Friday 16 October 2020

NAPPS WAS NOT FOUNDED WITH THE SPIRIT OF DISCRIMINATION

 By M. O, Shutti-Jimoh

THE National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) may have originated from Alimosho Local Government in Lagos. While anyone may have cause to contradict or question this reasoning, it is what the findings of Project Alimosho Heritage (PAH) point to as fact.

            Once in a thesis entitled Living Vision of the Light Bearers published on this page; it captured an aspect of the origin of education in the writing of the History of Alimosho as the purpose of PAH. According to the writer, the PAH Team, while on its mission, marveled at the living visions of “The Light Bearers” – a term it literally applied in documentation of its report to mean those who brazed all odds to bring education to expose the sleepy ancient setting of Alimosho to the light of civilization.

The marvelous factor that fascinates the team was the envious growing of their visions in passionate manner that bespeaks the resolute renewal of their mission to re-invent and restore the past glory and values of education in that sub-city corridor of Lagos. Thence the writer added that 2018 seemed to be the onset year for the restoration, as they all began to showcase developmental infrastructure aimed at consistency with the demands of Lagos State’s Quality Education Assurance (QEA) factors.

            One of the “Light bearers” featured in the thesis was the founder of Aunty May School in Idimu. She was said to have returned from decades of sojourn abroad to renew her passion. She purportedly showed this in a language that meant she was no longer content with just a block of about six classrooms and an office. “She impressively opened the past 2019/2020 Academic Session with a new block of L-shape two-storey building of many more classrooms without compromising the need for adequate space for recreational activity”. Curiously, this came at a time when report gathered by the PAH team indicated that many have concluded on the school as just passing through a phase of winding up, given particularly the earlier eventual death of its secondary school – Aunty May College at the Alake Area.

However, to the PAH Team; the return of “Mama Aunty May”, as she’s fondly called in the educational parlance, was the Eureka for the bundle of knowledge and testimonial authority it had long sought for writing an uncontroversial history of private school education in Alimosho. And consequent upon that, a part of the history the Team gathered from her in theme was the spirit of solidarity amongst the private school owners in Alimosho in the late 90s of the 20th century. And in the opinion of the Team, that spirit may be valid to pass for the existentiality theory that gave birth to NAPPS.

Last week thereabout, NAPPS celebrated its yearly Day. With my privileged access to what Mama Aunty May gave for the origin of the Association, I strongly feel the best speech that should worth a presentation for such NAAPS Day is the need to re-invent that spirit of togetherness with which the founders of the Association proclaimed it to existence. This is why I found it worthwhile to present the relevant excerpt of her interview with the PAH as a vital message to all NAPPS members and other private school proprietors. Enjoy the interactions! 

From the understanding of your origin, you were about the first school here in this Idimu axis, how did you manage your early rivalry as new schools began to emerge in competition with you?

            It could be interesting to narrate this experience and it will lead us to how the formation of Association of Private School Proprietors (APPS) became imperative and helpful in making private schools became organised at the time.

            There was this particular school that was about to start, I won't mention names. He just came to stand in front of my school to mobilise for students and teachers. He was giving fliers to teachers and parents, telling them: 'come to my school'. I stood there by the gate looking at him. Everybody was taking flier as I was looking. Then he said to me: 'you, you, won't you take fliers or don't you want better salary?' I just laughed because he didn't know I was the Aunty May. I think he had done his survey to know the salary I offered and he raised his own salary for his prospective teachers by N10. That to him was his strength of poaching enticement he thought he could use against me. Although none of my teachers went there but some of my pupils went there because he came to start in a big way.

            But as time went bye, he got to know I was the Aunty May and there was no doubt that he was ashamed of himself for what he did. But what would have made him regretted was that when he was settling down, he realised it didn't worth all he was doing; all the madness he did. As I talk to you now the school is no longer in existence. That was 1988 and I think he closed down more than five years ago.

            So, how did NAPPS come about?

