Follow Us on Google
By Henry Uche
Mrs Joy Kalu-Nwiwu is a distinguished scholar, who retired as Chief Lecturer, Department of Mass Communication, from Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, Imo State. She held different administrative positions as Head of Department. Mass Communications and later Dean of Studies, School of Humanities and Social Studies, now known as School of General Studies. An expert in Guidance and Counselling, she been engaged in counselling and advising the young generation on career paths, marriage,etc. In this interview, she goes back in time and laments the decline in reading culture and indiscipline among young people, among other topical issues.
As a retired scholar, what were your observations in the Polytechnic Community where you served? The good, the bad and the ugly.
I’ll proudly say that I had a wonderful observation, both positively and negatively, in the Polytechnic educational community where I served. Let me begin with my university days, I never heard nor experienced what is popularly known as ‘sorting’. It was never a language used in my own time. In the late 70s and early 80s, when I was in the university, none of my lecturers molested me, abused us or demanded gratification. So I didn’t know that language. I schooled in the north and with that orientation, I came back here holding the Bible verse that says “Freely I was given, and freely I should give”. With that mind mindset, I came to our Polytechnic community to give my all, to serve with all sincerity, with all sense of duty and purpose, to make sure that I groom the children kept under my custody so that they will be worthy, both in learning and character. I know that there were so many of us who had the same inclination like me, but along the line, a lot of things started changing. So many people saw the community as a gold mine, an oil well where they will come to squeeze out the blood out of the students, in the name of making it so that they will buy splashy cars, build gigantic houses or build hostels and so on. I couldn’t even buy any piece of land for myself. Neither could I buy exotic cars until I retired. That was not my priority. My priority was to serve divinity through humanity with all sincerity, with all sense of purpose to groom children who will any day, anytime they see me, they will be proud to identify that this mama was my lecturer. That was my mindset.
I am appalled by some of the things that happened while I was there and what is still happening today. I shed tears concerning education. Many lecturers are no more ready to impart knowledge to impact on the lives of those that are kept under their custody. It’s so fortunate. They are all there to make money to rip off students and parents. It doesn’t bother them any longer, no conscience, nothing. It’s unfortunate, quite unfortunate. That is why so many parents have resolved to make money to send their children abroad, by all means possible. That is why we are having this brain drain when people are frustrated by their lecturers, even in the universities, you pay through your nose, you will defend and defend you will be marked down. You will be punished unnecessarily. Sometimes, that is why some people, out of frustration, they have decided to sell whatever they can sell and go abroad and make it. It’s unfortunate. Everybody in the society is at fault, so to say! We all have a stake here. We all have to contribute positively to make our institutions worth it. I gave what I have by God’s grace, with all humility, with all transparency, believing that God is a rewarder of all. So, I advise anyone, wherever you are, be conscious of what you do, because time shall come when you will be remembered for what you have done – whether we did it right or not. We all shall receive all our recompense.
If you were the Rector at the time, what would you have done differently?
(Smiles) Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. One tree does not make a forest. One may have all the good intentions, all the good ideas and all sincerity and transparency to perform, but will he or she be given that opportunity to do it exactly how you he or she wants to do it, giving the opposition party, giving the society, the political influences around him or her? It’s not easy to be the head of an institution. Sometimes you are not even there on your own. You are there because some political big wigs said you should be there, and therefore you have no say of your own. I won’t even answer that question in depth, because I don’t even know, because there are less, a lot less you have more groups of people that will support your laudable ideas, righteous ideas, but you see some who will be thinking that you have come there to block their ways, and they will be vehemently opposing you, going to any length to make sure they destabilize your tenure. Yes it is so. It has happened several times and it is still happening. So the only thing I can say is that anybody who decides to vie for rectorship or vice chancellorship should pray hard, but first and foremost, you must discipline yourself. Know your God, then with your knees, you can control the physical and all other things will fall into place. This is the way I will answer this question, because I don’t know. I used my little experience as an HOD, and I said, if not for God’s mercy and guidance, as small as HODship position is, I knew the spiritual manipulations I experienced. It wasn’t easy, but it has been God’s grace all along. So being at that apex is a battle. It requires God’s grace and support from the higher might, positively anywhere. That is what I will say. Don’t want to go deep into that area. It is bigger than what we see. It is much bigger than what we see in the surface. It takes the heart of a lion for somebody to be there and still maintain his or her sanity. It is just by God’s grace. That is the much I can say.
