It was a simple tweet but what followed is a sad reminder of the loss of values that has made our country what it is today as we continue to build what my friend Bolaji Abdullahi described as a โnation of hustlersโ. First, the tweet: โI lost my teaching job today (32K) where I teach (Maths and F/Maths), because I refused to assist the students in the exams hall (during NECO) having taught them very wellโฆโ
Aside looking for another job, the man was obviously expecting kind words and to be sure, he got not a few since Nigerians are basically good people. But he also received many negative responses and these are what interests me because of what they say about how far our country has degenerated. One of the respondents, who probably felt disappointed that a teacher would refuse to help his students to cheat in an examination, wrote: โYou should have helped them though, you put yourself into this.โ Another one came with a sharp rebuke: โIf I had a good job waiting, I wonโt employ you for this tweet.โ Now wait for this โdo-gooderโ who had a similar experience: โI remember my Account teacher also refused to do this for our WAEC then and I ended up teaching the whole students offering that subject that day.โ
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Of course, not all those who were critical were unsympathetic going by this response laced with a dose of โrealismโ about the environment under which the teacher was operating: โSorry about that but itโs your faultโฆitโs not a bad option assisting students. We are in Nigeria.โ I bet โWe are in Nigeriaโ says it all. That point was made even more eloquently by the next respondent: โAre you a good teacher when your students fail? I got my current job through the help of a parent I taught the ward some years backโฆthe ward is in FUNAAB (Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta) now doing fine. My dear, donโt let us deceive ourselves. You should have pushedโฆโ
In case there are people out there who still cannot decode what โpushingโ means, the next person minced no words: โYou should have just assisted them. Now, what have you gained? African teachers are terrible and just love to see students fail exams.โ The last response I read before I stopped was the crisp title of this piece: โNa you f*ck up!โ
