Educators From Nigeria

"We should go back to Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s plan. With respect to Chief Awolowo, his definition of education was that ‘it is the right of every child to be educated’ and he gave children quality and free education. The education they gave me at Ife was solid, so I was able to fit into Geogia Tech. Awolowo gave scholarships across the board to students who did very well. Some scholarships for science students included book allowance. Awolowo had a blueprint for free education before it was introduced. He was well prepared for free education compared with nowadays that people (politicians) promise free education without being fully prepared for it."

"Give and take! Forgive each other because nobody is perfect."

"We have always lived life to the full. We will continue to do the same."

"I would have loved to do certain things differently but no regrets. At the beginning I fought all battles that came my way, but with hindsight, I’ve realised that not all battles are worth fighting because you will just dissipate energy on needless battles. Don’t ask me for an example of such battles; they are personal and may cause embarrassment to some people."

"Doing what I enjoy doing."

"I have no idea. Officially I am retiring from the University of Ibadan next March. I am on accumulated leave leading to retirement. But I am not on leave in the real sense."

"Sunday is the only different day; it is the day to rest."

"I still multitask. I am involved in many activities that have to do with my home and being a wife, mother and grandmother. I work as a professor (teaching and researching), and engage in social engagements and professional and church activities. I do not have a dull moment."

"It was very difficult but not impossible. I learnt time management and multitasking from home and from my secondary school. These came in handy."

"I am grateful to God for all. Each has had its own impact in different ways, so it is difficult to identify one as being the most memorable."

"I am his first critic. He is my editor. I have read and watched all his plays. I even attend his rehearsals."

"The first two are into social sciences while the last two read computer science. However, they all have creative abilities."

"We met in my hometown – Akure – when he was commissioned by the Akure Students’ Union to stage a play. The play was about politicians and my father, Chief J. O. Adedipe, was a politician. He was a lawmaker between 1954 and 1959 and I was curious and wanted to see how the likes of my father behaved. The play was a masterpiece. So I congratulated him at the end of the play. I was not aware that we had met earlier at the park when he arrived in Akure. He later told me that I did not answer him when he greeted me earlier."

"Our stories are very interesting. He was a science pupil who became an arts pupil because of Principal D. J. Bullock. I was an arts pupil and I became a science pupil by providence. We are both familiar with the two terrains."

"Of course yes. It was not an easy thing in the past for men to accept women in authority. Even women at the time were to not as supportive as they are today. I learnt to separate motherhood from ‘workhood’, if you know what I mean. I was a completely different person in the office from who I was at home."

"I had to learn patience and to think outside the box. I was given a lot of nicknames like ‘Iron Lady’, ‘Hard-wired electronics’, etc."

"I had no culture shock. Many of my teachers in Fiwasaiye Girls’ Grammar School in Akure were foreigners from Britain, US, India and Trinidad and Tobago. I also had a pen pal. But I experienced it when I was at Comprehensive High School. One of our female teachers called me and I said yes, Mrs XYZ (not the real name)."

"I went to Georgia Tech because it was listed among the 10 best colleges for computer science education. Yes, computing education was relatively new but I studied computer science/economics at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and was among the first set of students that graduated in 1976. One of our lecturers then, Dr Odeyemi, already had a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Manchester as the first PhD holder in computer science in Nigeria."

"Our guardian and counsellor in Aiyetoro, Mr Olumide Kuti, encouraged me to read computer science. He asked me to go to the library to read about it because I had no idea what the discipline was about then. Aiyetoro, being an American school then, had a very good library. So I read a book on computer science and fell in love with it instantly."

"For me, mathematics is the simplest and most interesting subject that does not require cramming but understanding from basic principles. I guess the love for mathematics is natural for me. General Science was first introduced to my set at Fiwasaiye in 1966. I loved the physics portion of the general science so much and decided to convert to science from arts."

"To train a student in the university is a lot of money. We play too much politics with education, and as long as you play politics with education, things will not go well. That is the truth."

"There is no invention that doesn’t bring good and bad. However, it depends on which aspect you want to adopt."

"I was called Iron Lady for being a successful woman."

