Calabar: A school and its many dates

1894, 1904… Once you step onto the grounds of the school, you soon notice that dates are very important here.1895, the date of the schools establishment, announces itself at the gates. History is in the air. The architecture of buildings also quickly confirm this. You are transported to the 19th/early 20th century as you walk  […]

1894, 1904…
Once you step onto the grounds of the school, you soon notice that dates are very important here.1895, the date of the schools establishment, announces itself at the gates. History is in the air. The architecture of buildings also quickly confirm this. You are transported to the 19th/early 20th century as you walk  along  a tarred road. By  the side of the road is a  pavement, which  you make use of if a car is  being driven in your direction. The land rises  towards the old chapel a little distance away. Then you spot a building with the date A.D 1894 stamped on it.Another equally grand  building, which lies close by, takes us forward to 1959. Thus the visitor goes back and forth in time as he strolls through Hope Waddell, with Mr. Edet Inyang,  principal of the institution, as an able guide whose knowledge of the school’s  past is encyclopaedic. Moving between different periods in time as you go deeper into the school, is a beautiful experience, which is almost like part of  a very good film, with the usual twists and turns of the narrative. Most of the buildings are made of stone. Soon another date, A.D 1903, presents itself on another very old building. Just  by it is another building boldly announcing A.D 1904. People can visit this school to get a sense of history, and to appreciate 19th century Scottish architectural forms rooted in the use of stone. Most of the buildings, especially the very old ones, have their  dates of construction stamped on them.

The field in the school is the place where football was first played on the continent, and this was on 15th June 1904. But the game had been introduced to the school in 1902. Cricket was also played on the same field on June 13, 1904. Thus there is an association with a date or dates wherever you turn in the school,and  many dates easily roll off the principal’s tongue as he opens up on aspects of the school’s history.
Just before Christmas the old students gather for the annual city walk, at the end of which they sit in a semi circle, according to their years  of graduation. It is an impressive sight. There is a bust of Hope Waddell within the school compound, which also has his date  of birth (1804)as well as the date of his passing(1895). Dates truly mean a lot here, but the dates are not forced on you. They are present  but not in a proud, gloating fashion. There is art   and above all, beauty, in the presentation of dates .If one combines this with the lofty architectural forms that dot the school, then it is easy to imagine that an environment  can inspire the spirit to aim for the highest and the best. The founders of the school got so many things right at the beginning.
Log Book
One fact that underlines the importance of dates  to the school is the use of a log book by successive Principals of the institution, in a tradition which stretches down  to the present. Dates are so key to the tradition of the Log Book.  The use of a Log Book  calls for a lot of discipline and attention to detail, for there were no photocopiers or recorders in those days.

Central to the use of the book was the  special accuracy in terms of dates. E.U. Aye writing in the Hope Waddell  Training Institution (1894-1978) states on page 2  “The Log Book entry for June 18, 1894 indicates that  one Tom Davis was admitted  as first carpenter apprentice. Willie Cruickshank and Udo Akang, both from Ikorofiong and Eyo Eyo Ita from Creek Town, were later in the month admitted as engineer apprentices.”

Every single transaction, event, parade or disciplinary action was  faithfully recorded and dated by the respective principals,and it functions like a diary of the growth and development of the school at various times. Again E.U Aye writes “Reverend Thomson records on Tuesday, 11th February, 1896, that he bought a canoe from one A. Duke for ‘480 rods’. Then the Log Book Entry for November 1, 1899, reads ‘Calabar committee sat from 9 a.m to 9 p.m. and resolved to make Dr Peter Rattray nominal head of the institute and the staff agrees to work loyally with him.”
The interesting fact here is that a meeting lasted for 12 hours, in a school in Calabar in the 19th century. When a new principal takes over at the school, the log book usually has a little detail of the event. E.U Aye states “On July 10, 1907, Reverend James Kerr Macgregor assumed responsibility as Principal of the institution from the departing Rev. Luke. In the Log Book entry for that date, Reverend Macgregor records “Took over the keys etc from Mr Luke.”

Sir Frederick Lugard visited the institution in 1912 and wrote in the Log Book. “I am able to offer my honest congratulations to Mr Macgregor and his staff on what seems to me an admirably conducted school on right lines.” In 1927 the Principal of Achimota College, Ghana visited Hope Waddell. A.G Fraser, the Principal wrote in the Log Book  “I have greatly enjoyed seeing this very fine institution and its scholars at work. My visit was short, but I saw much to admire and nothing to criticize.” Thus the Log Book has a powerful connection with the culture of dates at Hope Waddell. There is also a register of all new students into the school. The entries are all handwritten and go back many years, with clear indications of the pupils year of admission, as well as age.

One important point must be made here with regards to the fate of the Log Books of the school during the Civil War.The acknowledgement to the institutions Register of Alumni (1894-1988) is useful and will be quoted in full here: “Among them must be mentioned, Elder Efiong Ukpong Aye, a two-term Principal of the Institution, who ensured the preservation of the Institution’s Log Books and the original Registers throughout the unsettled periods of the Nigerian Civil war, and painstakingly hand-copied  the Master Registers on which this publication is based.” There may not be many schools which present such touching dedication and   high  civilisation in terms of  the use of  and preservation of the Log Book, as seen here in the splendid  example of Elder Aye.
Linked to dates in the school, is the importance attached to statistics. For instance, the school has had a total of 21 principals. The longest serving principal was at the school for 36 years. The briefest period spent by a principal was a period of 9 months.  But 36 divided by 4 gives 9, which links the longest serving principal with the briefest. Also 3 and 6 when added  give  9. Hope Waddell provokes the mind and  fascinates with its dates and figures.