By Taiwo Obe
I failed physics and mathematics in my West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) because I only attended the classes to mark the register. Our teacher in the two subjects remains till date one of my most uninspiring teachers ever. Never mind that some of my classmates made good grades in the subjects – taught by the same man, of course. As far as I was concerned, he was too boring and
I could not be bothered.
But, my dad wanted me to be a pharmacist.
So, for about two years, I attended Remedial School at the University of Ibadan, to re-sit those two subjects. Although I now had better instructions from someone whom I consider a far, far, far better teacher of the subjects – Prof Lateef Akanni Hussain (who would later become the seventh vice chancellor of the Lagos State University) – I could only manage two passes which would not qualify me for admission to study pharmacy at any university.
Left to me, I should just have been left alone to study journalism or the broader mass communication, which I eventually did.
The story of this brilliant, unassuming girl featured this week in mytori.ng is almost similar to mine. One year that she had a
mathematics teacher she considered uninspiring, she missed a prize she had readily earned twice when her favourite teacher taught her. And, until interventions from her mum and other outsiders, her dad had insisted that she should study medicine instead of studying to be a pilot.
On this International Day of the Girl Child, it is my hope that the Chairman of Air Peace Limited, Allen Onyema would help in leading the support for Mariam, in every material particular.
It is also my hope that you would consider subscribing to mytori.ng so that you can be receiving the toris in your box, hot and fresh, every Sunday evening (for now).
You can do that here, and it does not take too much time: https://lnkd.in/deF5A_FZ
And, please, don’t forget to tell others to be part of this exciting journey…because we are humans together.
mytori.ng