            I happened to be among those people that started what we once called APPS -- Association of Proprietors of Private Schools – that later metamorphosed to NAPPS just to identify it by its national status – National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools. I have been part of it from 1992. There was a school, Sholly Preparatory School – the founder is late now, and one Josemaria School; the three of us were at the inaugural meeting of the proposed association.  As such, we became the contact persons for our respective localities. Mine was Idimu. So I went to Tadey, I went to Racy & Sturdy and I went to Foundation Schools to sell the idea of APPS to them because we want all school to be member.

            Before APPS, actually, those of running schools in Idimu, we were having informal meetings here in my school because we had become many – Intelligent School, Johan School; there was also one Muslim mail school, Al-Shabab if I'm correct. We've been having our gathering here and with the arrival of APPS, I told them to let us key-in to that so that we would not be running a separate body from that and I think about 90 per cent of us agreed to that.

            Let us emphasise our own area of interest in all of this and that is getting it from where the idea of association of private schools evolved. By that, we would be able to establish the motive and sentiments behind it. That is to say, good, it started as APPS. The APPS itself, how was it initiated? Where did the initiative come from?

            That day we were at Alaguntan Government Primary School, the Supervisory Councilor for Education in that old Alimosho Local Government, one Mr. Egbeola, invited all private schools to an event at that Alagutan public school. While the Councilor was talking to us, the late Mama Anifowoshe of Niger Preage and Mrs. Deregos of St. Benedict sent a note to all private schools proprietors that we should stay behind after the Council officials have finished with us. It was that post-event gathering that proposed the idea of meeting under the name of Association of Proprietors of Private Schools. That was the origin of APPS.

            The meeting venues were however rotated between St. Benedict School, Niger Preage School and Palmville School, all at Gowon Estate area in Egbeda. All of us from Iyana-Ipaja to Ijegun – that is talking about Mama Aunty-Yemi School there; all of us will gather for the meeting and it was always such a large gathering whenever we had meetings.

            Thereafter, APPS was broken into zones: Zone 1 was Ayobo upward North of Alimosho, Zone 2 covered from Egbeda, Shasha, Bameke, and all that. We were Zone 3 from Idimu Southward Alimosho. That structure remains to date as NAPPS structure too. The only modification to this structure after becoming NAPPS was the introduction of ‘Chapter’ as the state level.

Looking at all these schools you mentioned as founding members, they were
elite schools if we would be fair to ourselves. But you and others from here were the locals; were there not elements of discrimination you could perceive in the course of your relationships?

            For me if I said I saw any discrimination, I would be lying. These prime schools you are talking about, I still quoted what used to be their words at the last Chapter meeting we had on the 16th of September. What were there words, as they would always ask then at that early time: 'What is holding you back?' Why are you afraid? If you go to Alausa and you have problems, come and meet people like us!’

            To test them on their words, I went to Alausa and I had some difficulties about my approval processes. I came back to tell them at the next meeting. They just said: 'Mama (that was proprietor of Palmville Schools), look after Aunty May's problem'. Then I went to meet her after the meeting and she asked: 'What do you need? I said I was in a rented property but the Ministry was requesting for my building approval before I could get approval. She got my name and address and said I should go.

            The next I would later see was somebody from Alausa. He said I should come and submit my form, which I quickly did. After that, my approval process began to move. Before you know it and with God's help, my approval was soon ready. Such was the power of association for you! So as you could see, I did not suffer any discrimination, rather I benefitted profitably from them.

            I could recollect another of such values of the association with the open minds of these elite schools. When we were doing National Common Entrance, there was a time I needed some documents, which I didn't have. I sent one of my teachers to St Benedict. The report I got was how the Mama quickly got went to her archives to search for the original, went to do the photocopy and sent it to me. Those were things we enjoyed from being in the same association.

When she was going to have her 20th Founders Day, I bought a set of My Book of Bible Stories as the gift for her. She drove here to thank me especially for that because she said she had been searching for the book for a long time but could not get. So while others may have a different experience with them in membership of the NAPPS; for me, I did not suffer any form of discrimination.

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