what interested me. I would recommend any visitor to visit this university but with someone who knows the story behind this famous and once...