Wife of Ekiti Governor, Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji
The wife of Ekiti State governor, Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji, has commenced a community service at Ekiti State University (EKSU), where she offered to teach students of Education Management for free as a way of contributing to development.
She started community service at the school yesterday in Ado-Ekiti and was in the classroom for about two hours to share knowledge with the students at the university, where she began her career as an academic and taught for 12 years before transferring her service to the University of Ibadan for family reasons.
Oyebanji said her gesture was borne out of the desire to leave the comfort of her office and engage the students in the academic work of teaching and imparting knowledge to them in the classroom.
Oyebanji, a senior lecturer at the University of Ibadan and presently awaiting her associate professorship, said she was excited to be back in the classroom at EKSU, where she started her career in academia and taught for 12 years before relocating to Ibadan.
The governor’s wife had earlier signified her intention to take time off her busy schedule to lecture students periodically at EKSU to contribute her quota to the development of students at the state-owned university.
Thereafter, Oyebanji similarly expressed readiness to lecture at Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD). Third-year (300-level) students in the Department of Education Management at EKSU were thrilled and excited to have her in the class to teach them a course, Leadership in Formal Organisations in which she dwelt on Theories of Leadership and entertained a series of questions from the students.
The students listened with rapt attention as Oyebanji, who asked the students to see her as their teacher and not as the governor’s wife, diligently dissected five theories considered during the EDM 303 class, which included Trait Theory, Behavioural Theory, Situational Theory, Contingency Theory, and Path-Goal Theory.
Apart from questions from students, Oyebanji also gave them opportunities to share their thoughts on issues thrown up in the course of learning various perspectives on theories studied and how they could apply them to situations they found themselves, especially as future leaders.
While urging the students to feel free and bare their minds during the lecture, Oyebanji said one of the aims she wanted to achieve with teaching the course was to inculcate the art of public speaking in the students, especially the female ones, noting that public speaking was an ingredient of leadership and effective communication.
In an interview after the two-hour lecture, Oyebanji said she was fulfilled to be involved in community service at the state university, teaching students, describing her interaction with them as worthwhile.
She added that she was contributing her quota to molding the character and shaping the personality of future leaders in her community. The co-lecturer of the EDM 303 course (Leadership in Formal Organisations) with the governor’s wife, Dr. Omowumi Ayodele, described Oyebanji’s gesture as motivating, noting that her students were excited to benefit from her intellect, experience, and mentorship.
She said: “Having the Oyebanji around to teach our students is highly motivating, I am highly motivated that I am taking this course alongside her. She is creating a path for the students toward believing that they can be successful.”
A senior academic lecturer in the department, Prof. Florence Adebayo, praised Oyebanji for her humility in choosing to offer free service at the state university.
She noted that Oyebanji had proved her mettle as a mother, a humble academician, a change agent, and a role model to the students. One of the students, who attended the lecture, Ismail Abdullahi, said he gained a lot from the various perspectives and true life experiences Oyebanji shared, which would make her teaching indelible in his memory.
The Guardian
