Raising literacy standards
28 Interview by Mrs. Irene Chinwe Mbanefo is the President of the Reading Association of Nigeria (RAN). The Anambra State indigene is from the family of Dr. Paul Ibuzo and she has five siblings. She speaks on her career as an educationist uniting the country via reading culture and a lot more.
In my retirement year, I was already the Deputy I attended Our Lady of Apostles’ Primary School, President of the Reading Association of Nigeria, Yaba, Lagos, in the early 60’s and then went to Maria so as soon as I retired, I became the president. Regina Secondary School in the first two years and In between this, at some point, I did masters in then spent the last three years at the Queen of the Education and an MBA in Administration with the Rosary College, Onitsha. I finished there in 1973 Open University of Nigeria. and then went to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka As the President of RAN, I have been trying my (UNN) in 1974 and graduated best to unify the states and it with a degree in Botany in NEVER EXPECT MUCH has been very difficult but it is 1979. Then I got married, went moving forward. We recently
FROM PEOPLE. RELY back to school again and did hosted the Pan African a postgraduate diploma in ON WHAT YOU CAN
Literacy for All Conference Education because I’d always here in Abuja and we had
DO FOR PEOPLE wanted to teach. Even as an about 21 countries here for agricultural scientist, I still five days. So I hope that has
RATHER ON WHAT needed to teach. opened doors towards uniting THEY CAN DO FOR us all for a common cause.
Also, we have been able to YOU. IF YOU SET YOUR
open branches in some states EXPECTATIONS HIGH in the country with more
coming up. We have a lot of FOR PEOPLE, YOUR
projects: reading clubs and DISAPPOINTMENT affiliations all over and people
are beginning to understand WILL KNOW NO
the necessity of reading. BOUNDS
I did my NYSC in Jos and then went to teach in Eastern Academy, Onitsha. That was my first posting by the Anambra State Government. I was there for three years before I joined my husband in Abuja as a federal staff with the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory while waiting for the arrival of the rest of the federal staff from Lagos.
At some point they tried to merge us with the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) but that didn’t work. I rose from education officer to senior education officer, then principal educational officer, then assistant chief and then chief, then assistant director and subsequently director. I retired as a director with the Federal Ministry of Education two years ago.
Those were lovely days. We were a big family. The girls came before the boys. We used to move around in pairs. My sister, who is a doctor now, and I used to be inseparable. We looked out for each other and did our chores together. It was a lot of fun with so much love.
My father was a very loving and warm person. He was very learned. Aside being a doctor, he was also a lawyer and a pharmacist as well. Therefore, we realised that literacy and education were everything from a young age.
The greatest challenge I faced was after I got married to Engineer Charles Mbanefo: for years we didn’t have children. We got married in Canada, and there, being married for three to four years without children meant nothing, but here at home, it was the reverse.
We came back to Nigeria where they expect you to have children quickly, but in the midst of that, even though it looked like a challenge, it was actually a blessing in disguise because within that time, I became
very good friends with my husband.
Never expect much from people. Rely on what you can do for people rather on what they can do for you. If you set your expectations high for people, your disappointment will know no bounds.
I believe this was when I was Headmistress of Model Primary School in Asokoro. I love working with little children. That experience taught me that every child comes with a wealth of knowledge limited to their size, but if you could stand still with them for a moment, what they give out at you: it’s a shocker. I learnt so many lessons.
If you are humble enough, children will teach you the unbelievable. So when I look at that time of my life, it was the most rewarding. That also led to opening the Model Secondary School in Maitama.
Initially, I thought I wanted to be a doctor because my father started grooming me from an early age and by the time I was five, I was able to treat myself of everyday illnesses like malaria, stomach ache, worms and all that. I still love medicine because my father trained us to be doctors without borders. During lunch we would discuss diseases, causes of diabetes, treatments, asthma and other serious medical aspects as if we were all doctors.
However, I saw what medicine did to my father: he had no life. That’s why whatever time he had he wanted to spend it with us. He spent most of his time taking care of others. That rubbed off the shine on my desire to become a doctor. It also created a lot of quarrels between my father and me because he would say, “You are a natural doctor.” It was a bit selfish when I look at it now, but in between all these I always knew my passion for teaching. I would line up all my toys and my siblings and teach and teach.
We had very nice holidays. My dad was into weekend packages and once every two years we would go on a big holiday: the whole family. We would just take off somewhere: it was always such a pleasant experience. We did a lot of camping and picnics.
When the children were growing up, my mother warned me and told me to hold my children, work with them and work around them. “Hold them close to you because one day you will wake and you won’t see them. Keep memories,” she’d say.
So the joy of motherhood is being there for your children. I stalled doing my masters just to be with them because of how precious they are to me. It turned out to be worth it because I understand them even though they are all grown up now. It’s all about running with them, crying with them, taking care of their scrapes. Now, they’re my advisers, encouragers and