Mrs Udoh: The Versatile Teacher

Recognised by Nkuzify as Distinguished Teacher of the Year.

Ask some students about Mrs Udoh and they will first tell you she was very strict with them. Then, almost in the same breath, they will tell you how much they love her for it.

Who she is

Mrs Oluwarantimi Amarachi (Udoh) is the former Principal of Maris and Lois Modern Schools in Abakaliki. She studied Chemistry at Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike (FUNAI), and she does not only teach Chemistry. She teaches many other subjects too. She also has plans to go back to school and study further, along with other plans she is working on.

While she was there, and together with Mrs Queen Ese, Nkuzify Tech trained more than 100 students from the school, and each of them got a login on our portal. Many of those students have gone on to do great things, and a lot of that goes back to the influence of the two women who led the school.

What she taught me

In Nigeria today, many children are not being disciplined in school, and some teachers and school leaders even pet the children so that the children will like them. Mrs Udoh is just not like that. She tells you what to do, and you do it. If you refuse, you will face the consequences.

Some teachers think that if they are too nice, the students will love them. Mrs Udoh believes the opposite. If you are firm with children, they may not like you now, but they will love you later. Her students have proved her right. They love her because she stands up for herself, because she is strong, and because she gave them discipline, even when it was not what they wanted at the time.

A moment I remember

One of the hardest jobs in any school is writing the timetable, especially when part-time teachers are involved, because everybody has a different free day and a different free time. Mrs Udoh is very good at it. She is also very good at handling many things at once. She can hold down a number of classes at the same time and make sure every one of them is running well. If a teacher is absent, she can step in and teach that class herself, whatever the subject is. That is how lively and capable she is.

She is usually the form teacher of JS1, and those children shower her with gifts, no matter how firmly she corrects them when it has to be done. That alone tells you how they feel about her.

Goofy, friendly and funny

Behind the strict face is a goofy and friendly person. Mrs Udoh is known for a humorous cuss that her students know her for, and even her fellow teachers know it too: she will look at you and say, "You're a kangaroo!" Nobody takes offence. It is just Mrs Udoh being Mrs Udoh, and it is one more reason the strict teacher is so easy to love.

Thank you

Happy Teachers' Day, Mrs Udoh, from all of us at Nkuzify. Thank you for showing us that a teacher can be strict and still be loved.

Make a Thank You card for your own teacher

Where she is today: Mrs Udoh is now a manager at Godwyn Gate Nigeria Limited, a registered company in Port Harcourt that deals in real estate, travel and tours, and car services. She has carried the lessons she learnt as a teacher into her work there, which shows that a good teacher is useful everywhere.