It was 11.00a.m. You have been waiting in her office for a couple of minutes. Then she breezed in and apologized profusely for having kept you waiting. She explained that she had been making the rounds of the classes to ensure that the on-going second term examination was hitch-free.

Mrs Olubusola Tanimowo Odubawo, the Vice Principal, Lagos City College, Yaba is just being true to a character trait that earned her a diadem as the Best Vice Principal among her peers in the 24 post-primary schools under Mainland zone, District IV of the Lagos State Education Authority.
For Odubawo, the honour was the crowning of over two decades of hard work and dedication to duty, although she tells you the kick she got from helping to shape the future lives of her young pupils was enough reward for her.

A consummate tutor, Odubawo had, upon graduation from the University of Lagos where she studied sociology in 1984, settled for a teaching career under the then Lagos State Post-Primary Teaching Commission in 1985. She started as a classroom teacher at Randle Secondary School, Apapa (now State High School), where she taught for seven years rising to the position of a year tutor, overseeing both students and teachers in a class steam.

She got transferred to Angus Memorial Senior High School, Somolu in 1992, where she continued the streak of achievements as a year tutor and later Head of Department of Arts and Social Sciences.
It was from here that she was redeployed on promotion as vice principal of the Lagos City College, Yaba in 2002.

Her citation at the award event remarked: "Mrs Olubusola Tanimowo Odubawo has been a very outstanding and efficient administrator in the district and therefore deserves this award."
The educationist herself told Daily Sun in an interview: "I’ve always loved to be a teacher because I love to help in shaping lives, molding characters and imparting knowledge in our young ones. It was my flair and special preference in education that spurred me to go back to the university to obtain post-graduate diploma in Education and later Masters degree in Education, with specialization in guidance and counseling."

She describes her experience in the profession as worthwhile and interesting, disclosing that despite her tight schedule of duties, she still took time to teach her pupils social science subjects like Government.
Odubawo said further: "As VP, the two principals I’ve worked with have absolute confidence in me, that even when they are not around, I take charge of the school, because I’m already familiar with administrative functions and roles.

A relatively young woman, you ask how the school boss manages her subordinates who are older. Odubawo explains: "Due to my humility, sense of responsibility, I am able to carry my colleagues along. I simply make them see that the job needs to be done, but I give respect to those that deserve it. I don’t lose my head, because some of my contemporaries are on the same grade level as me, it is just that they were not given duty post."

But could such deference not compromise discipline, you ask Odubawo. She declares: "Ah! I can be very strict, but at the same time, fair, very easy-going, but firm."
She says further: "The students know me as a very strict disciplinarian, God-fearing, honest and absolutely loyal," adding that she would not be surprised if they had a nick-name for her.

Odubawo’s uncompromising stand on examination malpractices has made her school unattractive to examination cheats. "Personally, I hate exam cheating. We have zero tolerance for it here and when they (cheats) are caught, they know they’ll be severely punished. You either get suspended indefinitely or have to repeat the class, because we’re not given the right to expel," she says.
Mrs Odubawo says the insinuation that private schools are better than public schools was a ruse, explaining that public schools have more competent, experienced, and qualified teachers, many of whom are graduates.

The problem of poor performance in external examinations involving both sectors such as GCE, NECO and JME, she explains, has to do with other stakeholders, including the parents and the pupils themselves.

"Because of free education in Lagos State, many parents are nonchalant and have lackadaisical attitude towards the education of their children and wards, by not monitoring them properly. For instance, a large number of them don’t buy textbooks and other learning materials the pupils need.
"What operates in the society now is how to make fast money, you know, Yahoozee. They don’t check on the children, if they did their home work or not. Of course, this may lead to the pupils under-achieving in school.

Also, some pupils leave home, collect money from their parents and won’t show up in schools. It is only at the end of the term, or the academic session that the parents now come to know. This is not right," says Odubawo.
The educationist was full of praise to her current and immediate past bosses for encouraging her and thanked the Tutor General in District IV, Mrs Muinat Wonuola Idris who she described as a woman of vision and mission for instituting the awards which she figured would promote productivity in the teaching profession.