Ademola Aderemi
“If I should return to this world, I would want to be a teacher.”
Those were the words of foremost educationist, Alhaja Wusamot Adegoke, at the launch of a biography to celebrate her 80th birthday recently.
It is commonly said that the reward of a teacher is in heaven after his or her hard work on earth. But that was not the case for Alhaja Adegoke. On Sunday, June 30, her old students from over 50 years, members of Ansar-Ud-Deen High School Old Students’ Association (AHOSA), converged on Lagos to celebrate the octogenarian on her 80th birthday.
Torrents of encomiums were poured on the teacher, from whose fountain of knowledge many had drunk. She was described as committed, versatile and intelligent. Many of the former students testified that she was a disciplinarian, a great leader as well as a religious and caring woman.
The old students also used the avenue to launch her biography, Life of Service. The event, which was held at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research Suites, Yaba, Lagos, was mainly attended by students who graduated from the school between 1967 and 1991.
The president of AHOSA, Mr. Rafiu Williams, described the celebrant as inspiring, unique and a paragon of virtue. He said the accolades that were being poured on Madam Adegoke were no exaggeration. In his words, the teacher was unassuming yet inspiring and God’s gift to humanity. He added that the teacher inspired the lives of her students in different ways.
“There is hardly any alumnus seated here today who has not been put straight at some point by her sharp rebuke or a good dose of the cane, if and when the need arose. And if, as a pupil, you did something exemplary, you became a reference point in her admonition to other students. Behind all these was her abiding determination to make better citizens of us all. The alumni of this great school hereby say a big thank you to this great mentor,” he said.
He recalled that the idea of a biography for the teacher was mooted sometime in 2007, noting that Mama’s labour was not in vain, as she was being rerwarded in her lifetime. He praised two old students, Alhaja Faozat Ogunniyi and Wale Oshodi, for suggesting a biography of Mrs. Adegoke.
In his address, the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, who was represented by Hon. Ajala Rasaq, described the celebrant as an exemplary figure and a force to reckon with in the mental development of several industry movers in the country today. He thanked her for her immense contributions in shaping the mental capacity of students.
The chairperson on the occasion, Mrs. Foluke Abdulrasaq, joined others to praise the celebrant, saying she was a loving, caring and generous woman. She said Adegoke was unselfish with her knowledge, and passed same from one generation to another.
“She is enriched with wisdom like no other, and I am glad that we get to celebrate her while she is still alive and strong at 80, even before she gets the heavenly reward,” Abdulrasaq said.
One of her old students, Alhaji Rafiu Ebiti, said there was no doubt that the celebrant was a role model to several people. He prayed for more grace and health for the octogenarian.
Also speaking to journalists, former colleague of the celebrant, Otunba Owolabi Sanni enthused that that he got to know the celebrant “about 50 years ago when we were both teaching at Ansar-Ud-Deen High School. She is a very pleasant, charming and easy-going woman. She is a deeply religious person in the Islamic faith, and she is a born teacher.
“The students that were posted to our school in those days were usually not very brilliant ones. But, with a bit of hard work from people like Mrs. Adegoke, we were able to give them a vision and mission. And today, we have some of them as Senior Advocates of Nigeria and Fellows of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, among others.”
On what endeared her to her former students, Madam Adegoke, who could not curtail her joy, thanked all her students who put efforts together to celebrate her.
Her words: “I feel very happy; I feel fulfilled. My time in that school as a teacher was beyond just teaching them. I grew up with them. I was privileged to see the world through their eyes, and they also saw the world through mine. I was like a mother to them. When it was time to parent them, I did, and when it was time to discipline them, I disciplined them very well.
“My message to new-breed teachers: They must show more dedication and passion to this career they have chosen. They must remember that at all times these children they teach, they represent a trust that someone, be it parents, guardians or government, has placed in them. Hence, they should ensure they deliver and not disappoint or betray such trust. If I should come back again to this world, I would want to be a teacher, because I have no regrets being one.”
She became principal of Ansar-Ud-Deen High School in 1981, until her voluntary retirement in 1991.