Is Anambra State not the home state of achievers, who have made marks and achieved distinctions in their respective endeavours and careers at the global level? The new Anambra State, which is carved out of the old Anambra State in 1991, teems with academic high-fliers, literary stars, business moguls, sports icons, musical superstars, political sages, and venerable men of the cloth. I would like us to know that the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, a freedom fighter, political titan, and Pan-Africanist, hailed from Anambra State. Power Mike, a former world wrestling champion; Mary Onyali – Omagbemi, the former African sprints queen of the tracks; Chief Osita Osadebe, high-life music maestro; Chike Obi, a great Mathematician;Chinua Achebe, the father of modern African literature; Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the former common-wealth secretary, and others hail from Anambra State.
Not surprisingly, Anambra State’s slogan as well as motto is the ‘light of the nation’. It is a fitting epithet that captures succinctly the state’s essence. Has the state not been living up to that appellation? Past successive civilian governments in the state had set enviable praxis in the areas of infrastructural development and judicious management of financial resources. When some other states in the federation are financially distressed, the Anambra state government is executing infrastructural projects and paying workers in the state’s employ as and when do.
More so, Governor Willie Obiano has consolidated and improved on the achievements recorded in the educational sector by the immediate past civilian administration. It was Mr. Peter Obi, the immediate former Government of Anambra State, who revamped schools in the state. He articulated and executed practical educational polices, which have been yielding positive results for the state. Anambra State has emerged as the best performing state in such examinations as S.S.C.E and NECO for three successive years. And Team Anambra won the inter Basic Debate competition, which other states in the Federation participated in. The laudable and spectacular feat achieved by Team Anambra happened soon after Rose Nkem Obi won the 2015 Maltina Teacher Of The Year Competition, which was organized by the Nigerian Breweries.
Rose Nkem Obi has come into national prominence by posting a stunning performance at the Maltina Teacher Of The Year Awards. By winning the maiden edition of that national teaching competition, she has entered the Pantheon hall of Anambra State great achievers. A native of Agulu, Anambra State, the light-skinned lady with infectious effervescence and deep scholarly bent was born in 1978. A precocious and brilliant lass, she represented Anaocha L.G.A, which is in Anambra State , in a school competition held at Enugu while a pupil of Practising School, Agulu, Anambra state. And, expectedly, she had a credit pass in the First School Leaving Certificate Examination in 1989. She outshone other pupils in that examination.
After completing her primary education at Practising School, Agulu, she proceeded to Loretto Special Science School, Agulu, for her post-primary education. While a student in the school, her personality was moulded by Mrs. Nwachukwu, her school principal; Mr. Chukwuezi, her mathematics teacher; and Mr. Nwajiobi, her Chemistry teacher. They imparted knowledge to her and inculcated the virtues of industry, punctuality, love of books, obedience, and humility into her. While her mathematics teacher would teach them some topics after school hours, her chemistry teacher simplified organic chemistry for them with his effective and unique methodology of teaching.
She attended Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, and earned a degree in Pure and Industrial Chemistry in 2000. During her mandatory NYSC programme, she worked as a graduate assistant to Professor P.A.C Okoye. Mrs. Rose Nkem Obi, the erudite chemistry teacher at Federal Government Girls’ College, Onitsha, possesses post-graduate certificate in education and an M.S.C in chemistry. It was in 2013 that she was fully absorbed as a senior education officer by the Federal Ministry of Education after her ten-year stint at Federal Government Girls’ College as a P.T.A teacher.
Her teaching job at FGGC Onitsha and the tutelage she received at home and schools prepared her adequately for the competition and are the factors behind her emergence as the Maltina teacher of the year. At Federal Government Girls’ College, Onitsha, teachers are monitored and assessed periodically. And when the quality of a teacher’s teaching starts to dip, the teacher will undergo tutelage. More so, being the daughter of a secondary school mathematics teacher, Mrs. Akpulu, she developed a great liking for Mathematics and the sciences. Mrs. Rose Nkem Obi, who has a good grasp of chemistry, does her teaching job painstakingly and conscientiously. No wonder, her students do mill around her in the same way as bees are attracted to honey.
She has been reaping rewards for her diligence, industry, love of books, scholarly nature, humility, and positive out-look on life. She entered the Maltina Teacher Of The Year Competition in the hope of putting up a good performance at the competition, not being unaware that other contestants are brilliant people, who prepared adequately for that competition. But to her surprise, she emerged the winner of that competition. She attributed her victory to God, who gave her wisdom, grace, and immense mental abilities.
Before emerging the overall winner, she scaled the hurdle placed before her. She wrote a 150 – word-essay on her teaching philosophy; and a 750 – word case study of her teaching strategy, practicality of the strategy and challenges. And not only was she assessed while teaching her students in a classroom by a panel set up by Nigerian Breweries Ltd, the Panel of Judges each interviewed her in Lagos.
The ebullient Rose Nkem Obi, who exudes magnetic warmth and has a comely face that is always wreathed in smiles, is married to a Lawyer. And they have a seven-year-old daughter. Her husband is her boon companion, and she accompanies him to National Bar Meeting, yearly.
Outside academic activities, Rose Nkem Obi is a keen fan of athletics and athletes. She was the games prefect in her school in 1995. Then, she was a sprinter, who participated in 100m, 200m, and 4x100m races. However, her mother discouraged her from seeking a career in athletics, especially sprint races. Her favourite sprinter is Usain Bolt. And she used to be a great fan of Mary Onyali- Omagbemi and Chioma Ajunwa during their sporting hey-day.
Rose Nkem Obi received N500,000 and N1,000,000 respectively for being both state and national champions. And for five years, she will receive one million naira each year on world teachers’ day, which takes place on every October 5. More so, for being the national champion, she will undergo further professional training outside Nigeria. And the Nigerian Breweries Plc, which is the sponsor of the competition, will execute infrastructural project in her school that is worth 25 million naira as she is the Maltina Teacher Of The Year.
It is an indisputable fact that the lissome lady, who looks much younger than her 37 years on earth, has entered the revered Nigeria’s hall of fame. A likable and overly ambitious lady, Rose Nkem Obi aspires to become an authority on the best teaching strategies for teaching sciences in secondary schools. Regarding her journey to resounding success, the sky is the starting place for this chemistry teacher at Federal Government Girls’ College, Onitsha.
About the Writer: Chiedu Uche Okoye is a poet and civil servant and the author of the poetry Collection, Lilt Tunes Of The Songbird.
