Life And People
Uncle Ochei, our form teacher -By Onyejaka Alex Arinze
He spoke impeccable English language. Flawless. But whenever he was angry, he often was, mostly disappointed with lowering standards of education, he would spiced his English with rich Igbo proverbs to drive home his point. “Onye muru nwa n’eri ukpo n’agha? He would interject. His avuncular disposition towards us can never be forgotten.
Everyone of my peers at St. Peter’s primary school, Asaba, Delta state, owes him a debt of gratitude. We loved and dreaded his cane with equal measure. A moral gadfly. An educationist par excellent. A disciplinarian. Parents lobbied for their wards to be placed in his class–primary 5A. Where he stood as the chief priest of the school. He was not the Head teacher but the heart of the school. He was the school mirror. Sometimes, he dropped the cane and disciplined our young minds with words. Words that fed and made us grew older than our age mates. He spoke impeccable English language. Flawless. But whenever he was angry, he often was, mostly disappointed with lowering standards of education, he would spiced his English with rich Igbo proverbs to drive home his point. “Onye muru nwa n’eri ukpo n’agha? He would interject. His avuncular disposition towards us can never be forgotten.
On this International Teachers’ day, we celebrate him.
Onyejaka Alex Arinze
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