By the 1920, the dark days were over. An era of expansion was about to begin. The S.M.A.’s were opening new missions through Western and Mid-Western Nigeria, and in the Gold Coast. Each new mission needed schools and a clinic. Where personnel allowed, the O.L.A.’s followed to provide the girls’ schools and the clinics.

The Political Background

Politically, up to the 1960’s was a relatively stable period. The British Administration found a satisfactory “modus vivendi” among the people. They set out to protect law and order and to foster development in their colonies. They welcomed missionaries of whatever denomination, and in general supported initiatives that could improve living standards. Much of the expansion that happened in education was due to their system of grant-aiding the schools.

The late 1950's and early 1960's saw the beginning of independence.It was a relatively peaceful process, and independence was gained without bloodshed. Contrasting this with the bloody struggle for independence in other parts of Africa, Nigerians will tell you jokingly that for them “the mosquito won the war”! In contrast to the more benign climates of other African countries which enticed many Europeans to make their homes there, the steamy tropical conditions of the West Coast was a deterrent to white people settling and holding on to land or property there. So, without bloodshed, the Gold Coast gained independence in 1958, changing its name to “Ghana”, and Nigeria followed in 1960.

Against this background, the missionary work went on. For the O.L.A. Sisters, two broad areas of work continued to occupy them for most of these decades - education and medical work.

In Education from the 1920’s to the 1970’s . From the 1920’s to the 1970’s the growth of education can be seen under two broad headings: Teacher Training Colleges and Secondary Schools *

Teacher Training Colleges More primary schools meant a need for more teachers, and training local personnel became a matter of urgency. So, Teacher Training Colleges (T.T.C’s), were started. Like most of the early missionary initiatives, they began simply. First in 1924 in Cape Coast, Ghana, a simple training programme was drawn up and started. This was formally organised in 1928, and the training continues today in the prestigious OLA college of Education - in the beautiful setting over the ocean outside Cape Coast.
Nigeria followed in 1928, its modest beginnings taking the form of a special Prep. Class in Ebute Metta, Lagos. In time this flowered into St Agnes’ Training College, Maryland, Ikeja, outside Lagos. For a while, the urgency of training teachers for the Primary Schools meant that Teacher Training Colleges took priority over secondary education. Primary school teaching had become an acceptable job for bright young girls, so there was no shortage of students. By 1958, five new O.L.A. Training Colleges were opened in Nigeria.

• Secondary Education A move towards the secondary level was a natural progression from primary education, but development was not automatic or easy. The average age for leaving primary school was 15 to 16 years, and six more years at school was too daunting for most girls. The first O.L.A secondary school in Nigeria started in St. Mary’s Lagos, in 1932. Perhaps it was adequate at the time for the demand, or perhaps personnel were not available, but no further expansion at this level appears until 1946 when this school moved to Ibadan as St. Teresa’s College. The year 1949 saw its counterpart for Northern Nigeria in Queen of Apostles College, Kaduna. These developed as two of the state’s most prestigious secondary schools.

A special development: Nigeria had seen a significant development in 1940 when the first girls’ school in the Northern Region was opened, - Our Lady’s High School, Kaduna. This location was 600 miles from Lagos, on the edge of the Sahara, and in climate and culture it was very different to the South. Here the predominantly Muslim population looked askance at the prospect of sending their girls to school. At first the schools in Kaduna-Kakuri catered mostly for the daughters of Southern employees, whose training had equipped them for good jobs in the North. Seeing their primary mission in the area to be towards Northern girls, the Sisters, in co-operation with the S.M.A priests, did all they could to make education accessible. They opened a primary boarding school so that girls from remote areas could go to school. As the region opened up more to education, schools were opened farther to the east, in Jos and Zawan, and a Teacher Training College in Akwanga.

From the 1950’s there was a great leap forward in secondary education. With the opening of Nigeria’s first university at Ibadan in 1950’s (?) … and Ghana’s first at Accra in … , the coming-of-age of education on the Coast was clearly signalled. The idea of education as the great hope for the future became infectious, and soon practically every little pupil wanted secondary education - with a view to university. The demand was pressing. It was a time of great expansion in secondary education, of great challenge and of great scope for missionary enthusiasm. (For more, link Centenary Secondary Education). Back in Ireland: During this time in Ireland the Missionary Movement of the 1930’s had flowered. There was an increase in vocations, and more young Sisters were available for university. Added to this, by the end of the 1950’s, O.L.A.’s who had trained as primary teachers came back to Ireland for graduate studies to equip them for the secondary schools waiting for them in West Africa. During the 1960’s and ‘70’s lay graduates too gave great service as staff in mission schools. They went with their youthful energy and enthusiasm, their professional competence and creativity, and they made their mark on a generation of young African students.

Health-Care : 1920’s to 1970’s As mentioned, the beginnings of health-care and medicine were simple, with a a dearth of medical facilities or the means to provide them, and a simple dispensary attached to almost every convent. The needs were great. Added to normal expectable illnesses and accidents, there were the tropical diseases which sapped energy and were a frequent cause of death. Another frequent cause of death was in child-birth. After the ban on midwifery training was lifted by Rome in the 1930’s, qualified nurses and midwives became available to set up maternity clinics. In time several of these clinics would develop into maternity and general hospitals, and eventually into Maternity or Nursing Training Schools. Always there was the shortage of funds and medical personnel. Doctors from Germany, Italy, Holland and Poland answered the missionary call and gave years of sterling service. But the shortage was chronic, and in trying to alleviate it, in the 1960’s some Sisters qualified in medicine. (For more, link Centenary: Medical Work)

In Ireland: the Missionary Movement: These decades, 1920’s to 1970’s had seen the flowering of a missionary movement in Ireland, and the creation of some of the great Irish missionary congregations and societies, whose members began to swell the ranks on the West Coast. Also, some of the home orders, notably the Holy Child Sisters and the St Louis Sisters, had become an integral part of the missionary corps in West Africa. Later, after Vatican 11 had helped to highlight the missionary dimension of the Church, many other home congregations began sending volunteers, who entered into this new mode of service with remarkable flexibility. Over the past decades these have enhanced the quality of mission life and service by their immense generosity and creativity.

On the West Coast: African priests and Sisters Priestly and religious vocations had grown out of the young churches. From 1943, when Sister Enda Barrett founded the first indigenous religious congregation in the Archdiocese of Lagos, - Sisters of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus - the O.L.A’s were involved in training Sisters for new diocesan congregations. In 1956 the first West African Novitiate of the O.L.A’s was founded in Ibadan. Springing from the new life nurtured there, and later in the O.L.A. Novitiate in Ghana, the two new Provinces of Nigeria and Ghana have been formed, each a vibrant entity, with its own leadership and its members serving as missionaries in Tanzania, Argentina, Niger, and Chad. These were signs of a church coming to maturity.

For more on the Irish OLA history follow the links below
1. The early decades: 1876 to the 1920’s
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2. From the 1920’s to the 1970’s
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3. From the 1970’s to the present: Transitions and New Beginnings
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