King's College, Lagos

King's College Lagos was founded on Sepgtember 20 1909 with 10 students on its Original site at Lagos Island adjacent to the Tafawa Balewa Square and was based on the English public school format of secondary school education. The first Principal of the school was a Mr. Lomax.

It was modelled on an English public school and has produced many past, present and future leaders of Nigeria. The roll call of the students who finished fromthge school is like a rundown of who's who in Nigeria. From Supreme Court Justices Governors and leaders of Industry, the list is endless. The school admits male students only but there were some female (A Level)HSC students before the establishment of Queen's College Lagos. Now the school conducts exams for the West African School-Leaving Certificate and more recently the National Examinations Council.

Currently there are four houses in the school named after former principals of the school. Hyde-Johnson's House(Red), Panes' House(Blue), Mckee-Wright's House(yellow) and Harman's House(Green). It also has eight arms per class that is from A-H. The Principal of the school is Mr. Sylvester Onoja, a seasoned educationist under whose leadership the school has been transformed into a semblance of its former glory. Due to population constraints and the increasing need of Nigerians for World-class secondary school education, the school was divided into two campuses with the senior school moving into the premises of the former Federal School for Arts and Sciences( F.S.A.S) on Adeyemo Alakija VIctoria Island. This did not mean that the school was divided as it was still under the control of one Principal and ultimately under the control of the Federal Ministry of Education. This meant that the senior classes of the school(Senior Secondary School classes 1-3) were now in the Victoria Island "Annex" as that campus came to be known. The School Uniform consists a white shirt(long-sleeved for those in the senior school and short-sleeved for those in the junior school), a school tie and/or a school badge, white trousers, black belt, socks and shoes and a blazer.The school song emphasises the importance of honour, truth, teamwork, fairplay responsibility and service.

School song

Verse 1

"Floreat Collegium" shall our motto be

Let us shout it boldly for her sons are we

Natur'd in her classrooms in our early youth

Where we learnt to cherish chivalry and truth

Learn to pull together each one with the rest

Playing up and striving each to do his bestCHORUS

This shall be our watchword, "Always play the game."

Sound the old school's praises trumpet forth her fame

Though of many nations we shall not forget

That we all are brothers with a common debt

Let us pay by giving as we forge ahead

Service to the living. Honor to our dead.'''Verse 2

This is what they teach us in the good old school

Only by obedience may you learn to rule

If you fail look closely seek the reason why

You have power to conquer if you only try

Others went before you and attained the light

Where they wait to cheer you victors in the fight(sing CHORUS)Verse 3

Present past and future form one mighty whole

Shining forth emblazoned on one muster role

When the call is sounded all must answer, "HERE!"

Voice and bearing showing neither shame nor fear

Pointing to our honor which untarnished stands

Bright as when we took it from our founders' hands(sing CHORUS)

Posted by : Folagbade (Sanwo) Olatunji-David (K.C 2003/2004 set)

Quote by Lord Lugard in 1919 on government schools in the colony of Southern Nigeria

"Government Schools in Southern Nigeria.- King's College, Lagos,with a staff of three British masters, afforded the highest and most expensive education for the sons of leading natives, or for boys of marked ability who had obtained scholarships. Some of its pupils completed their education in England, and entered the professions of law and medicine.

It was not a boarding school. In the two boarding schools at Warri and Bonny, adult "apprentices" were associated with small boys, with bad results. They were under no indentures, and the Heads of Technical Departments found that their manual training had all to be begun afresh when they came to the workshops with power-driven machinery. The average attendance at these two schools in 1913 was 151 apprentices and 187 boys.

Three Moslem schools in the Colony, and 48 other elementary orprimary schools under native instructors, where carpentry andagriculture, etc., were taught, completed the list of Governmentschools, with an average attendance of 4,200