Mixed reactions as Best Performing Teacher Rewarded with 9 Cups of Beans, 2 Yam Tubers, Palm Oil

Mixed reactions have greeted a trending report of an Imo state secondary school teacher, Mr Sunday Nwafor, who took home nine cups of beans, two tubers of yam and a bottle of palm oil as reward for emerging the best performing teacher in his school.

Nwafor’s recognition resulted from the assessment by the graduating students of the school where he works. The students had passed their West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) in flying colours and said their success was down to their teachers, from among whom they singled Nwafor out as having performed best.

The star teacher is reported to have put in extra hours of private lessons which he runs at a centre. For the effort, he was presented those items and an envelope containing an undisclosed amount.
AnambraDaily gathered that the award was given to the teacher in Owerri, on Monday, August 15, by TourGecko TV, an educational vlog.

Founder of TourGecko TV, Dr Chinenye Nwabueze, said the outfit decided to recognise Nwafor the best way it could just so as to encourage him to keep on the good work he was doing.
Nwabueze, a former teacher for many years, lamented that teachers at primary and secondary school levels were not given the recognition they deserved despite the tasking nature of their work.
He added that the bulk of the work of shaping school children, took place at those levels and as such, teachers needed to be rewarded for good work.

According to him: “It is not about the items we gave as reward. It is all about recognising good work. Just like Nwafor, there are many teachers who are doing great jobs training our kids but they don’t get recognised. I thought that, instead of leaving this young man like that, let me do something to appreciate his good work. This man does not only teach students but he goes the extra mile to follow up on their studies, giving them extra lessons and encouraging them to do well.
Graduating students of the private school where he works all passed their WASC exam. Though this is a result of joint effort by the entire teachers, he was singled out by the graduating students themselves as their best teacher.”

This award is a private affair of TourGecko TV and we have been doing this on our own for a while, privately recognising teachers who go the extra mile in their schools to train their students.”
Reacting to the award, Nwafor thanked TourGecko TV for recognising his efforts, adding that his students also deserved commendation because they worked hard to pass their exams too. He said the award had encouraged him to even do more for his students and promised to remain dedicated to his work.

This paper gathered that the trending story has been greeted with mixed views on the social media with most commentators expressing displeasure over the prize.
Chidi Kay, described it as mockery; an indication of how low the country had sunk due to economic crisis. He wrote: “Wages of good work is just 9 cups of beans and 2 tubers of yam. Them for add extra 1 cup to make it 10 cups. This country is on cruise control.”

Another commentator, speaking under the name Care4u, reacted: “Imo state is the only state that’s disgracing the entire South East … tufiakwa! Ebonyi state is even far better than that shit of a state… Just negodi….iberibe!”

Another, Chnnnah adds: “Imagine … what a gift! Because they know there’s hunger in the land and the teacher can’t reject it. I don’t know but this is somehow.”
Richy, in his contribution, however, view it as commendable effort. “That’s just nice … It’s just like the widow’s mite.The heart of the givers is what matters. Assuming they got more, they would have done more than that.”
Onyeka Zonefree said: “That’s commendable. Eat first. What’s in the stomach carries what’s in the head. Next time, try make the beans round number, like 10 cups.”

Anyi Amaka, however, stressed the need for government and corporate organisations to pay greater attention to reward of academic excellence, She wrote: “This is worthy of front page, abeg. How will Nigeria ever get better with hardworking people, rewarded in this manner? The sponsors of BBN 9ja should give this hardworking Nigerian youth N10m. Gov Hope Uzodinma should, as a matter of urgency, give that teacher scholarship for further studies abroad subject to his return to Imo state upon the completion of his programme to continue the good work in the state university. The fact that his students arranged this shows that he is indeed impactful to the society.