Anucha Wisdom, a lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Abia State University, Uturu, who recently found out that his nursery school teacher, identified as Aunty Ijeoma, was one of his students at the university, tells EMMANUEL OJO the life lessons the encounter taught him
You made a post online that you discovered that your nursery school teacher was one of your students at the university. What was your first reaction when you saw her?
At first, when I saw her, I was shocked and I thought I could not see well. I asked myself if she was really the one or not, but when I looked carefully, I discovered she was the one. While I was gazing, she was also looking to see whether I was the one or not but when I saw her, I was flabbergasted. I was happy that it was true. It was something very funny. I threw myself at her and she threw herself at me and for a moment, I doubted if it was real. It seemed like a Nollywood movie to me.
In what year did she teach you?
She taught me around 1995 or 1996. She was single then. She was quite a young person then. You know how it is in nursery schools in those days, one didn’t need any special qualification to teach in a nursery school. After obtaining a first school leaving certificate or a West African Examination Council, one could teach. In our place, it’s something a little above the modern-day crèche or playgroup. But something funny happened; I jumped from Nursery Two to Primary One. My elder sister was already in Primary One, so I always cried because I wanted to stay with her. That was how I skipped Nursery Three and jumped to Primary One. She (Aunty Ijeoma) actually taught me in Nursery Two. She was the Nursery Two teacher then. You know the way it is in some of those schools then; some teachers were rotated from term to term.
What memories ran through your mind when you saw your nursery teacher in such a place? Did it bring memories?
One of the glaring things I remember about Aunty Ijeoma is that she usually came to school with food and she shared with us when we cried. Whenever she ate, we gathered around her and she fed us. She also flogged us very well when we did the wrong things but now I realised that all of those things she did were proof that she really loved us and wanted the best for us.
Was she your favourite teacher or will you say you were her favourite pupil?
Well, that’s a very big question to answer. As I told you, Aunty Ijeoma was a loveable teacher. Aunty Ijeoma is loveable. Aunty Ijeoma is good. She was in that school until I left and that’s why I still remember her but if I were to talk about my favourite teachers, I will talk about Aunty Ola and Aunty Maggy. Aunty Ola taught me in Primary One and Aunty Maggy taught me in Primary Five, so that is it. But Aunty IJ, as we call her, was good in her ways. She gave us her food and you know how children like food; anyone that gives children food becomes their friend and children will automatically like the person. As children, we never really knew the person that loved us, we just followed those that gave us food and gifts.
You also mentioned in your post that when you saw her, after you had greeted her, you opened her bag to see if she had a cane in it. Was that because of what you said about her flogging her pupils?
Well, that was a hyperbole. It was an exaggeration. I did not really open her bag; I was trying to paint a perfect scenario of who she was. She had this signature cane that she used. We were really afraid of her then because she always came to class with her cane. So, I threw it as a joke to her, saying, ‘Aunty, do you still have your cane in your bag?’ We laughed about it.
What else can you say about her personality?
She is a disciplinarian. I pray that God will bless me. In the near future, these are people we should give handsome rewards to. She is a good teacher. Permit me to say that she is a natural teacher; it flows from her, even at her age. She is just good and very passionate about everything she does. She is one of those I would like to reward handsomely. I said before that God will bless some of us so that we can go back and reward these people. I have been a product of good teachers and that’s why I tell my students in my class that whatever I am, people have been good to me.
I told one of the students I am supervising to just do the things he could. I told him it would not take me anything to give him an A. I don’t go to a market to buy it. If he does what he should do, he will have a distinction. I have a supervisor, Dr Osita Nwosu. While writing my project in my degree programme, he just gave me a distinction and told me to go. So, I have been fortunate. I have not been a victim of bad teachers, I don’t know how it happened.
What were the obvious changes you saw in her?
She used to be very slim but has really added much now. She wasn’t married back then but she is married now and for a married woman with children, you expect much change to have taken place. Many things changed about her.
What kind of experience did you have in secondary school?
