Augusco @ 86: Soaring New Heights

In terms of age, St. Augustine’s College (Augusco) is the youngest of the three highly respected all-male Senior High Schools in Cape-Coast.

Augusco, a Roman Catholic-affiliated institution, was founded in 1930 and proudly named after St. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430). The motto of the College is Omnia Vincit Labor, meaning "Perseverance Conquers All".

Mfantsipim School (Kwabotwe), on the other hand,
is a Methodist Mission institution founded as far back as 1876, which incontrovertiblymakes it the oldest secondary school in the country. They’re 140 years old! In fact, they celebrated their 100^th anniversary (Centenary) when I was just in form two at Augusco.

Adisadel College (Adisco) is an Anglicanschool established in 1910 - some twenty years before my Alma Mater, Augusco.

Needless to say, the competition between these 3 Cape-Coast boys' schools is legendary.

Notwithstanding the significant age difference and perhaps experience gained by the other schools, Augusco has caught up andarguably never looked back. As we hit 86, the plan is to do a Usain Bolt.

Not surprisingly, this competitive streak has transcended the school era into professional and other life endeavours.

This healthy rivalry, no doubt, adds to the excitement and memorable experience of boarding school life in Cape-Coast. There is also the conspicuous presence of Aggrey Memorial A.M.E. Zion SHS, Ghana National College, Holy Child School, Wesley Girls SHS, Mfantsiman Girls’ Secondary School and University Practice SHS among others, which further adds to the appeal and mystique of schooling in Cape-Coast.

Even though I left Augusco some 36 years ago, the richness of the experience makes me participate actively in the events of the schools mentioned above with keen interest.

Augusco’s recent victories over Kwabotwe and Adisco at the 2016 Sprite Basketball competition and 2016 Athletics Super Zonals has validated my obvious bias and afforded APSUnians more bragging rights. In the words of Egyptian business magnate, Mohamed Abdel Al-Fayed of Fulham fame: “Christmas has come early”.

I intend to cash in on the bragging rights offered by the two victories. So, MOBA and Santaclausians, watch out!

Talk about perfect timing! The results of the Athletics Super Zonals nearly coincides with our 86^th Anniversary Speech & Prize Giving Ceremony, which will be held on Saturday, March 19^th 2016.

The anniversary activities, which are being hosted by APSU ’91, in line with the tradition of hosting the Speech Day twenty- five years after leaving the College, is themed: “Leadership and Self-Development in the 21st Century." underscoring Augusco’s commitment to training thought leaders.

In the build up to the Speech Day, the ‘91 year group organised an event last month to interact with current students. This provided a platform for free information exchange and establishing mentoring relationships.

Today’s leaders need a competitive edge to navigate and manage the pace of constant change. Accomplishing business goals requires flexibility, adaptability, and many more “softer skills”. It is essential that today’s leaders know how to effectively leverage relationships to get the best from their colleagues, organisations, and society.

According to Warren G. Bennis, Founding Chairman of the Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California, Leadership is the capacity to transform vision into reality."

For their project, the ’91 Year Group collaborated to refurbish the College Dining Hall.

Mr Robert Orraca-Tetteh, Convener of APSU '91, notes: "We are determined to do our bit to help shape and better the lives of students of our Alma Mater."

On the year group project, the Convener said: “With your kind support, we have given the Dining Hall a new and fresh look."

"We have changed the table tops to Mimosa Work tops, which are multipurpose, scratch and stain resistant, and offered you the opportunity to sponsor furniture that is built-to-last, engraved with your name in the Dining Hall".

“We are committed to organising a successful event”.

The project breakdown is as follows:
Cost of Dining Hall Refurbishment, USD$64,920; Cost of Dining Hall Table Refurbishment, USD$20,100, and Anniversary Expenses, USD$20,080.

The total project cost is USD$105,100.
The anniversary activities being sponsored by the year group include the following:

Thursday, 17th March, 2016 – HEALTH SCREENING for staff/BLOOD DONATION by staff and APSUnians.

Thursday, 17th March, 2016 – AWARDS NIGHT at College Quadrangle.

Friday, 18th March, 2016 – GAMES between APSUnians and students and staff.

Saturday, 19th March, 2016 – COMMISSIONING of REFURBISHED DINING HALL by APSU ’91; PRESENTATION of BUS by APSU, and 86th Speech & Prize Giving Ceremony.

