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…Captivating story of Badru Akeem, Ogun village teacher who won the 2023 Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Award
By Olakunle Olafioye
In the penultimate Thursday, the Federal House of Representatives indicated its intention to invite Mr Akeem Badru, the Ogun village teacher, who won the 2023 Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Award, to address the House and possibly to recommend him for a national honour for his feat and dedication to the teaching profession.
Mr Badru, a teacher at RCM St. Michael Primary School, Ogunpa Lunloye, Obafemi Owode LGA of Ogun State, beat 11,000 nominees from over 90 countries across the world to emerge the first African to win the coveted diadem.
In this interview, Mr Badru shared how he braved the odds from being a school dropout to becoming a globally celebrated teacher.
Let me start by congratulating you on your emergence as the winner of the 2023 Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Award. What is the feeling like beating 11,000 contestants from across the world to grab the award?
Thank you very much. My emergence as the winner of the 2023 Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Award came with a lot of feelings. Firstly, I want to say that the award is a reward of my long years of dedication and sacrifice to the teaching profession. Secondly, it has helped to reinforce in me the belief that investment in humanity brings the greatest reward. I see myself as someone who has won the FIFA World Cup because I work and emerged as a champion from a remote village which cannot be located on google maps. This has placed me in a position to encourage people that no matter how remote or how hopeless a situation or where they operate from may appear, something great can come out from there. If I, as a village teacher, can convert my fears, my challenges to an opportunity of becoming a global champion, they too can become somebody great in life.
What would you say you did exceptionally that fetched you this award?
Where one serves or teaches doesn’t really matter like the impact or one’s contribution in the lives of the people one is deployed to serve. Many people are surprised by the fact that the village where I work has no access to telecommunication service, which makes it really difficult for people to really have an idea of what I do in the school. My decision to give my best to my pupils and the people of the community led to my being rewarded with this global award. What I did differently and which stands me out stems from my decision to abandon city life and live in a village where there is no electricity, no telecommunication network, where one has to waddle through difficult terrain before getting to the school. Equally, working in that village requires serious determination. When I got to that village, I met pupils who were disenchanted with education because of their conditions. A lot of them came to school in tattered uniforms. As a teacher who is desirous of arousing the interest of my pupils in education, I decided, on a personal note, to procure and sew uniforms for all my students. Also, I observed that the students were limited by their environment because they don’t have access to what goes on outside their environment. So to bridge this gap, I put in for the Teach SDG programme, which made me a Teach SDG ambassador. As a Teach SDG ambassador, I had the obligation of teaching my pupil the 17 SDG goals of the United Nations. In particular I focused on SDG One, Zero Poverty. My pupils are largely from poor homes; they come to school without uniform, without food, which makes it difficult to impart knowledge on them. I made up my mind that I couldn’t just continue to prepare lesson notes when my pupils who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of the note are beset by a myriad of challenges, which made learning difficult. One of the challenges was that the majority of them were always absent from school owing to illnesses largely caused by water-borne diseases. So, I decided to sink a borehole in the village and this helped to address the problem of absenteeism as a result of illnesses. As a teacher, I so much believe in project-based learning. So, I went into a project which I call the First Step Initiative. It is a project which involves teaching students how to make models. Nigeria as a nation has been yearning to be a technologically advanced nation. This yearning will remain a dream if we don’t back it up with relevant actions. So as a paper modeler coupled with my belief in project-based learning, I engaged my pupils in how to make models, charging them to be more creative; to challenge their creative potential and their inquisitiveness and to promote their can-do spirit. These will go a long way for us to achieve our long term yearning as a nation to have children who can think critically and creatively, not just memorising facts just for the purpose of passing examinations.
You have been in that school for some years now. Result-wise now, how would you say you have been able to impart on the learning of your students?
I was posted to that school in September 2017. On getting to the school, I met a set of pupils who lacked self-confidence and who had little faith in education. Before my arrival, a report had it that teachers posted to the school were in the habit of seeking transfer after a term or two, so the pupils in the school were used to having no teachers to teach them. But on getting there in 2017, I decided that I was going to change the narrative in order to motivate the students and stimulate their interest in education. So, I decided to reside in the village with them. This afforded me the opportunity to have an experience of what they were going through. By staying in the village I was able to change their orientation and mentality about education. When I got there, I met pupils who could not write the first six letters of the English alphabet unaided, pupils who could not write one to 10 unaided; pupils who were frightened by mere sighting a teacher; all these I corrected by showing empathy and understanding about their being not only about their learning. After a few years I was able to build their confidence level and interest in education. I was equally able to motivate them to view things beyond their immediate environment.
