The Teachers Who Shaped My Life

People often ask who taught me. The honest answer is that I cannot give one name. I was shaped by many teachers, some in classrooms and some far from any classroom.

It began at home

My first teacher was my mother, Modesta. She is a nurse and a midwife, and she taught me to read. Everything else I learned rests on that.

my father, Godwin taught our family about our African roots. He is no longer with us, but what he taught me is the reason I do the work I do today.

Then there is my elder brother, Benjamin. He taught me to read widely and to keep my focus on Africa.

Friends who taught without a classroom

Koncheski Boraski is a friend from the same streets of Nkpor. He taught me to read long articles to the end, and that habit changed how I read and how I write.

In the classroom

Mrs Ikwere taught me mathematics, and she gave me the foundation I still stand on and teach from. I also learned a great deal from my private teachers, who taught me outside the classroom. And Sir Law, my computer lead teacher and the owner of the place where I learned, opened the door to the world of computers for me.

What they taught me together

None of them taught the same thing, yet together they made me a teacher. This Teachers' Day, I say thank you to every one of them.