King’s College

King’s College is a secondary school in Lagos.  It was established by an Act of Parliament (in Britain) on 20 September 1909 with only ten students at its original site on Lagos Island.  It is an all-boys secondary school which promises ‘to nurture gentlemen with profound character and academic distinction’, with the aim that they would grow to build an independent Nigeria.  Its philosophy was further declared to ‘provide for the youth of the colony a higher general education than that supplied by the existing Schools, to prepare them for Matriculation Examination of the University of London and to give a useful course of Study to those who intend to qualify for Professional life or to enter Government or Mercantile service.’

Mr Lomax was its first Principal.  King’s College is a national institution. In 1914 Lord Lugard (1858-1945), Governor-General of Nigeria, described King’s College, Lagos, in a White Paper as ‘the leading school in the Colony as well as the Premier School’.

Although the school admits only male students historically, some female HSC (A-Level equivalent) students were admitted before the establishment of Queen’s College Lagos (popularly known as King’s College’s sister school). King’s College conducts exams for the West African School-Leaving Certificate and the National Examinations Council.  In 1908 the Nigerian Acting Director of Education in Lagos, Henry Rawlingson Carr (1863-1945) advised the Governor, Walter Egerton (1858-1947) on a detailed scheme of education.  Carr’s suggestions were the basis for the formation of King’s College.  Carr convinced the London Board of Education that King’s College’s mission would not overlap, but supplement, the education initiatives of missionary societies.  As a result, some authors regard Henry Carr as the ‘architect of King’s College’. The school building was erected and furnished at a cost of £10,001.