South African anti-apartheid leader and philanthropist Nelson Mandela once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
This sentiment is particularly true in the case of a young Nigerian teacher named Henry Anumudu. He, motivated to fix the education system, abandoned a promising career in Communication and Media in 2017 to become a teacher in a public primary school in a low-income community in Abeokuta. While he started by teaching a class of over 80, he has evolved in two years to do beyond just teaching, to going all out to ensure that his students have whatever it takes (school fees, books, food, you name it) to succeed in spite of their limited resources.
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Henry Anumudu: Pioneer Fellow of Teach For Nigeria
Mr. Anumudu’s entire story began with LEAP Africa, where he volunteered for its iLEAD programme, while still working in the communications sector in Abuja. This afforded him the first-hand experience to the dynamics of the public education system. In his words,
“for the first time, I stood at the other side of the classroom and saw the power of education to bring out the best in people, and transform the mindset of children.”
–Henry Anumudu
Then, in 2017 he heard about ‘Teach for Nigeria’. His curiosity led him to research and the research that made him discover “The Crisis”, the catastrophe and the challenge of the Nigerian education system. This was the beginning of my transition to the education space.
Anumudu: Desire to Transform
According to him, he became a teacher because he wanted to be a solution to the complex problem of education in Nigeria, and more importantly, show the children who would be in his classroom that life gives so many possibilities beyond what their immediate environment may offer. That desire was what led to his resignation from his job to become a classroom teacher, under the Teach for Nigeria fellowship, working in a public primary school in Ogun State.
But Anumudu’s commitment is way beyond just the class, it translates to establishing personal relationships with the students and families. This often culminates in helping a family get a new house, buying food for a family going through hard times, raising capital for the small business of a mother, creating a menstrual pad bank for the girls in class, funding the food, transport, and fees for a child who lost their mother, and so on. This is usually achievable with the help of an online community.
In addition to this, Anumudu also has a mentoring program that is geared towards these children. He considers it as being very critical to filling certain gaps, especially with regards to establishing a model for these children to follow in the midst of poor models.
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Anumudu: The Orientation of a Hero
In an era where many people are avoiding teaching because of its meagre and sometimes infrequent salary, Anumudu has a different orientation. His mindset has been set to the fact that teaching is not for those who have the dream of becoming billionaires — or those who want to “blow” in our Nigerian parlance. It is however for those who are interested in tangibly impacting and affecting lives.
In the words of the former Federal Minister of Education, Dr Oby Ezekwesilli:
“Henry Anumudu is an incredible chap. He’s probably one of the Best Ambassador of the Teaching profession that I have ever known.”
– Dr Oby Ezekwesilli
An everyday Hero indeed!
Sources:
Pulse NG
Featured Image Source: Teach For Nigeria
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