Agbedo, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, is a contributing analyst to USAfrica
Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com — the first Africa-owned, U.S-based newspaper published on the Internet.
In the complex, often misunderstood teacher-student relationship, intentions can easily be mistaken for impositions. The teacher corrects; the student rebels. The teacher demands excellence; the student resents the demand. The teacher upholds standards; the student misconstrues intention as ‘wickedness’. But time, the ultimate adjudicator of motives, eventually opens the eyes of memory and maturity to see things differently. And when it does, what once seemed like tyranny becomes a treasury of discipline, and what appeared as aloofness is revealed as a sacrificial love too deep for adolescent comprehension. Indeed, the deepest lessons in character, purpose, and perseverance are rarely wrapped in comfort. Rather, they are revealed in retrospect, – when time unveils the intentions behind those long, sometimes painful hours of lectures, corrections, and hard truths.
Nowhere is this transformative realization more beautifully exemplified than in the story of the 2004 Graduating Class of the Department of Linguistics, Igbo and Other Nigerian Languages, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, who returned to their alma mater on Tuesday, July 29th 2025, not to demand, protest, or criticize; but to give back.
In an academic landscape often starved of appreciation, where entitled expectations overshadow earnest efforts, their homecoming was not only nostalgic, but noble; not only ceremonial, but symbolic. It was a loud whisper of gratitude to a Department and a group of lecturers, who gave them not just linguistic knowledge, but life-defining lessons in character, resilience, and responsibility.
Led by Edith Ike-Eboh, and represented by Mrs. Abigail Ifeanyi-Eke and Mrs. Sandra Odo, the 2004 Class came bearing gifts, not only material, but memorial. In their moving address to the Department, they affirmed: “We in the Class of 2004 are proud to reconnect with most of our lecturers for the wonderful work done in teaching us. The Department of Linguistics gave us more than education; it gave us a sense of purpose. It taught us the importance of preserving our indigenous languages, promoting intercultural understanding, and contributing to nation-building through language and communication. The lessons have remained in us, guiding our paths across different sectors and spheres of life.”
Such acknowledgment is both rare and refreshing. In an age where the role of teachers is increasingly undervalued, and the sacrifices of academic mentors often go unrecognized, the Class of 2004 reminded us that true education is not transactional but transformational. Those glowing testimonies capture the essence of enduring pedagogy. As the philosopher John Dewey posited, education is not preparation for life; it is life. And a good teacher does not merely prepare students for exams, but for the battles, responsibilities, and ethical choices that life will demand of them.
They came with plaques of honour and cash gifts for a distinguished roll call of lecturers, who had, in their words, made “lasting impacts” on them. They also donated two office tables and chairs, as well as eight ceiling fans to the Department, an offering both utilitarian and symbolic, expressing a desire not only to honour, but to uplift and support the place that moulded them. But beyond the physical items, what they gave was far richer: a narrative of transformed understanding and deep appreciation.
This is more than nostalgia. It is a philosophical, pedagogical, and sociological validation of the Department’s core mission. It is evidence that language is not merely a system of sounds and symbols; it is a vehicle of identity, empowerment, and transformation.
What these alumni received at the UNN was not just instructions in phonetics, oral literature, sociolinguistics, Igbo culture or applied linguistics, but a reorientation of their worldview, preparing them to excel and lead across disciplines.
In an impassioned speech, Edith Ike-Eboh recalled how one of the honoured lecturers, then perceived by many in their class as “strict,” (a euphemism for ‘wickedness’) has now been revealed, in hindsight, as a master sculptor of minds, whose seemingly tough exterior masked a deep desire to push his students to their best selves. “Now, we know better,” she said, “his original intentions were to make us the best of what we are.” This sentiment echoes the age-old philosophical maxim attributed to Socrates: “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”
A teacher worth their calling understands that the spark of excellence requires heat, and sometimes, heat feels like hurt. But in time, that pain births purpose. The returning graduates testified that what they gained from the Department was not just academic instruction, but a sense of mission, to preserve indigenous languages, promote intercultural understanding, and contribute to nation-building through the powerful tools of language and communication.
Today, the Class of 2004 boasts of members, who are Associate Professor, PhD holders, proprietors of schools, senior civil servants, bank executives, media professionals, and corporate administrators. Yet, in spite of these achievements, they returned not with fanfare, but with humility and gratitude, proving that success becomes sweeter when it bends to honour its roots.
Sociologists have long emphasized the importance of symbolic reciprocity in maintaining social cohesion. In African culture, especially within Igbo philosophical framework, this finds expression in the proverb: “Ọkụkọ anaghị echefu onye kwụrụ ya ọdụ n’udummiri” (Chicken hardly forgets the benefactor that replenished its rump during rainy season). The Class of 2004 enacted this sacred ethic of respect by returning to sing praises not of themselves, but of their mentors.
Their act underscores the deep pedagogical truth that teaching is a form of nation-building. Every classroom interaction, every feedback on a term paper, every correction in phonology, syntax or literary criticism, is a small chisel shaping future leaders. But the rewards of such labour are not always immediate. Sometimes, they are delayed by decades. But when they arrive, as they did on 29 July, they arrive with power.
To the lecturers honoured, your work was not in vain. Your seeds, sown in discipline and watered with wisdom, have borne fruits across diverse fields. To the Class of 2004, you have not only honoured your teachers but have also taught a new generation of students what it means to give back. In an age where entitlement culture is rising and appreciation is waning, your example is a light in the academic darkness. Let your story be told and retold, not only in the halls of the Department of Linguistics, Igbo and Other Nigerian Languages, UNN but across the University system.
For in that return home, you did not just visit a Department. You rewrote the script of teacher-student relationships with the ink of gratitude. And that, perhaps, is the best kind of linguistic legacy. To the current students of the Department, the Class of 2004 has offered more than fans and furniture; they have offered a blueprint of humility, gratitude, and success. To the lecturers, they have said what many never do: “Your labour was not in vain.”
Let their example echo through the halls of the UNN and beyond.
Let it remind us that the highest reward for a teacher is not in salaries or citations, but in the testimony of transformed lives.
Let it also remind us, as a nation, that when the stewards of language and culture are well nurtured, they nurture a more humane, understanding, and cohesive society.
Yes, the Class of 2004 came back with gifts. But more important, they came back with gratitude that rewrote the story, not just of a Department, but of what education, when done right, can truly accomplish.
