Verification: Edo teacher can’t read own certificate

IT was a drama at the verification of certificates of primary school teachers in Edo State on Tuesday as a teacher at Asologun Primary School, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area, Benin City, Mrs Augusta Odemwinge, could not read a sworn affidavit she tendered as part of her credentials.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole, who paid an unscheduled visit to the state Staff Training Centre, venue of the exercise, was shocked 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?”


Chairman of the state Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Patrick Ikosimi, who was also at the screening to monitor the exercise, said the woman’s failure was “an embarrassment.”

On arrival at the centre, the governor took time to peruse some of the teacher’s credentials and documents presented.

When Mrs Odenwingie took her turn for the exercise, the governor, who listened to her defence, asked her to read the affidavit she presented. However, she was stuttering and read the affidavit as if a kindergarten were learning to read, to the consternation of everybody around.

Nigerian Tribune