How Education Made Me Interview with Obi Asika

Tell us a little about yourself. How were things growing up?

I was born in Lagos, moved to Enugu and grew up there until 1977 when I moved to the UK for school. Enugu felt like the best place in the world. I loved my nursery school Aunty Lillian’s day and Ekulu Primary School. Those were wonderful carefree days, playing football in Polo Field, riding my Grifter (better than Choppers lol) and picking mangoes and guavas off trees in my house. Looking back now I wish I could return to those wonderful days.

You attended the most famous and arguably the most prestigious secondary school in the world, Eton College. The British Princes, William and Harry later attended the same school. What was your experience there?

I had a great time there, we were maybe 6 black boys out of 1400 boys. Of course I was a contemporary of many famous people – Damien Lewis and Dominic West the actors, Boris Johnson and David Cameron among others, I made lifetime friends and learned a lot of lessons.

Of course one dealt with and overcame racism and the limited knowledge of black people that these places have. Perhaps my favorite memory was when my late uncle Ben Enwonwu, who is one of the greatest artists to come out of Africa came to our school open day one June 4th with my father. He was the special guest of the then Provost of the school and we had lunch with the Provost and the great and good of the UK. There must have been 100 plus people on those long tables. I remember beaming proudly as the Provost (Lord Charteris of Amisfield) told all of us how he met Ben when for 3 weeks in 1956 he was taking the Queen to his Battersea studio, where she sat for Ben’s sculpture of her. He was the first African that the Queen sat for and it led to a lifetime relationship, where the royal family collected his works for over 50 years. As a 16 year old it was music to my ears that my uncle was a best friend of the Provost who is like the Chancellor of the School. I had a good time at Eton, was successful as a student, sportsman and member of pop (prefect) and I’m blessed to retain many friends from those days.