Among the exceptions -By Ismail Misbahu

It is Mufnajꟷone of the elitist private schools you may wish to work and get a fairly good salary, an average of N500,000 to a maximum of N1000,000 per annum depending on your qualification and experience. As a center of learning, Kaduna State is the place where you can find many such.

Mufnajꟷa contraction of two names (Mufida and Najib) compounding into another properꟷMufnaj International School is one of such schools. It is owned by a visionary, determined and humorous proprietress, Hajiya Binta Inuwa in whose image the school cuts a figure and from whose personality forms the sanctuary of its Western-cum-religious knowledge, training and practical skill acquisition.

Far from the outer contours of its structural design and the impressions of its practical skill, the up-to-date learning standard of the school is, comparable if at all, to few others; the likes of Legacy owned by Hajiya Hadiza Mailafiya, former Minister of Environment. Far more than just one comparison, the school in terms of its deliberation and the teaching method, as well as the syllabic orientation of its curricula including children e-learning softwares, practical computer class, a well-equipped reading room and practical laboratory is, incomparable to many in Kaduna state!

The multi-lingual orientation of the school instructions indeed has a decisive impact on the children’s communication and writing skills in English, Arabic and French. The diverse reality of the school staff and student composition is a clear simile of the cultural reality of the people of Kaduna state and Nigeria as a whole. ‘Everyone’s child is my son’ has a bolder impression on the sociological and moral character of the school environment. The children are carried along by their teachers with all the warm-and-heartꟷimitation in class, emulation in prayers, habituation of morals and inculcations of right attitudes and ideas and so many more. In addition to academic schedules, extra time and space are also allocated for special training ahead of future competitions: art and craft exhibition, essay writing, pick-and-talk, quiz, Khutbah, students excursion etcetera. Clubs such as Literary Class, Young Writers Club, Press Clubꟷincluding Children School Magazine are also initiated and accommodated.

Behind all the above are the ideas and spiritual devotion, faith and sacrifice of a kind woman, Mrs. Inuwa and of course, the eye-caring courage of her fanciful coordinator, Mr. Suleiman Danjuma a.k.a ‘Baba Suleiman’ as well as the combined efforts of their administrative and teaching staff put together.

If you are living in T/Wada and its surrounding environs: U/Sanusi, U/Mu’azu, HayiꟷExpress, and Bakin Ruwa, Kinkinau, Badiko, and the areas close to State Government and Military Training Quarters, Kasuwar Bacci areas, T/Nupawa and various other areas along Ahmadu Bello and Alikilu roads, I suggest you send your child/children to Mufnaj International School. Sales of Admission into J.S.S. 1-3 has begun and considering the conducive atmosphere for learning, limited space is given to the number of new intakes and admission into the college will soon be closed.

My submission in this article (and what many may view as a mere ‘praise-singing’), is sincerely not contradictory to what I had written more than half a year ago. My appeal in the previous piece about the victimization of teacher’s intellect and the disdain and haughtiness they ungodly face in the company of ‘mighty parents’ is, I must say, to the exclusion of few and Mufnaj International School is among the exceptions. However, the rare occurrences of such attitudes cannot be taken for granted more so when such attitudes are, in some places, being materialized with degenerative consequences. Parents’ love of their children is only guided by the right dos and don’ts, which are not only confined to children school instructions but also the authority patterns of their homesꟷtheir parental/family parameters and of course, their cognitive styled orientation. Too much love for children is a disaster; bowing before their wishes is anachronistic as well as worshipping their desires is counter-productive.

These attitudes have still been at play in many families with overlapping significance on the children’s school environments. Many private schools, because of their profiteering, tend to exhibit this same moral decadence accommodating the children’s engendering instincts while burdening their teaching staff with irresponsibility. It is the mismatch of these attitudes that weakens the strength of parent-Teachers Associations in virtually every place you can imagine. Worse that State Governments and their MOEs have become the beneficiaries of this systemꟷso much that many of these elitist private schools are indeed owned by their functionaries. Their children so they are to act with supreme impunity while the teacher is made to abuse his professional instructions and let reign of the children’s boastful superior cards!

With the exception of a few schools like Mufnaj, the status of a teacher is nothing but servility! The privilege of his profession has been eroded; his sacrifice has no longer been appreciated. Not least is his meagre package that has not only been delayed but also exploited to source credit loans in banks. And all its ended with a styled leadership that has, too often than not, been exhibiting tendencies of disaster capitalismꟷa government with dying interest to steal from public fund and invest privately. A government that has no mercy to its employees, not even those in private sectors whose employment status and salary scheme is recycling within its decisively exploitative tinctures and chains.

However, there is hope after all and hopefully such could be derived from people with deeper humane virtuoso, the likes of Mrs. Inuwaꟷthe ‘no-idea-is-nonsense’ꟷa woman full of peaceful mind. She doesn’t under-look on anybody nor does she underrate any idea brought to her fore. She does appreciate it even if she would not actuate. Such is a woman under whose intimacy we all promise to dedicate our service and under whose shed we all earn our smart living, such an industrious woman, our mother. You may wish to add that as a Muslim, the human sense in Mrs. Inuwa is her generousnessꟷbinded by her moderate disposition that worth more than the value of money. Such are the people I value the most. For Mrs. Inuwa is like that, no room for hyperbole. She is like you see, typical of her full naturedness.

Mr. Misbahu wrote from Kaduna.