In this interview with ARUKAINO UMUKORO, 80-year-old Florence Izundu, shares her experience as a teacher
Where were you born?
I was born on September, 1933, in a village in Anambra State.
How was growing up?
During my childhood, people did not use to travel far. The young ones took better care of the old people and kept food for them. People loved themselves more than now. Then, your neighbour look after your children when you went to the market or another town. We enjoyed village life. In urban areas today, children are holed up in one flat with no space outside. In the village, we had large areas to play. Children need large areas to play. As children, we went to the forests to look for fruits and suck the nectar from flowers. Under the moonlight we enjoyed stories from our elders. Our elders were good storytellers. We also sang songs. We fetched firewood for the old. Boys and girls played together and went to the stream to swim and fetch water. Today, I hear of rape cases and all other social vices. It was not so in our days. Then, the moral standard was high.
What do you think is responsible for the moral decadence today?
So many things contributed to it. One of them is urbanisation. People come to live in the city where they will ‘chop their life’ as they call it. They refuse to farm. The lure of money and the advent of television are other factors. In our days, we watched only cinemas which a vehicle brought to the village. We watched them on projectors. But now, they show those things that children ought not to see at a young age.
Tell us about your schooling?
I attended St Paul’s Anglican Primary School, and St. Monica’s Teacher Training College, Anambra State. In those days, schools owned by the missionaries employed one as assistant teacher if one performed well. The education standard was high then. I did training for about two years and then sat for the examination to enter the teacher college. Those who passed were shortlisted. At the end of the course, they came to recruit teachers, final year students, from the college. The system then was that after training at the college, you go to the field for two years training before entering the final course for another two years. Then one would be posted to other mission schools to go and teach. During that time, the school calendar was from January to December.
What are some of the values you learnt from your parents?
They taught me how to farm. So, wherever I went to teach, I went to the farm when I returned. In mission schools, they had land for farming to plant different crops. Our parents taught us to be punctual and do our household chores on time. If we went late to school, our parents told our teachers to flog us because we did not wake up on time to do our household chores.
How would you advise parents to train their children?
We have been advising them. Now, some boarding schools don’t allow the use of mobile phones. When there were no phones, children focused on learning. But today, pupils go to class to play games. They don’t read, teachers only waste time to teach them. In our time, our parents carried us to our teachers to beat us if we did something wrong. Today, it is not the case. Rich parents can put a teacher in prison for beating up their child and also buy certificates. Training begins at home. People love to pursue money now, leaving the children in the hands of house helps and maids. Some of them who are not well trained morally will rape the children entrusted in their care. So, we are in a terrible situation now. Children need the attention of their parents.
When was your first teaching experience?
It was in 1952 at the Central School, Anambra State. After training, we were expected to work for the mission schools as a teacher. Anyone who broke that rule to leave after the training would be made to pay the mission for the training. After the four-year training, we served for four years. If the training was for two years, one would serve two years. I don’t know how much one was required to pay if one didn’t keep to the agreement. Although teachers were not well paid then, but they were well trained and well catered for. I would just say teaching is a noble profession. I did four years of training and four years of post training experience. I completed my training and got my full qualifications as a professional teacher in 1960.
How was your working experience and when did you retire?
I started as a qualified professional teacher in 1960, as I said earlier. I did pre-teacher training before then. I retired in 1990 as headmistress, Chita Primary School, Surulere. We enjoyed teaching in those days. One, teachers’ quarters were in the schools’ compound and teachers were prompt to school. We didn’t charge pupils for extra teaching. Extra lessons were voluntary. There were regular sporting activities. Also, one of the conditions given by the government for establishing a school was that the school should have a large field for sports. Today, you see garages that are called call private schools. Things were better organised then.
Can you remember your first salary?
My first salary was £7, six shillings per annum. It was enough. The head teacher had his own house.
In how many schools did you teach?
I taught in many schools in the east and in Lagos. I was posted to some mission schools in Imo State, before I was redeployed to Anambra State. In December, 1961, when I got married, I joined my husband in Lagos and was transferred to Marina. I was posted to Cathedral School, Marina. My husband had just bought a plot of land in Surulere then. I had a student who used to trek from the Island in the morning to my place in Surulere to help me carry my books to the school. But there were also school buses at that time. Later, I requested for a transfer because of the distance and I was posted to Premier School, Aguda, Surulere. I worked there until the civil war in 1967. That was the year we went back to Anambra State.
What was your experience of the civil war?
We suffered a great deal. The mission managed to keep the teachers working in the school. But they did not pay money. They gave us food brought from overseas. We had classes under trees as war planes flew over.
After the war what happened?
At the end of the civil war in 1970, I taught in other mission schools in the east. My husband, who was working in the ministry of finance, was asked to return to Lagos. His property in Lagos was returned to him after he presented his certificate of ownership. I came back to Lagos in 1974. When I returned to Lagos, I was posted to Surulere Baptist School, Adeniran Ogunsanya, and worked in different schools until I retired.
What is your advice to Nigerians calling for separation?
War is bad. Even if we separate, it should be done without war, which is better. War destroys everything, including lives and property. It is better if Nigerians sit together in a conference. It’s like when teachers tell parents to speak to their children at home to see what they want. Nigerians should come together, we should agree on the terms of disintegration or unity. Some things I see today make me bitter because we had it good in our days.
From your experience, what are the major problems facing the country’s education sector?
The lack of teachers training is one of the problems confronting the education system. If you don’t train a teacher, how can he or she teach children? Because children from different backgrounds have different temperaments, training helps teachers to know how to handle them. The missions trained teachers to train students. It was a good system. Teachers during my time were well trained. We don’t have that now. Before my retirement, I felt disappointed by the types of teachers we had. In those days, schools taught children moral lessons. Also, there is over population of students in a class for one teacher to handle. Now you have 100 pupils in a class for a teacher. In our time, pupils were not more than 25 in a class. As teachers, we also had continuous training and sat for examinations. In 1978, I attended the University of Lagos for a teacher Grade One training for nine months. When I finished, I returned to my place of work.
Do you think the takeover of mission schools by government also contributed to the fall in standard?
Yes, I think it contributed to it, because government things are done haphazardly. When the missions were in control, we had constant supervision of teachers and they were well trained and worked very hard. They checked pupils’ exercise books and their performance. They also checked our scheme of work. Now, they don’t have the time for such supervision.
How did you meet your husband?
We were from the same town. One of my relations in Lagos introduced him to me, and he came to ask for my hand in marriage. I had many suitors at that time, but my father refused to answer any one of them because I am the first child. He felt that if I got married, I won’t pay the school fess of my younger ones. We are six. My father said he wanted me to train them up to a level. He said some men would stop their wives from doing that and won’t allow them to send money to their parents. That was his fear. It took about two years for my husband to convince my father before he agreed. My husband paid the bride price and went to Lagos. My husband and I contributed to training my younger ones. I even built a house in my village with my salary. It was a mud house but it was roofed with zinc. In my younger days, there was no boyfriend or girlfriend, your relations helped you to look for a wife or husband and check the person’s family background. My husband died in 1997.
How many children do you have?
I have six children and many grand children.
You were married for over 30 years. What do you think are the basic ingredients for a successful marriage?
God has a man for every woman. If you find the right person, you will tarry well. I got a right partner. We understood and enjoyed each other. Even now, when I visit my hometown, I meet some of my previous suitors who would say, ‘you refused to marry me.’ They are also married. I would ask their wives, ‘where are my old husbands?’ We would all laugh. We usually teased one another.
People call this age the ‘jet age’ because we want to do things in a hurry. In our days, a man could wait for three years for a woman, and the woman will also wait and won’t jump from one man to the other. Now, a man can make marriage promises to a hundred women, and ‘tantalise’ them with lies.
What’s your advice for young couples?
Marriage is not always smooth; there will be ups and downs. But, like the Bible says, if you have patience and endure it to the end, you will be crowned. I advise women not to tell their daughters to return home when they are experiencing marital crisis. They are only passing through what is called early marriage crisis. Both the man and the woman are from different families, so they need time to understand each other. Nowadays, ladies do not look for a man they will understand, but one who has money. That is why they fall into wrong hands. They want to marry the man’s money and not the man. In our days, it was the family background that mattered. Girl should not allow men to tantalise them with sex. A man who really wants to marry a lady will marry her even if she is strict with him. But immediately the man has sex with a lady, he goes away to look for another lady. Men shouldn’t also tell women stories that are not true. A lady who wants to marry a man will not be lured by money and property. If a woman loves you, she loves you. But, nowadays, young ones don’t have patience. They want flashy cars and all that. Those things don’t last.
What’s your favourite meal?
I like vegetable soup and any kind of solid food.
What’s the secret of your fitness?
It’s God. During my 80th birthday celebration, the hall for the event was full. I thank God immensely. Some of my agemates and even younger ones are not as agile as I am. I danced very well that day. I read my bible without using glasses. There are so many things I have to thank God for in life.
What form of exercise do you do?
I like trekking some distances from my house in Aguda, Surulere. I also like dancing. Sometimes, I put on the radio to dance to the music playing. If there is electricity and a record is being played, I will dance. In our monthly elders’ fellowship in church, they also advise us about things we should do and not do at our age. Dancing makes me happy. It keeps me fit.
Do you have any hobby?
Yes, I like singing. I was a chorister for many years.
What kind of music do you like?
I like Christian music because I enjoy praising God. I thank God for everything, because He urges us to thank Him in every situation.
What is the difference between your days and now?
People were more trustworthy then than now. If you open a business now and put it in the care of someone, that person could craftily change it to his own name. Now, if you give your brother money to go and build a house in the village for you, he will go and build his own with it. People no longer fear God. They are mere lip worshippers. I advise the younger generation to have patience. People hurry so much nowadays and they will say they are in the ‘fast’ world. What kind of world is that? One can collide with something on the way if one is too much in a hurry. People should take time to do things right and do it well. They should do it as if they are doing it unto God and not man. Man will disappoint. But God will never disappoint.
What is your most fulfilling moment?
That was when I turned 70. I had the opportunity of an all-expenses-paid trip to Jerusalem, Israel. It was sponsored by my church, the Anglican Church. That was my happiest moment. I heard there were many hills in Jerusalem and some people asked me if I would be able to climb those hills. I replied them that God who allowed the church to select me for the trip would also give me the strength to climb the hills.
How was the experience like?
It was a wonderful experience. We stayed there for 10 days. The country’s very nice. I visited many places that I had read about in the scriptures. Israel is a well-organised country. They have white rocks and excellent tourist places. That’s why tourism is a very good source of revenue for them. From the airport, there was already a bus waiting to convey us to where we stayed. The organisation was superb.
Can you compare Israel to Nigeria in any way?
We are not organised in Nigeria. In fact, immediately we landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, it was quite different. Everything was very well-organised in Jerusalem, even at the airport in Istanbul, Turkey, where we also visited. People stayed in queue as they checked our passports. But when we got to Lagos, we paid for the trolleys for our luggage. But in those other countries, we didn’t pay for it.
Did you ever know you would live this long?
It’s God that gives long life. It is written in the Bible that He will give us long life.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com