"I don’t know. Well, I was happy. You know that kind of feeling, a couple of mixed feelings. I was very happy and joyful. At the same time, I just wished my dad was still alive to witness it."

"A lot of people get it wrong. The facilities available today are more than what was available in our days. During our time, General Science was only introduced in our final year. However, today, even from primary school, children are exposed to computing, science and the like."

"As for Kudirat too, the heroine of democracy, I felt so highly elated that I am being honoured along with those two heroines. I feel proud about it."

"There are many things that make Lord’s Schools unique. They give the students holistic education and teach them the fear of the Lord. The children are trained to be good citizens of Nigeria. They also have a cattle ranch, poultry, farm, among others."

"Since we came on board, our cardinal focus has been on sustainability of our academic calendar, provision of infrastructures, decent and conducive environment for staff and students, security of lives and property and enthronement of general work ethics."

"A number of students were injured or killed in the process, in addition to a series of attacks and intimidations launched against staff of the institution, especially the examination officers."

"Professor Marietu Tenuche warned the students in 2021."

"As I will always say, we are in charge here. We won’t entertain any form of sex for marks, cultism or any other social vice. Any one found wanting in this unscrupulous act will be shown the exit door."

"The performances of our students at the Nigeria Law School has over the years been very encouraging. This is a testimony to the calibre and quality of training our students have been exposed to during their undergraduate programmes."

"When I assumed office,this was a challenge to the management, in addition to low morale among security personnel necessitated by high level of indiscipline in the Security Unit, inadequate security operatives, unavailability of functional vehicles, porous and unmanned entry points and wide spread availability of arms amongst students which they deployed at will."

"I am glad to say that the result indicates that all the programmes have been fully accredited by NUC. This represents 100 per cent full accreditation. This feat is itself historic because even though cases of denied accreditation have been rare in the university in recent times, we also have rare cases in which all our programmes gained full accreditation."

"It teaches that, like Mama, even if you have many friends, let only few people into your inner space and the relationship should be based on honesty, humility, respect and openness."

"Mother is the glue that kept us together. Her hard work and resilience has been a guiding light in my life. History and rapid changes also motivated me. Attitudes, habits and cultures have changed. The sense of community is gone; thus the essence of the book is to document the values I learnt from my mother so children can learn."

"There is a lot to learn from them. By doing this, and by being a living example of good values as parents, you will have a good close knit family. We still have a lot to learn to make Nigeria great. We all have a role to play."

"There should be a strong family life at home and in school. Devote the weekends to your children; sit with them, be their friends, listen to their pains, because they have pains at their level."

"I am amazed that all that is me! Thank you for appreciating me. Do not love your children so much so you become blind to their weaknesses or cannot punish them when they err."

"Then, the teaching and nursing professions were considered the most appropriate professions for girls so, I took up a teaching appointment with St. Theresa's College."

"I began my work life as a stand-in teacher, and this was due to my very good performance in secondary school."

"An exemplary teacher and astute administrator, mentor and mother of mothers."

"Mrs Coker should go down in history as one of the best Nigeria has produced in education. When the Federal Government designated Queen’s College as the first Government College for girls, “Cokie” as she was fondly called, blazed the trail and set the standard for what would become the ethos of all Federal Government Colleges as symbols of national unity."

"She is a model of leadership, forming the character and building the competence of thousands of girls who went through her tutelage and an exemplary teacher to teachers."

"a dedicated teacher, moral tutor and respected educationist, and a pace setter in emancipation of Nigerian womanhood, a woman of unusual talent, who dedicated her career to the service of her nation in the supervision and training of young ones."

"I am not really sure about the word decline, because there are areas in which education has improved."

"Most reprehensible is parental neglect, self-centered parents being interested only in freedom to enjoy themselves."

"I condemn society's charge of delinquency against them as gross injustice. Nigerian youths are what adults have made them."

"Desirest thou the teacher's work? Ask wisdom from above. It is a work of toil and care Of patience and of love."

"Your pupils appreciate you, not when you are training and correcting them, but when they are older and understand better. They will then know that you were acting in their best interest."