EVERY child deserves to be taught by a competent and inspiring teacher. Such a teacher must know what to teach. He or she must also teach in a way that supremely evokes an enduring fascination of the students with what is being taught. It was my good fortune to have found two such exceptional teachers at Ilesa Grammar School. One of them, Mr. Folorunso Abiona, taught us English Literature. Almost sixty years later, he remains my teacher. Yes, he continues to avail me of his time as I learn at his feet. But this piece is about the other teacher, Mr. Gabriel Olalere Ajayi, now deceased. The then Mr. Gabriel Olalere Ajayi was a fresh graduate with a First Class Honours degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka when he taught my class Physics. His love for Physics was contagious. Not surprisingly, he later proceeded to prestigious Stanford University, obtained a PhD, and returned to Obafemi Awolowo University, rose fast through the academic ranks, and became a Professor.
We learnt from him that whereas water expands as it freezes, glass contracts when subjected to cooler temperature. The expansion of water as it freezes, concurrently with the contraction of its glass bottle, results in a crisis of space! The consequence is the inexorable crack of a tightly stoppered glass bottle of water placed in a freezer. Unbeknownst to Mr. Ajayi, he had unravelled a mystery that had boggled my mind for six years. I have always enjoyed drinking very cold water. Six years before my taking Mr. Ajayi’s class, I had filled a Mirinda bottle with water, corked it tightly to prevent spilling, and kept it overnight in the freezing compartment of a refrigerator. The next morning, to my huge disappointment and the mild chastisement of my uncle, the bottle had cracked into pieces! Obviously, I had unwittingly conducted an experiment on the consequences of the differential expansion/contraction of matter. Now that Mr. Ajayi had solved the mystery, my youthful mind was stirred by seemingly endless questions. How much and how fast could the water expand as it solidifies? How much and how fast could the glass bottle contract as its environment becomes cooler? Would the bottle continue to contract as long as the temperature continues to drop? If so, would the bottle eventually become invisible and perhaps microscopic? Is there an absolute temperature below which there is neither further cooling nor contraction? Mr. Ajayi stirred in me an interest in Physics that has never waned.
Chatting with my former classmates on our WhatsApp platform some weeks ago, one of us recalled that Mr. Ajayi talked fast even as he wrote fast on the blackboard. Others affirmed the correctness of that recollection. This brought to my mind an afternoon when Mr. Ajayi was teaching us about heat energy and its effect on the expansion of matter. As Mr. Ajayi was writing and talking, Joshua Falokun, probably in frustration, blurted out: “A ti dáràn! Gbogbo ẹ̀ náà ni L1, L2, T1, T2, V1, V2.” The class erupted in laughter. In effect, Falokun was saying that our class was doomed because our teacher seemingly endlessly talked about L1, L2, T1, T2, V1, V2 etc. Mr. Ajayi turned and asked who had spoken. Falokun identified himself. Many, if not all of us in the class, must have thought that Falokun was in trouble.
Mr. Ajayi dropped his chalk, and then spoke softly in Yoruba. He explained that the whole point of algebraic notations was to use letters to represent quantifiable entities. He continued: “You are Joshua Falokun. If there is also Caleb Falokun in this class, it is easier to call you FJ, and call the other Falokun FC. Someone in the class factually said that Falokun was called FaloJ. Mr. Ajayi replied that we could make it simpler by calling him F1 and calling Caleb Falokun F2. “Instead of me to write your names in full each time, it is easier to write F1 and F2.”
Falokun smiled. So did our teacher. Falokun got no punishment. Not even a rebuke! Instead, an inspiring teacher had calmly explained algebraic notation in a way that replaced the panic of frustration with the calmness of understanding. For me, from that day, Mr. Ajayi could do no wrong. One wishes that great teachers would live forever. Alas, great teachers also die as did my beloved teacher on December 12, 2004, exactly twenty years ago! He is gone but not forgotten. May the soul of Gabriel Olalere Ajayi, my breathlessly brilliant and superlatively inspiring teacher, rest in peace!
- Professor Adeyeye is a former Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
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