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!

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, 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.

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!

Written by Oluseye Odebiyi