Educators From Nigeria

"My father was a missionary teacher, first in Benin, and it was at the same time he became a civil servant."

"The day we met, it was like I met an old friend. It was fantastic. We started talking as if we had always known each other. He was wonderful. When we met later, I read his papers and critiqued them. It was fantastic."

"I have a baptismal certificate signed by the mission. The date of my birth was in that baptismal certificate."

"I love music. I love classical music. That was the thing that first brought us (my husband and me) together. My husband loved classical music and I still do. I have a library in Ibadan for the collection of classical music."

"I went to primary school in the Cameroons – British Cameroon Tutorial – because my father, who was a chief clerk, was transferred there. From there, I went and took entrance examination to Queen’s College, Lagos. I finished from Queen’s College before proceeding to Yaba Higher College for my Teaching Diploma. Yaba Higher College was the only one around in 1945, training doctors, engineers, and education officers, etc."

"They say it gives wrinkles but I am lucky no wrinkle…(laughter). Laughter Cheers you more when you are angry before you blow up. Smile more and laughter refreshes not just the soul but the way you look on the outside."

"More or less, I taught myself, and that was what happened with many of the first teachers in the university. I started a postgraduate programme from University of London (master’s programme) and I supervised 11 PhD holders and so many master’s degree candidates for several years before I retired."

"Reality contains matter and non-matter"

"Africa is the only continent that uses foreign language as a medium of expression in institutions of learning despite the reports of many studies confirming the fact that the mother tongue is the best medium of instruction that facilitates better understanding of knowledge"

"Every country has its peculiar issues to deal with; I think, however, that in Nigeria it has become easier for us to blame our problems on the leadership. Even so, I would argue that those being led play a role, as well. Let us step back, if we may, into history for a moment… The first crop of leadership in this country was of great significance, emerging at a critical period in our nation when we had just won independence from Great Britain. This group of leaders took on their role very seriously, and so did the citizenry. Unfortunately, since then, we seemed to have lost something crucial in the nation building process that we have not since been able to regain."

"The society at large should hold teachers or examinations’ body staff responsible if they sell question papers prior to examinations, and also the parents or students who feed this malpractice by buying them."

"It is the grace of God. Also, if God gives you the grace to live long, you have to work hard too. There should also be a lifestyle adjustment. It is a gift of God. You can’t rule out the efficacy of prayers."

"There is nothing that is absolutely material. There is nothing that is absolutely non-material. And in all phenomenons in the world, the two are there together"

"So for me as a mother…what I sow now in terms of feeding my children properly with nutritious food will remain embedded even at old age."

"If we want to develop the agricultural sector for instance, there should be a resolution on what cash crops should be grown, and this should be capitalized upon in specific zones once an agreement is reached to begin exportation."

"Saddling our students with worthless cardboard papers in the name of certificates has never been the objective of Federal University Dutse."

"We would ensure that the university becomes a service to the community and to national development. I would like to say with all sincerity that establishing TETFund was the best thing that had happened to higher education in Nigeria."

"Her achievements are significant by all standards, and her simple approach to life is what draws many people to her."

"The anti-diabetic drug has gotten ethical approval for the clinical trial by the Kano state hospital management board."

"I thanked TETFund for providing the necessary funding to execute noble projects in the school."

"The university is proposing four new programmes in the Faculty of Management Sciences, apart from the five existing programmes."

"Although Professor Emerita Odejide retired in 2011, but she continued supervising students in her department – Communication and Language Arts."

"I realize without doubt that her exit will leave you, members of the family and the university community with considerable trauma following the unexpected occurrence."

"The university has performed exceptionally well when the National University Commission (NUC) came for accreditation of its academic programmers in May/June last year where approval was given to the university to run eight programmes."

"Therefore, in honouring Professor Emerita Odejide, this is also a platform for lecturers to present their researches and papers."

"Managing and consolidating on the foundation of a university that is so young owed a great challenges which is commonly traceable to the dearth of resources that typically characterises our economy in the last few years."

"Equally, the students’ population has steadily increased from 202 in 2012 to the current number of 9,491."

"In fact, she is a woman of many firsts, including being the first professor of children’s literature, and the first female deputy vice chancellor."

"Of course, I faced opposition. The first time I ran (for the office), I lost by a few votes because I ran against a man. During the campaign, because I had to go round the faculties and talk to individuals, people asked me who would look after my home if I became the DVC and were in top management."

