For the women of Itolo Girls’ Secondary School, Lagos, the 45th anniversary of their alma mater was more than a celebration.

It was a journey back in time – a reunion with old friends, teachers and memories that had remained alive decades after they left the school.

The anniversary also provided an opportunity for members of the 1986 graduating set to mark 40 years since they left the classroom and embarked on different paths in life.
 
The gathering, which brought together former students from different generations, was filled with nostalgia, laughter and reflections on the enduring bond forged within the walls of the school.
 
President of the Itolo Girls’ Secondary School (IGSS) Alumni Association, Princess Olukemi Egbeyode, described the occasion as a remarkable milestone and expressed gratitude to God for making it possible.
 
“First, I want to sincerely appreciate God Almighty for His grace, mercy, protection and faithfulness. Without God, we would not be here today,” she said.
 
“45 years no be joke. The fact that we are gathered here in good health, in unity and with renewed strength is something we must never take for granted.”
 
Egbeyode also praised members of the association, the executives and the planning committee for their commitment to the celebration, with particular appreciation to the chairperson of the planning committee, Dr Olabisi Adekoya.
 
Looking around at the gathering, she said the different generations had one thing in common.

“Different sets, different ages, different experiences, different journeys — but connected by one thing: we are Itolo Girls! Itolo Babes!”
 
For Adekoya, chairperson of the 45th Anniversary and 40th Reunion Celebration, the occasion was a moment of gratitude and an opportunity to celebrate the journey of the school and its former students.
 
She thanked members of the planning committee for their commitment and Egbeyode for entrusting her with the responsibility of coordinating the celebration.
 
Adekoya paid special tribute to the 1986 set, who had returned to their alma mater four decades after graduation.

“Today, I congratulate us all, especially the remarkable 1986 set, celebrating 40 years since graduation. You walked the talk. You came back home. And what a journey it has been!” she said.
 
She noted that over the past 45 years, Itolo Girls Secondary School, also known as Government Girls College, School 3, had nurtured dreams, built friendships and produced generations of women who had made their mark in their families, professions, communities and the nation.
 
According to her, the alumni’s responsibility was to ensure that the benefits they received from the school were passed on to younger generations.

“Our responsibility is to pay forward the gift we received: to educate, mentor, open doors, create opportunities and lift others forward,” she said.
 
“Our legacy will be measured not only by what we achieved, but by the lives we helped make possible.”
 
For some of the pioneer students, the anniversary was an emotional reminder of how far they had travelled since the school opened its doors.
 
Mrs Adeola Olabode, a member of the 1981 set, recalled being among the first students admitted when the school began operations.
 
“We were the ones that started the school,” she said. We were all posted from the same primary school.

Although we had attended a mixed primary school, the boys were posted to Government College, Eric Moore, while we started Itolo Girls.”
 
She recalled that the school was initially known as Government College, School 3, before its name was changed.
 
According to Olabode, the decision to hold the anniversary celebration in September was deliberate because the school began in September 1981.
 
“We started in September 1981 and passed out in May/June 1986. Today is remarkable because we are celebrating 45 years of the school and 40 years of the 1986 set’s reunion,” she said.
 
The significance of the celebration also resonated with the National Museum in Lagos.
 
The Managing Curator of the museum, Nkechi Adedeji, said the anniversary’s theme aligned with the museum’s responsibility to preserve and celebrate history.
 
“This event and the theme resonate with what we do in the museum. We honour the past, the present and the future,” she said.
 
She praised the former students for coming together to celebrate their shared history and honour the journey they had made since leaving school.
 
The reunion also brought back memories for former teachers, including Engineer Ismail Babatunde, who taught Physics at the school in 1984 and 1985.
 
Babatunde, who began teaching after his youth service, said he initially spent two years teaching Physics before leaving the profession to pursue a career in construction.
 
But his experience at Itolo Girls left a lasting impression.
 
He recalled discovering that some of his Physics students struggled with Mathematics, prompting him to introduce additional Mathematics lessons.
 
“I was supposed to be taking them only in Physics, but I found out that their Mathematics was very weak. So I introduced Mathematics classes for my Physics students,” he recalled.
 
Eventually, his intervention expanded beyond the Physics students.

“My principal said that if Physics students were weak in Mathematics, it meant that the students were generally weak in Mathematics. So I started teaching everybody.”
 
Four decades after some of the students left the school, their return has shown that the friendships, lessons and memories formed at Itolo Girls have survived the passage of time.
 
For the Itolo Babes, the anniversary was therefore not simply about counting years. It was about remembering where they came from, celebrating how far they had come and renewing their commitment to the school and the generations still to come.