How did your wife react to your plan to relocate to the village? Did she follow you with your kids?
That was the first major challenge I had. My plan initially was to go and return to my family in town on a daily basis, but I discovered that doing that would not help in realising my dream for my pupils because I discovered that they needed more time. So, I engaged my wife to see why there would be a need for us to show understanding and empathy with the students in order to be able to turn things around for them. So, she saw reasons with me. We agreed that she should stay and take care of our kids in the town while I travel to the village on Mondays and return on weekends. So, I want to appreciate her for showing understanding and for believing in my dreams.
Who is Akeem Badru?
Akeem Badru was born on 7th of November 1977. I had my primary education at African Church Primary School, Old Agbado, Lagos and my secondary school education at Ebenezer Comprehensive High School, Ijaye Ojokoro, Lagos, though I dropped out in SS 2.
Why did you drop out and how were you able to train to become a teacher?
I dropped out because my late father, who was a retired employee of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, could no longer finance my education as his gratuity and pension allowances were not forthcoming. After dropping out I decided to study on my own and put in for GCE, which I did about five times before I could make my papers. Then I proceeded to Federal College of Education Abeokuta where I enrolled for Pre-NCE and later NCE. I then proceeded to University of Ado Ekiti, now Ekiti State University, for my degree in education. Growing up, I believed I was gifted in terms of craft and artworks. As a child I was famous in my neighbourhood for building castles with sand. That particular ability made my late brother, Engineer Muritala Badru, believed that I would excel as an architect if I continued that way. But I could not continue my education to become an architect because of poor counselling. After my junior WAEC, one of my teachers misled me by saying that science class was meant for only the brilliant students. In the teacher’s estimation I was not good enough to go to science class. So, that was how the dream of becoming an architect fizzled out.
We heard that you have won several other awards by virtue of your dedication to the teaching profession. Can you tell us about these awards?
In 2020, I emerged the runner up Ogun State Teacher of the Year (Primary School) category. Last year I made the top 60 shortlisted candidates for the Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Award out of 7,000 nominees from 117 countries in the world. Aside from that I have been privileged to receive several letters of commendations starting with the State Universal Basic Education Board Secretary to the board chairman. Also there is another one from the immediate past Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mrs Ronke Soyombo. I have also received letters of commendation from various individuals and organisations. I am a member of International Paper Modelers (USA) and a member of Cut and Fold Paper Modelers (Canada). In 2015, my work was judged the Most Travelled Paper Model at the year’s convention. So, I became the first African to exhibit and win an award at paper modelers convention. In 2019, I joined Teach for Nigeria, which has a project called Be The Change project. So, I decided to go into a modeling project, which I called First Step Initiative. In 2021, the project emerged as one of the top four projects of the year.
What would you say is your proudest achievement so far?
My decision to sink a borehole in the community where I serve gives me the greatest joy. I received a cheque of N1 million after I won the most outstanding leadership award sponsored by Gbenga and Aisha Oyebode Foundation. As at the time of receiving the cheque in 2021, my bank account balance was N1.04., but despite not having enough as a person, I saw the need to sink a borehole in that village where I serve as the most pressing need of the time. So, I decided to invest the money in humanity; in giving the people of the village the opportunity to have access to potable borehole water. I bought a generator to power it and erected a scaffolding. The decision came with a lot of criticisms with some calling me names. Someone even said he doubted if I would be able to have anything that I will be able to boast of in future just because they believe I had squandered the opportunity to make any impact in my personal life. But I told them that the hand that gives will receive in multiple folds.
And have you started receiving in multiple folds?
I do not doubt God. I am sure God will make it happen at His own appointed time.
How did you receive the news of the proposal by the Federal House Representatives to recommend you for a national honour? Have you been officially notified?
It was a friend, Mrs Odedeji, who called me to notify me about it and later sent me the video clip of the session where my matter was discussed on the floor of the House. I am really excited about it. I am of the opinion that the move will go a long way in restoring the prestige of those of us in the teaching profession and it will encourage teachers to go extra miles in discharging their duties.