"She worked so hard when she was the deputy vice chancellor during my tenure as vice chancellor, and I am happy that her ex-students appreciate her contributions to their development."

"A scholar par excellence, mentor, administrator and mother."

"No, I don’t feel intimidated at all, because I have been working for several years now and I have been used to being alone in the midst of men and I have always gained the support of the men. They have never looked at me as a woman."

"Teachers should be trained and retrained. This should be done regularly. If teachers who are key factors in schools are left out, then we should not expect that pupils would perform very well."

"There is the notion that women are not supposed to be in the public sphere. Basically, they are supposed to be in the private space, looking after their children, being in the kitchen and so on. So, the whole idea is that women are not supposed to be in the limelight; they are to be seen and not to be heard."

"Discipline was a major thing in our home, especially from my mum; she just didn’t take any nonsense. She was a loving person but liked people to be punctual, do whatever was assigned to them on time and without excuses. I think that must have rubbed off on my siblings and me."

"I was ready for retirement. I loved the job, the students and liked interacting with them, though they may have said other things. I loved challenging them to be their best. Before retirement came, I was mentally prepared for it. I had also managed my resources carefully so that it would not be a major shock financially."

"We should aim to become strategic and effective within those roles and thus raise the profiles of women as did Nigeria’s first crop of western female educated activists like Margaret Ekpo, Olufunmilayo Ransome Kuti, Wuraola Esan, and grassroots mobiliser , Sambo Sawaba."

"I think it’s also important to show that it doesn’t have to be a male terrain completely, if there are competent women, we should give them positions on merit. But don’t look down on somebody and say, she is a woman, she can’t do it or he’s a man, he can’t do it. That would be a wrong attitude."

"If you don’t train and retrain teachers, education will continue to be comatose; students will continue to fail woefully and development may not be possible."

"For many years we have agitated for adequate representation at all tiers of government. The figures are depressing. In 2011, only 9 women senators were representing 54 million women in Nigeria; the immediate past President, Goodluck Jonathan appointed women to 33 per cent of cabinet positions, up from 10 per cent in President Obasanjo’s government. Now, under the current government, women’s representation has gone down further and both verbal pronouncements and the body language of our leaders indicate a lessening of the importance of the critical roles of women to the growth and health of our country."

"I guess so, because all I knew was studies. From the very beginning, I was focused. I knew what I wanted and I pursued and got what I wanted."

"I am happy that some of my former students are also professors now."

"As DVC academic, I chaired over 25 committees and I didn’t have any major issue. So, I think it’s a question of one’s personality, one’s management style and as I said, I have been in university for quite some time. So, I have paid my dues."

"I never wavered for one minute about whether I was in the right position or not, because right from when I was young, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher, but I didn’t know that I would be a university teacher. The people that inspired me at that time were the young ladies that came from the UCI, University College, Ibadan then on vacation job in my school in Yejide Girls Grammar School. You know, they came to teach us during the long vacation, this was in the 60s. And, I was so impressed with the way they carried themselves, the way they taught us. Some of our teachers were early graduates of UCI, so I just knew that was what I wanted to do and I knew I was going to teach English."

"I found it so absorbing, I love reading, it came easy to me."

"The scope of the agreement covers students exchange, Faculty staff exchange programmes for teaching and research, conferences and workshops, exchange of academic programme materials, joint distance learning and research and publication."

"BUK is like father and mother to this institution, because we have receiving a lot of assistance from there, in terms of staffing. The vice chancellor there is always willing to let go of his staff to come and assist us to establish this university, because he knows that we need experienced staff and whenever we go there for even financial assistance, he renders."

"For instance, during the pre-NUGA games, we went there for assistance and he assisted us in cash and kind, because we used some of their sports gears. Also, during our convocation, he assisted, so whenever we go to BUK for assistance, they are always ready to oblige us. For this, we remain eternally appreciative of the kind of father-figure role they play for this university."

"The convocation will be proceeded by a pre-convocation lecture on Friday, March 02, 2018 by pm at the GST Auditorium at the permanent site of the institution by the former minister of Education professor Ruqqayyatu Ahmed Rufai."

"But in the other components, which TETFund intervenes, if you go through the campus, you will discover that most of the structures on ground carry the label of TETFund, showing that without TETFund, this university would not have been anywhere or grown as it is now. So, we can attribute the success of the university to TETFund intervention."