Administrative and academic work, which would you advise anyone under your tutelage to go for and why?
Well, it depends on individuals. There are some people who are in academics, quite all right, but at a time, they find it cumbersome, weighing them down and so on, while some prefer the administrative side of institution. I will not force anybody. It’s a matter of personal choice, but if I may advise, academic work is better because it gives someone opportunity to be exposed- academically and otherwise, because visiting, traveling, meeting with academic gurus within and outside the shores of the nation, it widens someone’s horizon. It helps one to grow so it helps to nurture one’s world. So, academic work exposes one positively much more than administrative. There are some administrative advantages too for those in that lane. They too have been exposed in their own areas too. They have met with others in other places, attending local seminars, world class seminars, class seminars and so on. It depends on somebody’s inclination and how that person wants to pursue his or her career choice. It depends on how ready one is willing to sacrifice to get there. Of course some administrative staff have made it even to PhD level. It is an individual decision, but I would rather put academics first because it exposes one better and deeper.
Make us understand in very clear terms, the difference between lecturing and teaching as well as their relevance
Unfortunately, many people don’t know the difference between lecturing and teaching. In the primary level, secondary level, we are involved basically in teaching – that is, critical teaching, opening up all relevant avenues to imbibe, instill knowledge and discipline in the students, pupils under your tutelage. At that level, you go deep down to the rudiments, to the basics in teaching, expository teaching, making sure that the child is well grounded in the nitty-gritty at of the subject you are teaching. But when we come to lecturing and the lecturing level, we are supposed to assume that all the basic knowledge the child should possess has been acquired, and the child has had such basic knowledge from the primary to secondary before doubling into tertiary institutions. Tertiary level is meant for mature minds, where you can on your own study, research, make your own input without much guidance. Not that the lecturer will not guide. The lecturer comes in, exposes you to different angles, different authors, different ideas, different theories, and then discusses such in the class, and gives you your freedom to go and study more, make in depth research and bring back something, make your own impact. But in the teaching, it is assumed you don’t even know it. You have come to learn what you don’t know at all. Nobody assumes that you know it at the teaching level, it is you that will impart that knowledge from the basics to the child and guide that child, expose that child and make sure that he or she knows how to go about reading, studying assignments, take home guiding the child to get himself equipped. Having done that, you now assume that by the time a child gets groomed at these levels, by the time he gets to the tertiary, he can now be on his own, to explore on his own, even without the lecturer coming into the class once you are given your course outline, you can go online, you can do research. You can go to the library. You can do anything you can to get facts concerning that topic, and then still deliver. Most lecturers even learn from their students, yes it happens, for those who are actually very ready. Unfortunately, what we have these days is no more lecturing. Personally, I didn’t lecture. I taught the students. Some didn’t give us the opportunity to know you that there were basics that they had before coming into the higher institution. What is happening today at the primary and secondary levels to teachers is quite unfortunate. I don’t know what they did at that level, because the students did not even know the basics. Let me use the English language curriculum subject. There are simple or basic grammar that a child should have been conversant with from primary and secondary, but when they come to the tertiary, you begin to wonder, whether these children really went through the four walls of any school, whether local or international or whatever; you begin to wonder what kind of schools did they go to? Some of them who claim to have gone through private schools in the secondary level. You begin to wonder, they don’t know certain basic rules of grammar and sentence structure, especially the tenses. It is a problem with so many people. Some people don’t know when they should use the past tense, or present tense. When some of them grammatical errors, they don’t know it was a grammatical error and immediately correct themselves. Anybody can make a slip of tongue and you still correct yourself. But some people keep saying, ‘I has and so on in English’ I don’t know what kind of basic teaching they really had. I have seen somebody in HND II who could not even write a simple essay with proper punctuation. Some people still write their names with small letters, not knowing that names of in human beings, places and so on, is proper noun that should be written with capital letter even at final year level. That is unfortunate. The teaching is no more even done at the levels they are supposed to be done. Therefore we end up, those who have the conscience among us will end up partly going back to the basics, teaching before talking about lecturing, but I didn’t know whether I actually lectured. I taught all through my career, yes I taught, I know very well that, each topic I dabbled into, you see me going back to where the students were having problems, sometimes I had to start teaching from the scratch to bring them up so we can continue where we are. It was tedious. It’s unfortunate people don’t know the difference between teaching and lecturing. I think we need more of teachers (competent ones), than lecturers because of the impact they make in the lives of our children.
