Mbaise Secondary School (MSS) old students say their late Chemistry teacher, Mr. Nwokocha, was exceptional and deserves all honour even in death
By Emma Ogbuehi
Most students remember their teachers in primary and secondary schools with nostalgia because those are the people that shaped their lives and helped in making them what they turned out to be in life.
But despite this nostalgic feeling, it is not often that students go out of their way to immortalise their teachers years after graduating from primary and secondary schools.
It is even rarer when such teachers have passed on.
But three former students of the foremost secondary school in Mbaise – Mbaise Secondary School (MSS) in Imo State – who graduated in 1998 have decided to set the pace.
Though they have achieved great heights in their professional careers, Chika Okoro, who is now a medical doctor, and two of his classmates, Victor Okahia and Udochukwu Adiuku, both engineers, last year came together and instituted yearly scholarship awards for the three best Mbaise Secondary School Chemistry students in honour of their late Chemistry teacher, Chief John-Peters Nwokocha, who died in 2019.
The ‘Chief John-Peters Nwokocha Best Chemistry Students Award,’ which came with cash prizes of N60,000, N40,000 and N30,000 in the first edition in January 2021 was aimed at encouraging students who made outstanding grades in Chemistry in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in honour of Chief Nwokocha.
The sum of N20,000 was also awarded to whoever is the present Chemistry teacher in the school to encourage the person to emulate the exemplary teaching qualities of the late Chemistry teacher.
But Dr. Okoro, the initiator of the awards, told TheNiche that there was a slight adjustment in the 2022 awards which took place in the School premises on January 2.
“This year, we added an educational grant to Chief Nwokocha’s daughter who gained admission into a Polytechnic in Imo State,” he explained.
“Because of that, in the second edition which held on January 2, 2022, the award has taken a different structure as only the first two best Chemistry students received cash prizes. This was done in other to make room for a N50,000 yearly educational grant to the first daughter of the late Chief Nwokocha who had recently gained admission into a high institution in Imo State. This grant will continue to run in the family for as long as the awards last. The Chemistry teacher in the school also received a cash gift of N20,000.”
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Dr. Okoro, who hails from Umumbiri autonomous community in Ahiazu-Mbaise, said without their late Chemistry teacher, they may not have attained the heights they have attained in life. Engr. Okahia and Engr. Adiuku, who hail from Eziudo community in Ezinihite-Mbaise local government area concur.
Speaking during this year’s award ceremony which coincided with the yearly reunion of the 1998 set of MSS Old Boys Association, Dr. Chika Okoro, who eulogised Chief Nwokocha, said he was an exemplary teacher that gave his all to ensure that his students understood Chemistry and made an otherwise difficult subject simple.
“He was Mr. Chemistry. He simplified the subject and made it interesting. He was one of the reasons why some of us decided to do science subjects in secondary school. He was very understand and had a flawless disposition towards his students.
“He never bothered about our rascality. Whether he was in class or not, he was always available for us, ready to help. He was an extraordinary teacher.
“My colleagues and I – sponsors of the award – could only get to the heights we have reached in medicine and engineering because of the solid foundation he laid for us.”
Dr. Okoro enjoined the award recipients to continue shining the touch of excellence which was what the late Chief Nwokocha stood for.
Speaking after the awards, the principal of the senior section of the school, Mr. Chukwuka Ugommuo, thanked the sponsors for their thoughtfulness and philanthropy and charged the beneficiaries to spend the cash prizes on things that will enhance their educational pursuits and not on frivolities.
On his part, the president of Mbaise Secondary School Old Boys Association (MSSOBA) 1998 set, Chief Udunze Ugochukwu, thanked the award sponsors and enjoined other members of the association to emulate them so as to immortalise other teachers who contributed immensely in raising them up tyo become responsible citizens.
The awards and grant recipients thanked God for using the sponsors to bless them and promised not only to utilise the cash prizes wisely as admonished but also to take their education very seriously.