Let me digress a bit. After primary school, I went to Federal Government College, Ohafia, and I happened to be the senior prefect of my set in 2008. I was a science pupil in SS1 and SS2. It will shock you that in SS3, as a science pupil, I was moved to the arts in the first term of SS3; that was at the point of registering for the senior school certificate examination. My chemistry teacher, who is now a vice principal at Federal Government Girls College, Umuahia, shouted and told my father that I wanted to disgrace him. She said I wasn’t struggling with science, and wondered why I was moved to the arts in SS3.
However, I can tell you that I have been fortunate enough. There is a man called Nze Ukachu who was the head of the department of English and Literature. He went as far as coming to my hostel at that time to give me extra classes in Literature and I got a B in the subject. He did what he did without collecting a fee. Talking about enjoying the benefits of good teachers, I have had them all my life. In every facet of my life, God has brought good teachers my way. I am just praying to God for his blessings to be able to reward these people very well. So, when I do some of the things I do for my students, I tell them not to see me as a good man; it’s just a way of me paying back a debt I have incurred from people.
Do you also think teachers are rewarded enough?
No, they are not. I am an example. We are hungry. If you go to many states, I don’t want to mention a name, teachers are owed salaries. In the area of allowances, nothing is there and that’s why society sees us as nothing. If you come and say that you are a teacher, you will be seen as a second-class citizen but we are not at all.
It will shock you to know what a bachelor’s degree holder who is a teacher told me. He is paid N20,000 per month to teach in a school. What can he do with that? Forget about the varied descriptions like teachers, lecturers and so on that are given; we are all teachers. We just came out of the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities the other time and if care is not taken, we will also go back on strike. So, nothing is happening. We are not well rewarded.
Since Aunty Ijeoma not only taught you in nursery school but was also good to you, will you consider that in assessing her academic performance as your student?
(Laughs) This one sounded funny but no matter how we look at it, there is this emotional attachment and we cannot but mention it. Marking her scripts, I’m sure she will do well. She is such a bright student. So, she will do well. Well, for me, it is very difficult to fail my course and there are reasons. For continuous assessment, I award 20 marks for assignments and 10 for attendance. I give a lot of take-home assignments as a continuous assessment. I also award 10 marks for attendance. So, by coming to class regularly, one already has 10 marks. If a student has 10 marks for attendance and can get 15 out of 20 in the take-home assignment, making a total of 25 out of 30, what else does one need to pass? If a student already has 25 marks, that student is just looking for 15 more marks to pass. Even if the ‘village people’ are after that student, they should be able to get 15 out of 70 marks. Even in a case where the person got a total of 39 per cent, the school regulation permits the examiner to upgrade to 40 per cent.
People who fail my course are those who don’t attend my class and don’t do their assignments. In exams, I set questions from the things I have given in class, so, for smart students, there are certain words I use that I expect them to give back to me.
I am not one of those lecturers that say A is for God and B is for their wives. For me, A is for intelligent students. I enjoy giving students distinction but for those that don’t do the needful, they get what they deserve.
Are there valuable lessons that meeting your teacher after many years taught you?
Yes! One thousand and one lessons. The first is that as I am handling these students in class, tomorrow, one of them may be my saviour. Let me give you an instance of something that happened some days back. Due to the recent cash crunch, I met one of my students in Umuahia who helped me out with cash when I had no cash. Although I transferred her money back to her, she helped me to solve that immediate challenge and she promised to bring more for me because she always has access to cash. It is a small world. Nobody knows what some of the students we shout at and the ones whose graduation is delayed by some lecturers will become tomorrow. The student you are frustrating today can be your lifesaver tomorrow. This one is just practical.
I went back and had some quiet time on the issue and talked to myself. Some of my students may even be the ones that will mention my name somewhere and change my life; that is just it. It was even my students that made this thing (my encounter with my nursery school teacher) go viral. So, it has taught me that man exists for service. Do whatever you have well. Tomorrow is pregnant and you cannot predict. That little boy you are punishing may be carrying a great destiny and you wouldn’t know. When we (Aunty Ijeoma and I) met in my class, she couldn’t believe it and I also couldn’t believe how possible that could be. After that day, I became more careful with the way I handled my students because their destiny is yet unknown.
