Marywood Old Students Association, MOSA, held their first annual national reunion get together on Saturday, December 3 , 2022, at the Recreational Hall, Industrial Crescent Illupeju, in Lagos.
The occasion witnessed the gathering of old students of the school as far back as graduates of the 1967 set, up to class of 2000 .
The President of MOSA, Nigeria , Mrs. Patricia Olagunju, in her opening address welcomed the sisters and thanked God for the gift of life for all members.
“We thank God for having kept us through life’s journey and it is by His grace that we are alive to celebrate ourselves as individuals,” Olagunju said.
The convivial atmosphere created an environment for the women to catch up on old times, reconnect and celebrate themselves amid dancing, eating and drinking.
It was a rare opportunity for the sisters who were all clad in branded t-shirts with the school’s logo and inscription, to unwind, put smiles on each other’s faces and generally have fun. They proudly sang their school anthem and danced to the old school songs of their days displaying great flexibility and dexterity in moving to the rhythm of the music; showing to all that despite their ages they haven’t lost their groove. It was a moment for them to rekindle their youthful days and they embraced it whole heartedly with nostalgia.
The occasion was rounded off with a thanksgiving mass the following day, Sunday December 4 2022, at the Saint Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos.
They thanked God Almighty for sparing their lives all these years and prayed that the good Lord will keep them in good health of body and mind to continue to experience many more reunions in the following years.
The sisters expressed gratitude to God Almighty and to the president of MOSA and her Executive members for their efforts in planning and organizing the event, first of its kind in the history of the school.
Marywood Girls Grammar School, MGGS was a missionary school originally founded by the Catholic Church in the years immediately after Nigeria’s independence in 1960. The school was then administered and run by the Reverend sisters in the catholic church, some of whom were foreigners at the time.
But in the early 1980’s, the government of Nigeria, in a swift move, forcefully took over all the missionary schools, despite massive opposition; hence the MGGS transformed from a missionary school to a government owned school .
After almost about three decades of running the schools, government finally decided on March 17th 2008 to hand back the missionary schools to their original owners.
In the event, His Eminence, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos then, rebuilt it and handed it to the Sisters of St. Louis to manage. The then Provincial leader of the Sisters of St. Louis, commissioned Sr. Christiana Adegoroye (the pioneer Administrator) and Sr. Mary Ogunjobi to the school on the 25th of August 2010, to ensure the take- off of the school.
The first set of students resumed on the 8th of January 2011. They were 21 in number and the school was officially opened on the 22nd of January 2011. The population of the school rose to 36 by the end of the session. The name was subsequently changed from Marywood Girls Grammar School to Marywood Girls College.
Marywood Girls College, Ebute –Metta West, is now owned by Lagos Archdiocese still located at Franklin Street, Ebute-Metta (West), Lagos, Nigeria.
The school strives for academic excellence in the context of a caring Christian community with the added emphasis of an educational provision relevant to the modern age.