| Obafemi Awolowo University Staff Quarters, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. |
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Quarters Staff Club
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Infinite Grace.
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Obafemi Awolowo
University Staff Quarters
- Similar houses, similar
cars (most likely a Peugeot
504,
505, & or a Mercedes Benz E230), and the same schools.
Everybody knew everybody and
your neighbours were probably
as responsible for bringing
you up as much as your parents.
You would be forgiven for
thinking that this might be
the setting for a very boring
life, or some kind of peaceful
utopia where nothing happens,
and that the people who grow
up here would probably be
the saddest excuse for children
ever!
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Allow me to
obliterate this ghastly notion,
as quarters is the setting
of probably the greatest ensemble
ever, as the houses, cars
and schools set the stage
for forming amiable and exemplary
personalities, lifelong bonds,
relationships,
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friendships and memories.
It is a place where 'going out' was simply
jumping over your hedge to visit your
neighbour, where your backyard was a makeshift
football pitch (if your parents hadn't
made it into a farm of some sort!), and
plucking of fruits was a usual treat.
Quarters consist of 25 (yea, that's right,
I think!) roads, which are numbered from
roads 1 to 25. These were the settings
for the residential houses, guest houses,
schools, a staff club, conference center,
and a supermarket (leventis!). Over the
years, there have been more schools, a
new supermarket and a community center.
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| Set in the picturesque university,
quarters possesses its own unique beauty,
with fantastic architecture and greenery.
Ife being such a blessed land, gave us a
wonderful variety of fruits from Almonds,
African Apples, Mangoes, Guava's, Pitangas
(also known as Surinam cherry - I had to
look it up!), Iyeye's (the reason a lot
of us came late to staff school!), and Agbalumos
(I wont even try to find the English name!!).
As if all of this wasn't enough, we had
3 hills to beautify the landscape. |
| The first set of quarters
kids ("omo quarters", as we are
fondly called), were born in the '60s (I'd
rather not name names so I don't get a law
suit!), and though faces have changed over
the years, every generation has brought
something new to quarters and I am proud
to say that quarters has produced its fair
share of 'world changers', from different
walks of life. There is no other way to
say this but, quarters was the best place
to grow up, and we had a blast of a time! |
| Who would have thought that
such great things could ever come out of
a little known place called Ife?? You were
wrong to underestimate us! |
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Written by Oluseye Odebiyi
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