| CMS Grammar School, Lagos | |
|---|---|
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| Address | |
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Asani Road, Bariga , | |
| Coordinates | 6°32′04″N 3°23′19″E / 6.534583°N 3.388638°E / 6.534583; 3.388638 |
| Information | |
| School type | Secondary |
| Motto | Nisi Dominus Frustra (Without God we labor in vain) |
| Established | 6 June 1859 (1859-06-06) |
| Principal | The Revd' Jacob Ayokunle Ogunyinka |
The CMS Grammar SchoolinBariga, a suburb of LagosinLagos State, is the oldest secondary school in Nigeria, founded on 6 June 1859 by the Church Missionary Society. For decades it was the main source of African clergymen and administrators in the Lagos Colony.[1]
The seed funding for CMS Grammar School, Lagos was made possible by James Pinson Labulo Davies who in April 1859 provided Babington Macaulay with £50 (equivalent of ₦1.34 million as of 2014) to buy books and equipment for the school. With the seed funding Macaulay opened CMS Grammar School on 6 June 1859, which made it the first secondary school in Nigeria.[2] In 1867, Davies contributed another £100 (₦2.68 million as of 2014) toward a CMS Grammar School Building Fund.[3] Other contributors to the CMS Building Fund were non Saros such as Daniel Conrad Taiwo AKA Taiwo Olowo who contributed £50. Saro contributors also included men such as Moses Johnson, I.H. Willoughby, T.F. Cole, James George, and Charles Foresythe who contributed £40.[4] The CMS Grammar SchoolinFreetown, founded in 1848, served as a model.
The school began with six students, all boarders in a small, single story building called the 'Cotton House' at Broad Street. The first pupils were destined to be clergymen.[1] The curriculum included English, Logic, Greek, Arithmetic, Geometry, Geography, History, Bible Knowledge and Latin.[5] The first principal of the school was the scholar and theologian Babington Macaulay, who served until his death in 1878.[6] He was the father of Herbert Macaulay.[7] When the British colony of Lagos was established in 1861, the colonial authorities obtained most of their African clerical and administrative staff from the school.[1]
Some notable alumni:
