There was a drama of sorts during the verification exercise of primary school teachers’ certificates in Edo State on Tuesday as Mrs. Augusta Odemwingie, one of the teachers undergoing the exercise, could not read a sworn affidavit she tendered as part of her credentials.
Mrs. Odemwingie teaches at Asologun Primary School in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Benin City, Edo State.
www.dailytimes.com.ng reported that Governor Adams Oshiomhole, who paid an unscheduled visit to the State Staff Training Centre venue of the exercise was appalled that a teacher could not read, saying “if you can’t read, what do you teach the pupils? What do you write on the board?”
On arrival at the centre, the governor took time to peruse some of the teachers’ credentials and documents presented.
When Mrs. Odenwingie took her turn during the exercise, the governor, who listened to her defence, asked her to read the affidavit she presented.
She stuttered and read the affidavit as if a kindergarten pupil was learning to read, to the consternation of everybody present.
Comrade Patrick Ikosimi, chairman of the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, who was also at the screening to monitor the exercise, said the woman’s failure was “an embarrassment.”