Medinat Oyedele, a French teacher who won the inaugural Elizabeth Modupe Adetunji (EMA) Award for the Most Outstanding Teacher, has said that teaching was never her passion while growing up.
She made this known during her appreciation speech after being presented the award by the family of the late Mrs Elizabeth Modupe Adetunji in honour of their mother, who was also a teacher during her lifetime.
The only graduate of a polygamous family of eleven, Medinat said she only answered the call to teaching when it felt like God was calling her to it.
She recounted her early childhood struggles from hawking iced water during her stay in Gabon, to selling different food items while in the University. But in all, she never gave up on her dreams to become educated.
Coincidentally, the late Mrs Adetunji was her headmistress while in primary school and she was full of emotions as she recalled the memories of her childhood.
She thanked the family for the award honour and hoped that it would inspire other teachers to do more to fulfill their purpose.
On her part, Mrs Yinka Ogunde, the daughter of the late Mrs Adetunji, urged the awardee to continue to show the diligence, passion and commitment to her profession, and to keep the flag flying by doing more for the education sector.