Saturday, 19th March, 2016 – APSU DINNER DANCE at Pempamsie Hotel at 7pm.

Sunday, 20^th March, 2016 – THANKSGIVING MASS & INDUCTION of PREFECTS at College Assembly Hall.

Prior to this, the hosting year group organised a number of programmes including:

• St. Augustine’s Feast Day Activities.

• A Commemorative Lecture on Wednesday 26th August 2015 at Christ The King Catholic Parish, Accra.

• Morning Mass on Friday 28th August 2015 at Christ The King Parish in Accra.

• Feast Day Thanksgiving Mass on Sunday 30th August 2015 at Corpus Christi Catholic Church Sakumono.

• APSU Aponkyi Nkrakra on Saturday 19th September 2015 at the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra.

Pertaining to “Leadership in the 21^st Century”, Lela Vandenberg, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Resource Development, Michigan State University notes:

“It is not leadership from any one person that is required. It is an aspect of leadership each of us summons from within.In this respect, the same qualities we have sought in one person can be found distributed among many people who learn, in community, to exercise their "leadership" at appropriate moments.

This occurs when people are vitally concerned about issues, or when executing their responsibilities.

Leadership thus becomes a rather fluid concept focusing on those behaviours which propel the work of the group forward. John Nirenberg (1993, p. 198) argues: “The philosophy of leadership, implicit in leadership development programmes of the past, is no longer adequate for dealing with the complex problems inherent in communities and organisations today.

This implicit philosophy assumes that leadership rests in individuals who must be capable of inspiring and influencing others to solve problems and achieve goals.

However, this "heroic" view of leadership is often based on a deficiency view of people, as Peter Senge (1990) points out.

At its heart, the traditional view of leadership is based on assumptions of people's powerlessness, their lack of personal vision, and inability to master the forces of change, deficits which can be remedied only by a few great leaders.

A new philosophy of leadership is emerging dubbed "post-heroic" leadership (Huey, 1994). It is based on bottom-up transformation, fueled by shared power and community building.

John Nirenberg's (1993) The Living Organization, quoted earlier, eloquently expresses the fluid, distributed, community, and action-oriented nature of leadership from this perspective. Although various scholars and authors differ in their scope and focus when describing changes required by the new leadership philosophy, there are at least three common themes - Shared Leadership, Leadership as Relationship, and Leadership in Community.

The idea of shared leadership is variously termed dispersed, roving, distributive, collective, or group-centered, and organisations are referred to as "leaderful." The assumption is that all of us have leadership qualities that can be pooled and drawn upon as needed, when working with others on vital common issues.

Support from APSUnians towards funding College projects.

Upgrading of Augusco Sports Field as part of sports development :

The old sports field at St. Augustine’s College, Cape Coast, is finally getting a face-lift, thanks to the generosity of one of its illustrious old boys.

Professor Joseph K. Adjaye (APSU ’57) is spearheading an effort to upgrade this sports facility which has been in virtually the same state for decades. Professor Adjaye, who in previous years had donated sports trophies to St. Augustine’s and recently, together with his younger brother Dr. Robert Adjaye (APSU ’64), built a modern computer center for the school, is now funding a renovation program to upgrade the stadium.

The project, which has the blessing of the school Board of Governors, is in two parts: 1) rebuilding the terraced seating area on the west (“Dining Hall”) end and constructing a shed over it; and 2) erecting a two-floor Sports Hall on the north (“Kelly”) end.

The ground floor of the Sports Hall will consist of two large chambers that will serve as changing rooms for the home and visiting teams, adjoined by an entrance-way through which the two teams and match officials will enter and exit the stadium. Each chamber will be equipped with storage rooms, lockers, showers, toilets, urinals and benches. The first floor will incorporate up to eight VIP boxes, a lounge, two toilets, and two offices.

It is envisaged that over time, other individual APSUnians and year groups will take up other projects to complete the modernization of the sports stadium, such as erecting a basketball court, installing artificial turf/synthetic grass on the football pitch, constructing fence walls on the east and south ends, laying a permanent track for athletics, and providing much-needed up-to-date sports equipment.

Joseph K. Adjaye, one of the leading historians of Ghana and an eminent scholar in African Studies, is Emeritus Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and Professor of History at the University of Ghana, Legon, and can be reached at [email protected]