Popular Musician, Teniola Apatas’s, teacher Kelvin Ofudje, whom she gifted a car in commemoration of World Teachers’ Day on Wednesday, has disclosed that he tutored the musician for five years.
According to him, he tutored both Teniola and her sister Teju who is now a medical doctor in the US from JSS1 to SS3.
As her home lesson teacher, I went to their house twice a week, and then she thought I was wicked those days when I flogged her for missing home lessons.
OsunDaily News gathered that Ofudje who has been teaching for the past 23 years said the car gift didn’t come as a surprise because Teni realised how important all that he thought her was helpful when she travelled abroad to further her studies.
He said since then she has been appreciative even to the extent that she told her mother that she would want me to be her children’s lesson teacher when she grew up.
Ofudje, Teni’s mathematics furthered that when she was abroad, she will send gifts to him through her mother and that she had sent money to him on several occasions and she always kept saying more would come.
The Apata Memorial High School teacher advanced that she had even acknowledged him before on a television programme about youth empowerment.
“During the (Teachers’ Day) programme when she started talking about me and appreciating me for being part of her academic journey, I began to have the feeling that a tangible gift was going to come from her; but I didn’t know what it could be or when it would come. But the moment she started shouting, “Where is Mr Ofudje?” I knew something was coming. Receiving that gift, I was really excited,” he added.
In his narration about how they met, Ofudje said “when she was in primary school crossing over to secondary school, her mum needed a home lesson teacher that would take care of her academic work, on a one-on-one learning arrangement. There was a particular girl in their house named Lola, who was my first student in the house. It was Lola who recommended and introduced me to Teni’s mother.”
speaking about the challenges that come with his job as a teacher, he said the challenges are numerous but popular among them is the fact some students misunderstand discipline as wickedness, and that some students don’t understand that a teacher would go the extra mile to make their lives better, and as a teacher, if you are not strong you might just give up.
He, however, noted that the joy of it is after all when students like Teni come back to say thank you as well as appreciate the efforts.
Stating some of the qualities that stand him out, he said he was a disciplinarian and that Effective teaching is very important as well.
Having the talent of teaching is necessary, Ofudje noted, because if you don’t have that, you can’t teach, and without the help of God, one cannot be a teacher.
This article was originally published on OsunDaily News
